Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

All-American Alterique Gilbert’s fourth quarter stops No. 9 Southwest DeKalb comeback

No. 1 Miller Grove 53, No. 9 Southwest DeKalb 45

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A 15-5 run had No. 1 Miller Grove seemingly on the ropes after taking its largest lead of the game 43-30 entering the fourth, but when the Wolverines needed a hoop, they turned to none other than McDonalds All-American and UConn signee Alterique Gilbert to answer the call as Miller Grove held off host No. 9 Southwest DeKalb in front of a capacity crowd, 53-45.

Southwest DeKalb looked to establish 6-foot-6, 245-pound senior TiQuan Lewis early on. The Washington County transfer posed problems inside for the slighter Wolverines in their first meeting, posting 19 points and 12 rebounds in a 76-69 loss. On Tuesday, the big man scored the Panthers’ first seven points of the game but was held to two points the rest of the way as Miller Grove began digging down and harassing Lewis with active hands.

While Lewis got Southwest DeKalb off to a quick start, Aaron Augustin began his own scoring spree, slashing to the basket and showing off his outside shot to finish with seven of his 10 points in the first quarter, giving the Wolverines a 15-10 lead after one.

Augustin sank his final basket of the night, a three-pointer at the 4:06 mark of the second quarter to push the Wolverine lead out to 21-14. Southwest DeKalb leading scorer Keith Gilmore scored just one point in the first quarter but began to find the bottom of the net while it looked like the Panthers were about to lose distance with the Wolverines. The senior scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the second period, but the Panthers still entered the half trailing Miller Grove 34-22.

To open the second half, Southwest DeKalb made sure to not stray away from the inside game, feeding it to Lewis early on, but Miller Grove caused him to fumble away a few opportunities with its pressure defense.  He and Gilmore combined for 17 of the Panthers’ 22 first half points meaning someone else had to step up. While Southwest searched for a third option in the third quarter, Miller Grove slowly began to pull away.

TiQuan Lewis is a big boy
TiQuan Lewis is a big boy

Aidan Saunders received a pass in transition and threw down a dunk, the first of the game, to extend the lead to 41-30. Seconds after the gym-rocking slam, the student sections of both teams began to get into it, causing a five-minute stop in the action while teachers and police went into the crowd to make sure nothing got out of hand. After the brief stoppage, Miller Grove added another hoop to give itself a 13-point cushion heading into the final eight minutes.

Instead of rolling over and letting the Wolverines blow them out of their own gym, the Panthers showed some bite of their own. A long and methodical comeback began to take place with Southwest using its helter skelter tempo and press to force Miller Grove into rushed shots and turnovers. Coach Eugene Brown finally found his third and fourth scoring options as Nathaniel Ambersley scored six of his 11 points in the fourth while Mandarius Dickerson added nine points in the game.

With 1:10 remaining, Gilmore caught a feed down low and went baseline to lay it up and claw the Panthers within 48-45. Seconds later at the 48.5 mark, Gilbert answered with an And-1 to make it 51-45 and stem the tide. The All-American poured in nine of Miller Grove’s 10 fourth quarter points and took over when Coach Sharman White needed him the most.

29.2 seconds remained when Coach White called a timeout. The Wolverines attempted to inbound the ball, but an offensive foul was called, giving the ball back to the Panthers still down six. Southwest DeKalb was unable to score, but forced a turnover with 15 seconds left. Gilmore had the ball on what looked like a 3-on-1 fast break, but instead of trying to get the bucket and play the fouling game, he elected to attempt a pull-up three which missed and resulted in a rebound and outlet for a Gilbert run-out dunk with seconds left to end the game.

Missed opportunities hurt the Panthers, especially as they entered the bonus with 5:26 left in the fourth, but made only 1-of-5 from the line and finished 8-of-16 for the game.

My Take: If you didn’t get to Southwest DeKalb by halftime of the girls’ game, you weren’t getting a seat. I strolled in right as the game was finishing up and there were no seats to be found. The action that ensued on the court warranted the crowd. Miller Grove looked like the top team in the state, coming away with a huge win in a wild environment. The Wolverines look to push the ball every chance they get and have some of the best spacing I’ve seen all year with shooters peppering the perimeter. Alterique Gilbert didn’t have his best game, missing some open threes, but he would not be denied when the game was on the line. Aaron Augustin had a big first half with 10 points but didn’t score in the second. He along with Gilbert were able to hit open men. The pair made everyone around them better tonight. The Wolverines are a very unselfish bunch and play for one another even with all the stars on their roster. They came away with 11 steals hounding the Southwest DeKalb guards, especially in the first half holding Darius Hogan, Mandarius Dickerson and Nathaniel Ambersley to five total first half points, with Hogan never cracking the scorebook on the night after scoring 12 against Miller Grove in their first meeting.

Southwest DeKalb showed a lot of heart, scrapping to get back into the game. TiQuan Lewis is a load inside and can punish smaller defenders. Keith Gilmore was the senior leader I expected him to be, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds. If Coach Brown can get guard production around those two, the Panthers will be a tough team in the state tournament. The glaring issue for the Panthers was a lack of pure shooting. They made just one three-pointer on the night and shot 50% from the foul line. Missed free throws and Hogan’s quiet game came back to bite Southwest. Hogan is the team’s best shooter from deep, averaging over two makes a game and hitting 40%.

Top Performers

Miller Grove
Alterique Gilbert – 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Aaron Augustin – 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Raylon Richardson – 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block
Aidan Saunders – 7 points
Joshua Jackmon – 5 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Tae Hardy – 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals

Southwest DeKalb
Keith Gilmore – 16 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist
Nathaniel Ambersley – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
TiQuan Lewis – 9 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block
Mandarius Dickerson – 9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks