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Millionaires lose close game vs. GAR

Grit and determination can win games on a bad shooting night, but as Williamsport learned on Tuesday night in a 68-66 loss in the Magic Dome to GAR that lack of intensity can lose you a game despite hitting plenty of big shots.

Holding the lead for just a few seconds over the course of the game, Williamsport (2-3) had a chance to force overtime as the regulation clock ticked down. Trailing by two points after GAR’s Will Johnson laid in the last of his game-high 31 points with 19.1 seconds to play, Millionaires’ veteran coach Allen Taylor elected not to call timeout, and instead trusted his offense to execute what it has practiced.

Moving the ball into the front court, Williamsport looked to penetrate the Grenadiers 2-3 zone defense. Working the ball around the perimeter, the Millionaire guards were unable to find an opening, prompting junior Ahmir Ellzy to launch a 3-pointer for the win with 2.2 seconds on the game clock. The arcing shot from left of the key rimmed out and fell harmless to the floor, sending WHS to is third loss of the season.

“We were supposed to run a play and the play wasn’t executed,” Ellzy lamented outside the Millionaires’ locker room. “I swung the ball, and when I got it back, my first instinct was to shoot. I thought it was going in, but it went in-and out. I got a good look, and I should of knocked it down, but I didn’t.”

On this night, the 3-point shot was both good and bad for Williamsport (9 for 14 in the game), as success from long range helped Williamsport climb back into the game after a dismal 12-4 first quarter. Unfortunately, to his team’s detriment Taylor said settling for jumpers showed his team lacked the emotional edge it needed to win.

“When you don’t take charges and you don’t deny (on defense); and fail to make a concerted effort to get the ball inside (on offense), by settling for threes (3 for 13 in first half) showed that shot selection and offensive execution was a definite issue in the first half,” Taylor explained.

Williamsport did find its range in the second quarter, scoring 22 points, but 14 first-half turnovers hampered the effort. At halftime, the Millionaires trailed, 32-26, and had no answer for GAR’s Johnson. The speedy-fast 6-foot senior guard helped the Grenadiers (2-1) extend their lead to 45-32, with 3:37 left in the third quarter, assisting on a Jared O’Day (12 points) trifecta.

About 90 seconds later, the Millionaires surged back by finally getting points in the paint, thanks to a personal 7-0 run by 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Nassir Jones (11 points). Hitting on 1of-2 free throws with 42.1 second left in the third quarter, Jones drew Williamsport to within 47-43. The deficit would be just one point, 47-46, leading to the fourth quarter.

“We felt comfortable shooting, and were taking what their defense was giving us,” Ellzy said. “But, we didn’t push the ball and weren’t engaged in the offense like we needed to be. We got better in the second half, but it should never have been like that from the jump.”

In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Millionaires’ senior captain Marcus Simmons (team-high 20-points) drained a triple from the right wing to give the hosts a 49-47 edge. The teams traded baskets, and Williamsport finally put some muscle into its game, but the surge was stifled when Jones left the game at the 2:02 mark with an apparent shoulder injury after scrambling for a loose ball.

One minute later, Ellzy was on target with a 3-pointer that close the gap to 66-64, and a Simmons’ lay-up tied the game with 27.5 to play, but that would be all the Millionaires could manage offensively the rest of the way.

“We ran a play in the final seconds and our screener was wide open and we didn’t look inside,” said Taylor, now in his 15th season. “Even missing that, we still had an opportunity to attack the paint and we didn’t do it.

“Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for our team and coaching staff,” Taylor added. “I did not call timeout, because we practice being down by two points in the final seconds. I felt we were in a better situation by not letting them set up their defense. We made an unforced mistake at the end and we intend to learn from it.”

GAR 68, Williamsport 66

GAR (68)

Will Johnson 10-911-31, Jared O’Day 5 0-0 12, Tyler Young 3 2-2 8, Curtis Smith 3 0-0 6, Curon Smith 4 1-1 9, George Placecio 1 0-0 2, NyQuan Holmand 0 0-0 0. Totals 31 12-14 68.

WILLIAMSPORT (66)

Ethan Williams 5 0-0 13, Marcus Simmons 6 4-5 20, Nassir Jones 3 1-4 11, Isaac Ritter 1 1-2 3, Ahmir Ellzy 5 4-4 16, Conner Nyman 0 0-0 0, Ry’meer Brown 1 1-2 3. Makhi Gross 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 11-7 66.

GAR 12 20 15 21-68

Williamsport 4 22 20 20-66

3-point goals: GAR 4 (Johnson 2, O’Day 2); Williamsport 9 (Simmons 4, Williams 3, Ellzy 2).

JV score: Williamsport, 87-39 (OT). High scorer: Brown, W, 18.

Records: Williamsport (2-3), GAR (2-1).

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