Millison 3-Point Play Saves Mustangs' Season

Downers Grove South was on the ropes Tuesday night in Aurora.

Trailing Glenbard North for almost the entirety of its Class 4A West Aurora regional semifinal, the Mustangs’ 16-game winning streak was clearly on the line when Glenbard North stepped to the line with two attempts and a two point lead with 23.4 seconds remaining.

But the Panthers misfired on both attempts, and Jamall Millison made them pay.

The Downers Grove South junior guard drove the paint, beat three separate defenders and banked in a seven-footer from the right side while being fouled. Millison converted the 3-point play to give South a two-point lead with 13.9 seconds to play, and the Mustangs escaped the Panthers’ upset bid with a 54-51 victory.

Downers South (24-3), the No. 2 seed in the East Aurora sectional complex, advanced to the final on Friday night to meet either seventh-seeded West Aurora or 10th-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South.

“The first regional game is often very tough,” said a visibly relieved Downers South coach Jay Baum. “We started to make the plays when we needed to in the last half (of the fourth) quarter. I’m glad for Jamall to be the hero.”

The 17-game winning streak for the Mustangs is the longest in program history.

There were nine lead changes and two ties in a two-minute span down the stretch. Millison, who led South with 14 points, gave the Mustangs a 50-48 lead with his wildly improbably bank shot.

“That (field goal) would rank No. 2 (on the season),” said Millison, noting his game-winning shot against Lyons Township for the York Christmas Tournament title as his ultimate. “The refs were starting to call the game tight. I was just trying to get to the basket, get fouled and make the free throws.”

Glenbard North, an 18 seed whose season ended at 11-16, turned the ball over following the Millison 3-point play, enabling the Mustangs to close out the game at the free-throw line.

The Millison heroics were needed as Glenbard North built a 25-18 lead at halftime behind the combination of poor South shooting from the field (8-for-28) and the deadly duo of Josh Fleming (game-high 21 points) and Anthony Keener (16 points).
The Mustangs trailed 39-32 early in the fourth quarter, but the defensive intensity that never wavered for South finally began to pay dividends.

The Mustangs forced a series of steals and parlayed them into fast-break points, and Millison gave the squad its first lead since it was 4-2 early in the game with two free throws with 3:31 remaining.

Dan Jurgutis (8 points), Kevin Honn (8 points) and Millison on two separate occasions had lead-changing field goals in the last 2:16 of play.

South post Ziggy Riauka had 10 points and game highs of 15 rebounds and three blocks.

“(The Millison 3-point play) was the turning point in the game,” Glenbard North coach Joe Larson said. “It was a heck of a game. We had a chance to win the game.”