Even before the season started, Pebblebrook coach George Washington and Milton coach Allen Whitehart took a peek at Class 7A and knew it would come to this: their teams meeting in the state quarterfinals.
In the end, the Falcons and Eagles went at each other in a late-round playoff game for the second consecutive year. Unlike last season, when Milton (22-8) prevailed in the semifinals (74-67), Pebblebrook (28-2) advanced to the final four for the third time in nine seasons with a 65-59 win that ended with a little controversy.
After Milton’s Stanford-bound junior Kanaan Carlyle made a layup with 14 seconds left in regulation to cut Pebblebrook’s lead to 61-59, the Eagles’ trap forced Falcons senior Kami Young into a turnover. Whitehart called timeout to draw up a game-tying or game-winning play.
But the officials informed the Milton coach that he did not have any timeouts left, resulting in a technical foul. Whitehart and his assistant coaches insisted that the game’s official scorer told them minutes earlier that they had one timeout left. However, the official scorer told the game officials that was not true, and Pebblebrook was awarded two free throws and possession of the ball.
Falcons senior Nyle Hillmon knocked down both free throws to put Pebblebrook up 63-59 and then hit two more a few seconds later for the final points.
“We asked and (the official scorer) gave us the ‘one’ sign,” Whitehart said. “There were so many other factors in the game, but I just hate it for my kids that the game came down to that. Our press caused the turnover, and we called timeout to draw up a good play. We wouldn’t have called it if we knew we didn’t have any left.
“I’m not blaming (the official scorer), but she told us we had one left,” Whitehart said. “But kudos to them. They’re a really good team, and we had this game circled a long time ago. I’m really proud of how our kids battled.”
With seconds to go in the first quarter, Milton trailed 22-9 after a deep 3-pointer by Falcons senior Jordan Brown and a layup by junior Craig Adams. But at the buzzer, Eagles reclassified senior Lebbeus Overton drilled a half-court shot to make the score 22-12 going into the second quarter. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound forward is the nation’s most coveted uncommitted football player and has said he will make his decision later this spring after reportedly taking official visits to Oregon, UGA and Texas A&M.
Overton’s shot lit a fire under his teammates, who outscored Pebblebrook 21-6 in the second quarter, led by Overton and senior Bruce Thornton, an Ohio State basketball commit who led all scorers with 19 points, with six points apiece.
Then the Eagles opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run to push their lead to 43-28, silencing the sellout crowd in Mableton. But Pebblebrook tightened up on defense and closed the period on a 20-8 spurt to trim the Milton lead to 51-48 heading into the fourth quarter. Junior forward Jaiun Simon was dominant in leading the run with 14 points and six rebounds. He finished with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“Jaiun grew up tonight,” said Washington, who has led the Falcons to at least the round of 16 in all nine of his seasons in charge. “We told him he was going to have to score for us tonight because we felt like the guard matchup was going to be tough, but we thought he would have an advantage for us inside. He played like a grown man tonight.”
The Falcons started the fourth quarter with a 6-2 run as Young’s bucket three minutes into the period gave Pebblebrook the lead, 54-53. They wouldn’t trail again, avenging last season’s loss to the eventual state champions.
“When the brackets were first released, we saw we were on the toughest side of the bracket, and we saw this game coming,” Washington said. “I’m proud of our guys for the way they fought tonight. Now we have to get ready for a tough Berkmar team.”
The Falcons will face the Patriots (25-5), another No. 1 seed, in the semifinals, Friday at 8 p.m., in the Buford City Arena.
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