4A-5 BOYS

Engaged Mills avenges defeat to PA

Mills forward Jakari Livingston (middle, left) jumps for a shot Friday night at Mills gymnasium. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Justin Cunningham)
Mills forward Jakari Livingston (middle, left) jumps for a shot Friday night at Mills gymnasium. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Justin Cunningham)

Mills assistant coach Nick Hoffman admitted the Comets weren't focused when they suffered a 20-point loss to Pulaski Academy on Jan. 29.

That wasn't the case Friday in the 4A-5 Conference tournament title game.

The Comets opened up a big second-half lead before weathering a pair of runs by the Bruins for a 61-54 victory at The Galaxy.

"We were locked in this time," said Hoffman, who took over head coaching duties in Raymond Cooper's absence. "That was the biggest problem ... last time around against them. We've grown a lot since then, had to make some changes to the style of play.

"We're getting deeper and getting healthy, and the guys are buying in and starting to finally come around because it's been kind of an up and down year for us."

The Comets experienced far more ups than downs in their third meeting with Pulaski Academy.

Mills (19-4), which beat the Bruins on Jan. 5, trailed for just 11 seconds and led by as many as 15 points in the second half. Mills also pressed for the majority of the game and forced extended scoring runs because of forced turnovers. Those things weren't visible in the previous meeting.

Pulaski Academy (13-8) controlled virtually every aspect of that game, even holding the Comets scoreless in the second quarter. The result was a 60-40 loss that Cooper described as a smashing.

The Comets were in tune from the start in this one, including their defense on Pulaski Academy sharpshooter Kaylan Makan.

The senior was hounded every time he touched the ball and had a different player on him throughout. He only had four clean looks the entire game, and he made three of them. The rest of his shot attempts were under duress.

"He's such a great shooter," Hoffman said of Makan, who finished with 11 points. "He's one of their main ones, he and Griffin [Newby]. So we were really geared toward them both, especially Kaylan. Griff did hurt us some, but overall, I thought the guys did a really good job of defending."

Senior forward Jakari Livingston finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals while Joseph Bell, also a senior, had 15 points and 7 rebounds for Mills, which used an 11-2 run at the start of the second quarter to open up a 28-19 lead by halftime.

Junior forward Javion Guy-King added 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals for the Comets.

Newby finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds while junior guard Demetrius Sharp scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half for the Bruins, who made a serious push in the third quarter.

After Livingston's dunk gave Mills a 39-25 lead with 2:37 to go in the quarter, Newby scored on a floater to start a 12-0 run for the Bruins. Sharp scored eight points during the spurt, including a deep three-pointer that got them within 39-37.

The Comets took a 43-38 lead into the fourth, only to see Pulaski Academy again close to within two, 45-43, after a 22-footer from Makan with 6:55 left in the game. But Livingston hit a pair of free throws on Mills' ensuing possession to start an 11-2 surge that gave the Comets some breathing room.

"When you're playing mid-February into early March, the margin of error is so slim," Pulaski Academy Coach Trent Morgan said. "It was a nine-point game at the half, and we had an idea of what we wanted to do, but we just didn't execute the first couple possessions of that third quarter. In those three possessions, [Mills] went on a 7-0 run, and all of a sudden, it's a 16-point game.

"I told the guys to keep on fighting, and they did. We buckled down defensively, got some turnovers that led to points. But I think we spent so much energy fighting back that we just didn't have enough in the tank down the stretch in that fourth."

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