Posted on December 3, 2015.
By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Kolby Hollowell
Kolby Hollowell dribbles through the Mustang defense.
Millington Trojan guard Cameron Crawford draws a foul as he attempts a layup last week against Memphis Metro in the William Osteen Gymnasium.
On a night celebrating portions of Millington Athletics’ history, the main event in the William Osteen Gymnasium was the match up between the Trojans and visiting Memphis Metro. Spectators were buzzing over the Hall of Fame inductions of legends Jack Turner, Steve Hendricks, the Boatwright family, Tony Dumas and the 2007-08 Lady Trojan Basketball team. Fans even witnessed the retiring of the jerseys of Dumas and Jasmine Newsome. After all that excitement, the Millington Trojan faithful started to calm down when Metro jumped out to a 20-10 lead after one quarter. Then Millington senior guard Kolby Hollowell heated up in the second quarter helping the Trojans overcome the deficit and then prevail 62-53. “Coach told us to play defense,” Hollowell recalled. “He told us we were playing soft. So we cranked it up and got it done.” Metro was getting it done in the opening quarter jumping ahead 18-7. The Trojans’ points came courtesy of a Kip Fleming basket and pair of free throws, a Kelvin Jones fall-away jumper and a Hollowell free throw. Hollowell concluded the first quarter with his first three-pointer of the night to make the score 20-10. “After the first quarter we had to pick it up and we got our motor going,” Jones said. “We have to pick it up on defense in order to spark our offense.” Millington trimmed the Metro advantage to 20-14 with Cameron Crawford making two foul shots and Prensten Macon scoring on a put-back bucket. With Metro ahead 22-14, Hollowell sparked the Trojans to a 14-6 run to tie the game at 28-28. “Teammates got me going,” he said. “They pump me on. I had it going tonight.” Hollowell drained a triple to make the score 22-17. Then the senior guard hit two more from long range to deadlock the contest. “Once I hit that shot I though we could win,” he said. “We were all playing good.” The score was 32-32 at the break. Metro tried to regain its swagger from the first quarter in the third retaking the lead at 48-36. Millington ended the third quarter with a quick burst including a Crawford three-pointer to make the score 48-42. The Trojans opened the fourth quarter with a 7-1 run to tie the game at 49-49. Once again Hollowell hit the game-tying three-pointer. In the final 3 minutes and 27 seconds of the game, Millington outscored Metro 13-4. Jones started the last run with a layup. Hollowell made a jumper and Crawford drained another triple in the process. Jones said it is evident that defense will be the key to success for the 2015-16 Trojans.
“We have to keep doing it every day and every game,” he concluded. “This will be the result — wins.”
