By John Breech / Staff

Thirty minutes after Friday nights AAAAA state championship game, emotions were still running high. On the Milton side, players were handing out high-fives and hugs to everyone around them in celebration of the school’s first state basketball championship. On the Westlake side, star player Marcus Thornton was in a wheelchair fighting back tears as he made his way to the team bus. He couldn’t help but cry though; in his final high school game, he played less than two minutes.

Westlake coach Darron Rogers and Milton coach David Boyd weren’t interviewed together, but even separately they seemed to both agree on two things that changed the tide of the game: Thornton’s injury and Milton’s 1-3-1 zone defense.

“It was a tough break for Westlake,” Boyd said of Thornton’s injury.

Milton’s Dai Jon Parker agreed with his coach, “That changed the game completely.”

So what happened to the Westlake’s Clemson-bound senior?

“Him and another player chest bumped at center court and he came down the wrong way,” Rogers said after the game. “We thought he tweaked the ankle just a little bit, but when he came into get it wrapped it swelled on him. We’ve had some guys go down before, but it’s a little tougher when it’s your top player.”

Thornton’s injury occurred 15 minutes before the tip off which meant Rogers had 15 minutes to redesign his team’s game plan.

“We got together as a staff and we talked to our next big man, which was Nkosi Ali.” Rogers says he told the Lion senior that the team needed him. “And then he happened to have his best game of the season, so we were proud of him.” Ali had 12 points and five rebounds on the night. 

Even with Thornton out, the Lions still played a spirited first half, and they only trailed by two, 28-26, at the break. In the second half, Milton’s 1-3-1 zone befuddled Westlake.

“They ran a zone against us that we really hadn’t seen them run,” Rogers said. “I think that slowed us down a little bit because we had to take our more athletic kids out and put in shooters which hurt us a little bit on the defensive end.”

So where did Boyd get the idea to implement the 1-3-1 zone?

“That’s Coach Felton’s 1-3-1,” says Boyd. When Milton was looking to add something a little more flavorful to their defensive playbook, Dennis Felton suggested a defense he is very partial too: the 1-3-1 zone. UGA’s former head coach is a familiar face around the Milton basketball program because his son Jazz is a freshman on Boyd’s varsity squad. Boyd didn’t win five state titles by not taking good advice, so he had his team practice the new defense.

On Friday night, the 1-3-1 baffled the Lions for the better part of three quarters. Using the 1-3-1, Milton limited Westlake to eight points in the pivotal third quarter and 7-for-31 (23 percent) shooting in the second half.

Marcus Thornton and the 1-3-1 proved to be the two things that changed the state championship.