How did the McGill-Toolen boys go from

Posted March 8, 2016


How did the McGill-Toolen boys go from

How did the McGill-Toolen boys go from 'laying an egg' to winning a state title?

 
By Ben Thomas | bthomas@al.com 
on March 07, 2016 11:37 AM
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The McGill-Toolen boys basketball team limped out of a post-Christmas tournament outside of Atlanta, having lost two of three games there.

The Yellow Jackets were 16-5 at the time and struggling to find the right chemistry after nine football players joined the lineup following a state championship in that sport.

Fifteen games later, McGill-Toolen has a state boys basketball title as well.

RELATED: VOTE FOR THE BEST BOYS STATE CHAMPION

“I thought our trip to Atlanta was the turning point for us,” coach Phillip Murphy said. “We went there and played pretty good teams. It was two weeks after we had gotten everyone back so we were trying to mix everyone in and find a rotation. We laid an egg. We lost two of the three. We barely won the other. We were playing really bad basketball.

“We had the time there to go sit in a classroom at the school when we were scouting another game. We had a big team meeting about what we needed to do to move forward, expectations and people excepting roles. After we left Atlanta and came back, things started turning and really we never looked back.”

The Yellow Jackets (29-6) won 14 of their final 15 games and capped the year bybeating No. 1 Central-Phenix City 79-75 on Saturday night in Birmingham in the Class 7A championship game for the school’s first boys basketball state title.

McGill won its final nine games of the season.

“I think it all goes back to that Atlanta trip,” senior point guard and tournament MVP Rene Scott said. “We won one game there. We played horrible. But it was at that point that we all looked at each other and said, ‘We can do this.’”

The Yellow Jackets beat Coastal Alabama rivals Theodore and Fairhope to win the South Regional, then knocked off defending champion Hoover 77-74 in double overtime in the state semifinals at Legacy Arena. Scott scored his team’s final nine points after T.J. HowardMarlon Williams and Larry Rembert Jr. all fouled out.

Though McGill led most of the way against Central, it was a game of ebb and flows. The Yellow Jackets would build a big lead. The Red Devils would charge back. It was exactly what Murphy expected.

“The No. 8 point on our scouting report for this game was that a 10-point lead is like a two-point lead,” he said. “We knew it would be a game of runs. They are a run team. We are a run team. We thought it would be back-and-forth.

“There were points in the game where people in the stands were probably wondering why we didn’t pull the ball out with a lead and run clock. I told the guys we aren’t going to do that. We are going all out to win, and we are going to keep attacking and keep playing until that clock expires, and that is what got us the blue map.”

Scott was the key attacker with 22 points, including eight crucial free throws to help seal the win. Williams finished with 19. Rembert and Paris Chambers each finished with 13. The Yellow Jackets scored 29 points off 21 Central turnovers and held their own on the boards against a bigger team (38-38).

Murphy also liked the effort of his team.

“I will have to look at the film, but on 50-50 balls I wouldn’t be surprised if we got 90 percent of them,” he said. “I just thought it was a great effort.”

McGill is the first Mobile team to win a boys basketball championship since bothWilliamson (5A) and LeFlore (6A) did it in 2007. It also is the first Coastal Alabama school to win a state football and boys basketball championship in the same school year.

“I think we brought a football mentality into this thing,” said Williams, a junior wide receiver on the football team who is committed to Southern Cal. “We wanted to work hard and play physical and not ever give up. This feels great.”

Murphy said that football mentality definitely played a part in his team’s title run.

“Anytime people compete at a high level at anything they do, it’s going to help to win another championship just because of the preparation and the scouting and the time it takes to get there,” he said. “Everyone on the roster I think played a part in this for us. I also think our experience in the Regional – of being close – helped us to get to this point.”

For Murphy especially, it was a banner week. His wife, Brandi, gave birth to their fourth child and first girl last Monday morning.

“I feel like I’m in the twilight zone,” he said. “I’m still spinning. I haven’t slowed down literally in the last month. I haven’t stopped to breath or hardly eat or sleep. I’m in awe. It’s been busy. I’m ready to get some rest. I’m looking forward to spending some time at home with the family and re-establishing a little family life and getting to know my little girl.”

 
 


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