The Malcolm boys entered their Jan. 8 game at Milford looking up — literally. While the Clippers’ tallest starter might stretch to 6-2, the Eagles feature a 7-footer in the starting lineup and a 6-8 senior coming off the bench. Malcolm proved up to the challenge, outlasting Milford with a 69-62 overtime victory.
While Gavin Little and Chase Smith battled inside to neutralize Milford’s size, a pair of juniors — Preston Kucera and Miles McGill — knocked down big shots all night.
Kucera scored from all over the floor, including going 9-for-12 at the line on his way to a career-high 28 points. McGill did most of his damage from beyond the arc, drilling seven three-pointers while also delivering a career high with 24 points.
“I keep saying we’re better shooters than we’ve shown,” Malcolm head coach Chris Lewandowski said. “Hopefully, this injects some confidence into our guys.”
After jumping out to a 15-6 lead, Malcolm watched the Eagles go on a 9-2 run to close the first quarter.
“We gave up some open looks and Landon Roth knocked them down,” Lewandowski said. “After a timeout, we regrouped and got the lead back before the quarter was over.”
Roth led Milford with 21 points.
“It was a great rivalry game that, unfortunately, ended not in our favor,” Milford coach Mitchell Marvin said. “While we were proud of how our players played down the stretch to gain a lead late by making some big plays in big moments, we did not do what we needed to do on the defensive end at multiple points in the game to get the outcome we wanted.”
The Clippers relied on athleticism and ingenuity to counteract Milford’s size inside.
“One-on-one rebounding wasn’t working against their length,” Lewandowski said. “We had to out-hustle them. Our guys would fly in, try to get a hand on a ball and tap it out and win the race to grab it.”
While Milford’s Colby Rautenberg recorded a double double with 15 points and 16 rebounds, as a team, Malcolm out-rebounded Milford 38-34.
In the closing moments of regulation, Little tied the game at 58-58 with a layup with 10 seconds remaining. Milford’s Zeb Reil had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Kucera blocked the shot to send the game to overtime.
After Malcolm took a 61-58 lead early in the extra frame, points were hard to come by. The difference came at the free-throw line, where the Clippers converted late opportunities to pull away.
“Our guys played really hard late in the game,” Lewandowski said. “To go there and get a win against a veteran opponent in a hostile gym — that’s big for us.”
Malcolm (6-5) will host Ralston (1-8) on Thursday, Jan. 15. Milford (6-6) heads to Aurora (8-3) Thursday, Jan. 15.
