Miller School’s Tariq Balogun has been working. He’s been putting in the time. And midway through the fourth quarter, he put it on full display.
“We shoot every day in practice, we do 10 minutes of just pure shooting,” Balogun said. “I’ve always been working on it but this year I have more confidence. When it’s game time I just feel much more comfortable shooting.”
Balogun, a 6-foot-9 power forward, stepped out and buried a 3-pointer with 4:27 to play, igniting Miller’s student section and bench during the Mavericks 67-48 win over Washington Academy Thursday night.
Miller used a 24-10 fourth quarter run to blow open what had been a tight game from the opening tip, with the Mavericks down 26-24 at the break.
Balogun hit two 3-pointers all of last season during the Mavericks’ run to a VISAA D2 state title. On Thursday, the senior with offers from Hampton and Old Dominion hit two of them in the fourth and tossed in a couple of dunks earlier in the game as part of an explosive 25-point performance. If Balogun, already a problem in the paint, can step out and knock down shots from beyond the arc, Miller (6-1) is going to add one more dimension to its arsenal during its state title defense.
Daryl Anderson chipped in 13 points for Miller, with two 3-pointers of his own. DaeDae Heard managed nine points on the night.
While Jordon Brown and John St. Germain combined for just nine points at the point guard spot, the Mavericks took off on their explosive fourth quarter run when both players were sharing the court. That gave the Miller offense some needed versatility as they cut down on turnovers in the final frame after a rash of mistakes had allowed Washington Academy to hang around.
“We were just getting a little bit impatient when they were pressing us and we started backing up a little and take a look,” Balogun said. “That helped us a lot.”
Some of that sluggishness came from the fact that it had been a week since Miller had played a game.
But rust or not, the Mavericks shook it off to pick up another win. They’ll face a quick turnaround with a road clash against Eastern Mennonite Friday night.
