WEST POINT — Ken Dill has matured as a basketball player.
After missing the first eight games of the season due to an ankle injury he suffered playing football, the Oak Hill Academy point guard’s maturity has helped him be everything and more for coach Brian Middleton this season.
Dill showed his understanding of the game and his role Tuesday night to help Oak Hill Academy beat No. 4 Columbus Christian Academy 57-51 Tuesday night in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA, District 2 game.
“At the start of last year I started to play a little more with the varsity and I started to get there,” Dill said. “But I think I’m starting to mature a little bit more this year.”
Dill’s maturity was tested after he fell to the ground and looked to get tangled with Columbus Christian’s Dawson Shaw (10 points) but was called for traveling with a little more than two minutes remaining and Columbus Christian leading 51-50. Dill pulled himself off the floor not knowing what the call was and was confused when the referee told him he traveled. Dill was upset for a second, but he came back on the next offensive possession and knocked down both ends of the one-and-one to give his team a 52-51 lead with 1 minute, 47 seconds remaining.
Dill made four more free throws down the stretch to help push the Raiders (17-8, 4-1 Class AA, District 2) past the Rams (17-6, 4-1).
“That’s a lot of maturity,” Middleton said. “He’s a great player, but there were moments where he would do something and I was like, ‘Oh Buddy, come on.’ But he just turned around and made big play after big play. He played big. He’s so good.”
Dill had 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, but he failed to score in the third quarter. He said the Rams stretched their zone and it made it difficult for him to get good looks at the basket or drive to the rim. He made up for it in the final quarter, draining a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4:01 left to break a tie and put the Raiders up 50-47.
“He’s pretty good,” Columbus Christian coach Greg Watkins said. “Him and the (Drew) Riley kid both are two guards who can drive on you and take it to the hole.”
Dill found other ways to be useful. He hit Riley on the baseline with a bounce pass that lead to a basket and a 45-41 lead with 6:04 left.
Dill then used an alley-oop pass that went over the heads of the defenders to Riley (14 points), who caught it with both hands and laid it in to push the lead to 47-44 with 4:45 left.
Dill said he didn’t feel any pressure down the stretch and trusted his teammates.
“I never felt much pressure because I know my teammates are just so talented and anybody can make a play at anytime,” Dill said.
The Raiders built a 33-19 lead with nine seconds remaining in the first half, but R.J. DeLoach (team-high 19 points) made a 3-pointer as time expired to cut the deficit to 33-22.
The Rams mounted a fierce comeback in the second half and trailed 42-37 after three quarters when Kimani Winfield converted an offensive rebound as the buzzer sounded.
The Rams outscored the Raiders 15-9 in the third quarter after Watkins told them to stop giving up too many easy baskets.
“We didn’t play very good defense,” Watkins said. “We just needed to contest baskets a lot better in the second half and play our style of defense. In the second half we played a lot better.”
The Rams took a 51-50 lead with a little more than two minutes left, but Dill came to life and Columbus Christian didn’t score in the final two minutes.
Dill said the Raiders’ maturity helped spark the comeback.
“We’ve been together five, six years now,” Dill said. “We’ve played together for a long time, and we know how everybody is and we know how to calm each other down.”
Middleton isn’t surprised by Dill’s maturity or his ability to deliver when it counts. He gave Dill an A+ for his ability to be clutch in tight situations.
“It says he knows what we need him to do and he does it,” Middleton said. “He steps up to the plate. He’s got that maturity. He’s just got something special. Buddy’s a competitor and he just wants to win. We knew we had to have him to have that win.”
n In the girls game, Sarah Dill had a game-high 32 points to lead Oak Hill Academy to a 68-26 victory against Columbus Christian Academy.
After leading 14-13 after the first quarter, the Lady Raiders outscored the Lady Rams 26-7 in the second quarter and led 40-20 at halftime. Oak Hill led 52-24 after three quarters.
Tanner Grubbs added 10 points for the Lady Raiders (22-7, 4-1).
Anna Minga led Columbus Christian (0-21, 0-5) with 12 points.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.