By Marty Gordon
For the first time in the history of Auburn High School, a boys’ basketball player has been named the Class 1 player of the year.
Sophomore Ethan Millirons and his teammates were moments away from taking the court to play for the state championship last month when they were told the game was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The team was declared state co-champions, and Monday Millirons received an individual honor when he was named the top Class 1 player in the state of Virginia.
Millirons said it felt good to know that all of his hard work was recognized. “My goal has always been to win the state championship. I knew I needed to become a better player to help us win it,” he said.
Auburn finished 21-7 this season after winning the Mt. Empire District and was the Region C runner up, slipping by Grundy in the state playoffs to advance to the state championship game,.
Millirons led the Eagles in scoring with a 21.9 per–game average including 67-171 from behind the three-point arc for a 39.2 percentage. He also hit 88.8 percent of his free throws and averaged six rebounds per game.
Earlier this week, he expressed the frustration of not getting a chance at the state title. “I had dreamed of playing in that game for years,” Millirons said. “It was tough to be at Virginia Commonwealth University, watching the 2A championships and getting excited about having that opportunity and then finding out that we weren’t going to get to.”
Millirons said the lost opportunity does give the team motivation to get back to Richmond next year.
Michael Royal, Millirons’ teammate at Auburn, joined him in reaping some honors this week when he was named to the second-team All Class squad.
