Milford Christian Academy’s Robbie Johnson sets up the offense against the Cincinnati Warriors Jan. 27. Photo by Dick Maloney.
Robbie Johnson shoots a three-pointer against the Cincinnati Warriors Jan. 27, 2023. Photo by Dick Maloney.
Replica jerseys and banners on the gym wall at Milford Christian Academy for the school’s top basketball scorers (and other accomplishments). Robbie Johnson’s No. 2 will soon join them. Photo by Dick Maloney.
Just after the scoreboard clock hit 0:00, at the end of the first quarter in a Jan. 27 home game vs. the Cincinnati Warriors, Robbie Johnson, a step or two inside the half-court line, launched a shot that hit nothing but net – and very little of that. It didn’t count, but it also didn’t matter. The Milford Christian Academy senior has made more than enough baskets that have counted – more than anyone in school history.
That total was at 1,795 points after Milford Christian’s trip to a tournament in Pensacola, Florida, last week. Johnson broke the record of 1,438 points set by Ethan Jessup, who played from 2017 to 2021. The milestone basket came in early December against Temple Christian. Johnson said it was on a three-point field goal from the corner, but he didn’t know exactly how many points he needed going into the game.
Johnson and Jessup were teammates, and Jessup knew his record wouldn’t last long.
“Ethan, when he broke it … went to him and said, ‘Hey, I know this is not going to last very long. You’re going break my record. And sure enough he did,” Milford Christian head coach Shayne D’orazio said. Johnson and Jessup still keep in touch via text messages.
“I was in 10th-grade and … by the end of my 10th grade season, I had 700 points, so he knew,” Johnson said.
Some may have known long before that. Johnson said he has been playing basketball since he was in kindergarten, and his mom, Milford Christian Athletic Director Lorra Johnson, told him his first word was “ball.”
Even Robbie suspected he had a level of talent, and that was reinforced in ninth-grade when he was put into the starting lineup.
“And that kind of just threw confidence at me because … there were two seniors and I was a freshman,” he said. “It was within the first three games in my freshman year I was, ‘OK … because I could always shoot with the men’s ball. I can never shoot with the girls ball because it’s smaller.”
D’orazio, in his first year as varsity coach, describes Johnson as a “crazy talent. I mean, amazing talent. Once-in-our-lifetime talent kind of thing. I’ve seen him do some stuff that nobody else can do,” D’orazio said.
Johnson is far from the only talented player on the Milford Christian roster. The Bulldogs entered last week’s Florida tournament with an 18-3 record, and were 7-2 in the Ohio Valley Christian Conference. They won their first nine games before a Dec. 17 loss at Calvary Christian; the other league defeat was to Spring Valley Academy, whom they were scheduled to again Tuesday night, in Centerville.
Last season, the Bulldogs were 11-17 overall; a strong senior class has helped, D’orazio said. Other seniors are Hunter Guiton, Ben Watson, Caden Hargis, Chris Bingham and Carson Wolf. Johnson leads the team in scoring (22.4 points per game), assists (5.3) and steals (3.3). Bingham is second in scoring at 12.1 ppg, and is the top rebounder (7.9 per game).
“We knew what our talent was and what our capabilities (were), it was just about coming together and it’s really come together well, for sure,” D’orazio said. “The team strength is we have many areas that we can count on, Robbie can go for 30 one night, and then Robbie can go for 15 and other guys will go for 10, 15 and 20. And, you know, we depend on rebounds, we depend on tough defense. But we also know that we’ve got somebody at anytime that change the game. And that’s always a bonus for us is having a player on the team that can change the game at any time.”
“Chris has really stepped up this year,” Johnson said.
His high school career has only a few games remaining, depending on how far the Bulldogs advance in the Ohio Christian Schools Athletic Association postseason, and Johnson is undecided on whether he will play in college. He may decide to try to walk-on at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, a Division I program, or he may skip college.
“I’ll probably end up going to Liberty, but if I don’t, then I’ll stay home and get my associate’s (degree). I’ll just do like an online, UC Clermont or something, get my associates and then and then go into the workforce, because I have a I have a job opportunity out of high school,” Johnson said. He hopes to pursue a career in marketing, and go into coaching, crediting D’orazio for the way he has led the team.
I’ve had the privilege of having and the pain but the privilege of having four coaches in a different coach every year. So I’ve seen the good, the bad, you know, and what he’s done this year has been amazing for us last year, obviously 11-14, we’re the same team just a year older. And he took us and really changed us and now we’re 18-3.”
D’orazio deflected the praise back to the seniors.
“These guys have all played together since they were in elementary school (Bingham joined two years ago). So the cohesiveness, it was just a matter of you know, let’s figure it out, what everybody’s strength is. We win together, we lose together, but we can’t do it without each other. It was kind of one of the reasons why I decided to be the head coach is I knew I had great group of seniors.”
Consistency is the challenge. “We don’t want to get complacent about anything,” D’orazio said. We’ve just got to you know, stay strong and stay together. And that’s our main thing. I don’t think anybody can beat us if we play our best game.”
Milford Christian game-by-game results (through Jan. 31):
MCA 54, Hillsboro Christian 33
MCA 74, Community Christian 51
MCA 67, Calvary (Kentucky) 45
MCA 63, High Street 56
MCA 50, Fayette Christian 39
MCA 60, Temple Christian 50
MCA 49, Temple Christian 48
MCA 51, Sidney Christian Academy 24
MCA 87, Covington Latin 40
Calvary Christian 73, MCA 44
MCA 60, Immaculate Conception 57
MCA 59, Fayette Christian 52
MCA 72, East Dayton Christian 39
MCA 61, Mars Hill Academy 41
MCA 90, CHESS Christian 67
MCA 64, CHESS Christian 50
Spring Valley Academy 70, MCA 58
Cincinnati Trailblazers 63, MCA 58
MCA 69, Immaculate Conception 57
MCA 70, Mars Hill Academy 58
MCA 52, Cincinnati Warriors 31
Milford Christian roster
Seniors – Chris Bingham, Hunter Guiton, Caden Hargis, Robbie Johnson, Ben Watson, Carson Wulf.
Juniors – Noah Finley, Jacob Joiner.
Sophomore s- Owen Miller, Conner Wulf.
Freshmen – Lincoln Hargis, Benjamin Johnson, Wyatt McClain, Luke Watson.