It took a few years, but someone in the Blue Ridge Conference finally found a way to derail Miller’s girls basketball squad.
With a strong effort underneath from Alana Arias, Liberty Christian Academy ended Miller’s long streak of unbeaten domination in the BRC with a 48-44 victory in the conference title game at Virginia Episcopal Saturday evening.
“The kids played hard but at some point all good things come to an end,” said Miller coach James Braxton. “We’ve probably won 40 games in a row in the conference.”
The Mavericks last lost a Blue Ridge matchup three seasons ago.
Arias finished with 18 points, all of it from the field, as the Bulldogs put together a strong second half to erase a narrow, one-point Miller advantage at the break. Ashleigh Claybrooks did a solid job on Arias and had a huge night herself with 19 points and 13 boards, but Miller couldn’t get key buckets when the Mavericks needed them down the stretch.
“We didn’t execute but they also know what we do,” Braxton said. “We don’t change a whole bunch, we just play. It’s been a grind it out against them in the past.”
Miller point guard Taylor Sandidge fed Claybrooks well and posted 10 points and 10 assists on the night while Whitney Martin, who just got over a bout of sickness, finished with eight points and five steals. But that’s about where the output ended for the Mavericks.
Courtney Powell also got into double figures for LCA with 10 points, knocking down a pair of big 3-pointers in the low-scoring battle.
