No team really wants to have its best player out of the lineup — particularly when that player is average over 20 points per game — but not having the services of Andrew White may have been just what Miller needed Thursday night in a 78-44 victory over Fishburne Military School.
“We’ve been a pretty easy scout so far—help on Andrew and worry about the other guys later,” said Miller coach Scott Willard. “But the last two games we’ve cut down on our turnovers and that’s made a difference.”
Miller had just 10 turnovers against the Caissons, and dished out a number of assists as the offense
With White shelved by a minor knee injury in preparation for a showdown with National Christian out of Maryland Saturday at 4 p.m., the Mavericks (7-7) leaned on a trio of players to pick up the scoring slack. Janeil Jenkins and Chase Cannon led the way with 15 and 14 points respectively, but the most critical performance in regards to the Mavericks’ postseason future was probably Brandon Bolden’s 12 points in three quarters of sustained action. The 6-foot-11 Georgetown commitment seemed to have found a comfort level in the contest.
“I need that big guy to produce if we’re going to be a big-time Division I team,” Willard said.
Fishburne did manage to get a good night out of post man Daniel Candelario, who had 17 points, 14 of them from the field, despite facing tough post matchups the entire game.
“He did all he could — I thought he did a good job and worked hard,” said Fishburne coach Chip Crabill. “Hopefully he’ll learn from it and get better each time he gets out on the floor.”
Daniel Ginsberg, Miller’s junior point guard, facilitated the offense well, handing out seven assists in the win. In particular, Ginsberg took care of the ball, rarely turning it over.
Jenkins, who averages 9.5 points per game, was rock solid from behind the arc with three 3-pointers. Jenkins has quickly proven to be an invaluable, versatile part of the Miller lineup and if he can continue to shoulder more of the scoring load, his stock should continue to rise.
“We worked hard in practice yesterday, working on my jumper,” Jenkins said. “Coach told me to shoot more so I shot more tonight and I was feeling it.”
Much like Bolden, Cannon seemed at ease against Fishburne, nearly doubling his scoring average with the 14-point output.
“The training wheels are off now — this team’s starting to get comfortable with each other,” Willard said.
With the upcoming stretch against National Christian and Benedictine, Miller will have to be. Benedictine comes to town Tuesday night.
