Miller’s starters were nearly flawless. So they got a welcome benching in the entire fourth quarter against John Paul the Great in the first round of the VISAA Division I first round .
They’ll need the rest. They’re going back to St. George Wednesday to battle Blue Ridge again after an 87-71 victory over the Wolves. It’ll be the second year in a row that the Barons and Mavericks lock up four times, and Blue Ridge has taken all seven previous matchups dating back to January 2011, though Miller has lost this year’s trio of clashes by a grand total of six points.
“I thought our starters today were outstanding,” said Miller coach Scott Willard. “It felt like they were plus 20 when they were in there and that allowed us to get them a whole quarter of rest, which is important having to play tomorrow.”
Andrew White ignited two crucial runs for the Mavericks, an 8-0 spurt to open the game and then the decisive second quarter explosion. A pair of authoritative dunks got the job done as White scored 21 points before the break, finishing with 26 on the night after taking a seat during the third quarter. The second quarter run eventually turned into a 17-3 stretch that made life tough on the Wolves.
The improved play of two of Miller’s frontcourt players continued against John Paul the Great as Tony Washington and Markell Lodge continue to take steps forward. Lodge finished with 13 points on the night including a couple of thunderous dunks while Washington made a big impact defensively.
“Both bigs have stepped it up and that’s really been the difference for us competing against some of the best teams in the region,” Willard said. “We now have two bigs we start at the four and five who give us some presence defensively and offensively do a really good job getting in the scorebook.”
The Mavericks also got 14 out of Chase Cannon and 10 out of Janeil Jenkins to round out the starting five’s efficient, relentless production on the offensive end.
Reserve Grayson Gunner checked in with eight total points.
Dez Robinson led the Wolves with 21 points on the night, including a pair of fourth quarter 3-pointers. John Paul hit nine 3-pointers in the second half as a team.
