It was hectic, bordering on frantic at times, but Miller boys basketball wants to play fast and in front of a raucous crowd, they certainly had the pace they wanted Monday night at St. Anne’s-Belfield.
Down the stretch they proved exactly why they want to play that way with Miller’s first statement win of the young season, holding off St. Anne’s-Belfield for an 85-81 win.
“We had a lot of people talking to us, doubting us, saying we were going to lose,” said Miller’s Jordan Hodges who led the Mavericks with 25 points. “So we just came out, faced adversity and just rocked out.”
The game was intense from the jump, born of a clear familiarity between the two rosters that include a few players who’ve suited up for both schools and a ton of other players who grew up in the area.
“That was fantastic, this is one they had been really focused on,” said Miller coach Jack Meriwether. “Our team is loaded with guys from this area and their team is too obviously and it means just a little bit more. The fight and toughness that they showed was impressive.”
Miller got there with an absolutely wild, up-and-down final sequence that included some excellent defense, a drawn charge and some clutch free throw shooting.
After STAB’s John St. Germain tied the game at 81-81 with a little more than a minute to play, the Saints got the stop they needed on the other end with a missed corner three and a Chance Mallory rebound. The Saints couldn’t convert though, with a deflection by Will Bonde allowing Jaxon Hartman to steal the ball. He instantly pushed it ahead to Hodges with 25 seconds left to play. Hodges raced down the court and finished at the rim, pushing the Mavericks up by two.
Mere seconds later, the ball was headed the other way and Eli DeLaurier was already set up in the lane at the other end. The Saints smartly fed Carter Lang, who poured in 22 points and hauled in 12 rebounds but got with a charge on his way to the rim.
The Saints were forced to foul Austin Ball, who knocked down both free throws to extend the lead to two possessions.
It was the kind of high-level game the Mavericks roster was assembled for, with Miller’s depth helping them turn the tide after a slow start. Miller switched four players out at a time in the early going and after falling into a 26-14 hole in the first quarter, trailed just 48-44 at the half.
“We want to play fast but there’s a fine line — we want to play fast but we want to play with discipline,” Meriwether said.
The critical run came early in the fourth. Miller had inched ahead in the third, but led just 68-67 with 6:14 left. DeLaurier buried a three to get the spurt going, then Bonde scored after a turnover to push the lead to 73-67 and a Hodges deflection led to a Bonde steal. He connected with Ball at the top of the key, and Ball knew a lane was about to open up.
“He cut through so I acted like I was going to go for a handoff and then I drove because I saw an opening, went up with two hands and laid it in,” Ball said. “I thought I got a foul at first, that’s why I celebrated but then I was like ‘oh I’ve got to get back on defense’ because I didn’t want coach yelling at me.”
Ball, who finished with 17 points, dove down the lane and finished to put Miller up by eight with just under six minutes to play, a critical extension of the lead that gave them the cushion they needed to hold on down the stretch. Ball, who owns a West Virginia offer, seemed to feed off the energy of the crowd, drawing on his experience playing in front of some large hometown crowds for the Man High School Hillbillies who won a state title last year.
“I fed off my teammates being hyped and the crowd talking, that just really fired me up,” Ball said.
The Mavericks got nine points each from Eli and Ethan DeLaurier with Ethan burying three 3-pointers, seven from Wilson Hagen, five from Jacob Rice and six from Ant Davis. Davis and Hodges played a critical role on the defensive end, locking up with St. Germain and Mallory throughout the game.
For STAB, St. Germain finished with 19 points, six assists and four boards while Mallory had 17 points, five assists and three boards. Austin Williford had a big night with 11 points and four rebounds and got the Saints early spurt started with a dunk on a lob at the start of the game.
The Saints will travel Saturday to take on Saint John Paul the Great at 2 p.m. while Miller hosts Peninsula Catholic Thursday at 6 p.m.
