Miller Cardinals drop two games last week, Lady Cardinals pick up two wins, now have 23

The Miller High School boys basketball team played two games last week, dropping both of them, while the Lady Cardinals picked up two more wins last week.
 
Miller traveled to Pierce City on Wednesday, Feb.,18, but fell to the Eagles, 41-29.
 
It was a low scoring first quarter, as Pierce City held a slim 9-3 lead at the end of it. The Cardinals got something going in the second quarter, holding Pierce City to seven points, while scoring 11 points to go into the half trailing 16-14. Miller continued to play good defense in the third quarter, limiting the Eagles to just six points, while adding another 11 points to their total to lead 25-22. In the fourth quarter, the Eagles broke out, scoring 15 points while the Cardinals could manage just four points to close out the game.
 
“We got off to another slow start,” said head coach Brandon Weiss. “We played with a lot of energy just struggled to score.”
 
Owen Weiss led Miller with 17 points.
 
The Cardinals started their week by traveling to Marionville on Tuesday, Feb. 17 but came home with a 56-41 loss to the Comets.
 
Marionville led 13-8 after the first quarter but then Miller started to shoot the ball better and scored 11 points, while holding Marionville to just five points to go into the half with a 19-18 lead. The two teams would combine for just 15 points in the third quarter but that would enable Marionville to tie the game at 26-26. Marionville got hot in the final quarter of play, hitting 28 points to push the game out of reach.
 
“The last couple of weeks we have struggled at the offensive end,” said Weiss. “Defensively we have been fine but offensively we have struggled.”
 
Weiss paced Miller with 19 points.
 
Miller is now 12-10 on the season and were scheduled to take on Ash Grove in an opening round Class 3, District 12 Tournament game in El Dorado Springs last night. The Cardinals are the fourth seed and the tournament is scheduled to conclude on Saturday.
 
Girls basketball
The Class 2, third ranked Lady Cardinals traveled to Pierce City on Wednesday and defeated the Lady Eagles 78-56. Miller was down 34-31 at the half in this game.
 
“We came out very flat in the first half,” said head coach Ryan White. “But the girls responded in the third quarter by scoring 27. It was a really remarkable mental shift from half to half. I am proud of how our bench played in this game. They really stepped up in a big way to hold us together in the first half. Hopefully, we can find a way to have the second half effort for four quarters in the playoffs.” 
 
Madelyn Leivan led Miller with 17 points, Rachel Nunez had 15 points, Layni Johnson added 12 points, and Ashlyn Helton ended the game with 10 points.
 
Miller opened their week by traveling to Class 2, fifth ranked Marionville on Monday, Feb. 16 and winning that game 61-54. The game was tied 30-30 at the half.
 
“Huge win for our team,” said White. “This team ended our season last year, and we were looking to respond to that loss. I think we played well for three quarters, and if we hope to beat them again in Districts, we need to put four quarters together.” 
 
Loghann Leivan led Miller with 17 points, Johnson added 14 points and Helton and M. Leivan both ended the game with 10 points apiece.
 
Miller moved to 23-3 on the season with the win and will await the winner of the Jasper and New Heights Christian game in the semifinals of the Class 2, District 12 tournament being played in Marionville tonight. Miler is the top seed in the tournament and got a first-round bye. The tournament will conclude this Friday night.