Miller Cardinals make more history in Miller Tournament play

Miller senior Kendall Neely finishes a layup off a great assist from junior Ashlynn Helton in the third quarter against Bolivar. (Photo by Brady Johnson)
The Miller Cardinals have now tied the 2020-21 team with a 10-3 start after a pair of wins to open the Miller Invitational Tournament. However, the Cardinals were not done making history in their victories over Wheaton and Gloria Deo Academy.
The tournament began on Monday where, in the third game of the opening round, Galena defeated Bradleyville, 93-38, breaking the MIT record for points in a game. However, the record would not last long. The top-seeded Cardinals took on Wheaton to conclude the first round. Miller opened the tournament strong, hitting four threes as Owen Weiss, Paul Nunez and Brodie Rinker combined for all 28 first-quarter points. Wheaton was able to answer with a solid first stanza but Miller led 28-15. The defense of Miller stepped up in the second quarter, holding the Bulldogs to only seven points but the offense exploded once again with four more threes and Miller went into the break leading 54-22 behind 22 points from Weiss. The second half continued to be a track meet for the Miller offense as they struck for 29 points in the third quarter to push the point total to 83, just 10 behind the newly set team record for points in an MIT game. The Cardinals wasted little time doing just that as Miller cruised to a new MIT record 102-42 victory. The 102 points was the first time Miller hit triple digits at least since 2008 when MSHSAA started keeping records. This was also the most points scored since the Cardinals defeated Greenfield, 92-86, back in 2010.
Weiss led the way for the Cardinals scoring 31 points, followed by a season high 21 from Brodie Rinker. Jarod Lung finished with 15, Paul Nunez had 13 and Jalen Madsen finished with 11. Rounding out scoring was six from Hayden Schnake, three from Nate Hill and two from Hayden Brown.
The win set up a semifinal showdown against Gloria Deo. The winner of this game would go straight to the championship game against Billings, who advanced due to logistical issues for Galena which forced them to drop out of the tournament. Miller’s defense was what fueled a big first quarter lead. Five Cardinals scored in the opening quarter to build a 15-4 lead. The offense came alive in the second quarter as Hayden Schnake, Paul Nunez, Owen Weiss and Nate Hill all had five points or more as the Cardinals lead swelled to 44-14 at the halftime break. Miller continued to put on pressure in the second half, outshooting the Lions 48-23 to cruise to a 82-32 victory.
Weiss led the way with 19 points followed by Brodie Rinker with 11. Nate Hill finished with 10 points and Nunez had nine. Wrapping up scoring was Lung with nine, six from Schnake and three from Jalen Madsen.
The victory moves Miller to 10-3 for the season, and are on the verge of making more MIT history. The 184 points through two games finds Miller just 39 points away from breaking Joplin McAuley’s record of 223 total points set back in 2016. The championship game will be played on Wednesday at Miller. The Cardinals also traveled to East Newton on Tuesday and will take on Southwest for homecoming on Friday to conclude a busy week.
Lady Cardinals epic comeback knocks off Bolivar Lady Liberators
The Lady Cardinals picked up a marquee win Saturday at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Shootout against the Bolivar Lady Liberators after overcoming a 16-point deficit in the third quarter.
The matchup with the Lady Liberators from Bolivar started in a nightmarish way for the Lady Cardinals as shots did not want to fall. Buckets from Ashlynn Helton and Layni Johnson and a free throw was all of the offense the Lady Cardinals could muster as Bolivar jumped ahead 16-5 after the first eight minutes of play. The Lady Cardinals were able to start to make a comeback behind 10 second quarter points from Loghann Leivann but Bolivar used the hometown advantage to build their lead to 33-19. The Lady Cardinals gave up the first couple buckets in the third quarter as the deficit expanded to 16 points midway through the third quarter. Rachel Nunez started to make a comeback in the third scoring seven points as the defense of the Lady Cardinals really started to make some progress in the comeback, but they still trailed 41-34 going into the fourth quarter. The Lady Cardinals dominated the fourth quarter and a massive run early in the fourth gave Miller a 46-44 lead late in the game. Ashlynn Helton hit free throws down the stretch to complete the comeback and defeat the Lady Libs, 51-49.
Miller was led by Loghann Leivan with 19 points followed by 16 from Rachel Nunez. Ashlynn Helton also reached double figures with 10 while Alexis Bailey, Layni Johnson and Kendall Neely concluded scoring with two each.
Miller had two early week games this week as they prepare for the Stockton tournament next week. They took on Sarcoxie on Monday and Monett on Tuesday. They will open the Stockton tournament next Monday at 8:45 p.m. against Butler.
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