Miller Lady Cardinals take bronze in Stockton tourney; Leivan reaches 1,000 points and Cardinals handle business against Wheaton Bulldogs

Miller freshman Layni Johnson hits a three in the Lady Cardinals semifinal loss to Chadwick. (Photo by Skylan Akins)
Lady Cardinals
The Miller Lady Cardinals took third place in the 15th annual Stockton Girls Tournament after defeating Marion C. Early in the third place game Saturday.
The week began Monday night as the third-seeded Lady Cardinals took on the sixth-seeded Butler Lady Bears. Miller’s Loghann Leivan got off to a quick start scoring 11 points in the first half, however, Rachel Nunez led the way for the Lady Cardinals with 18 points thanks to a strong second half that blew out the Butler Lady Bears in the two teams first ever matchup, 64-37.
The win set up a highly anticipated rematch between the Lady Cardinals of Miller and the Lady Cardinals of Chadwick. Chadwick put it on Miller back on Dec. 12 in a 62-32 win. Miller was looking for revenge and junior Leivan was searching for just five points to reach her 1,000th career point. It was a defensive struggle early on but Chadwick came out rolling as a balanced attack that saw five different scorers in on only 11 points. Miller got a three from Layni Johnson, and four from Ashlynn Helton to keep the deficit to just 11-9. Chadwick got the offense rolling in the second quarter and went on a run early to extend the lead to as much as 15 at one point. However, a Miller run late cut the Chadwick lead down to just 26-17.
Miller has had a knack for having great third quarters and they had another one. A ferocious third started with Miller taking a brief lead after an and-one from Leivan, which helped her reach that No. 1,000 and take a one-point lead. After that, the teams just traded baskets and Chadwick’s lead was down to 39-37 going into the final frame. Miller battled hard in the fourth quarter but early fouling led Chadwick to get to the free throw line 12 times that led to 22 fourth quarter points, as Chadwick defended their victory, 61-53.
The loss set up a showdown with Marion C Early in the third place game, Saturday. Miller struck first as two quick baskets from Leivan gave them an early lead. Helton and Nunez’s three points paired with a Kendall Neely basket gave Miller a 13-8 lead early on. The third quarter was tightly contested but a three from Helton was the difference as Miller extended their lead by three 34-27 after three quarters. The fourth was all Miller as Leivan, Johnson, Alexis Bailey and Helton combined for five threes in the final eight minutes and the Lady Cardinals cruised to a third place finish, 55-36.
“It has been a bumpy road getting to 1,000, getting injured the first six weeks and I knew I was close,” Leivan said. “I saw my mom with the sign and it really got in my head but it felt really good to get 1,000, but 1,500 coming?”
Miller improves to 11-6 on the year as they get set to open conference play next week with a pair of home super nights. They started Tuesday against Pierce City before taking the court again Friday against Diamond.
Cardinals
A Tuesday night victory over the Wheaton Bulldogs was the lone matchup of the week for the Miller Cardinals basketball squad. This showdown comes 15 days after the two teams met in the Miller Invitational Tournament, when Miller put up a tournament record 102 points on the Bulldogs.
The Cardinals wasted little time getting started as Miller jumped all over Wheaton. Miller was able to bring the subs in early on in a 78-48 turbo clock victory.
The win moves the Cardinals to 13-4 that continues the Cardinals best start since the 2009 season when the Cardinals finished third at state. The Cardinals begin Southwest Conference play this week opening with Pierce City on Tuesday before returning to the court on Friday against the Diamond Wildcats.
Category:
Lawrence County Record
312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
www.lawrencecountyrecord.com