Lady Cardinals use late heroics to defeat Lady Pirates 

The Miller Lady Cardinals split a pair of games last week, defeating Ash Grove after falling to new SWC opponent, Skyline.
The week began in Skyline as the defending Class 2 state champion Lady Tigers took on the Lady Cardinals who had run the SWC for the better part of a decade.
As quickly as the game tipped off, the Lady Tigers took control. Skyline could not miss in the first four minutes of the game. In fact, Skyline’s first missed shot came at the 4:04 mark left when Ashlen Garrett missed a three from the wing. The damage was done as the incredible defense of Skyline had silenced Miller’s offense. Skyline led 24-3 at that point. Miller attempted to answer but the Lady Tigers were too much and Skyline cruised to a “leave no doubts” kind of victory, 63-26.
Loghann Leivan led the way with eight points followed by Rachel Nunez with six. Ashlynn Helton and Kendall Neely each had five and Jolene Chew had two.
The Lady Cardinals tried to put the loss in the rear view mirror as they hosted Ash Grove on Tuesday. Loghann Leivan and Alexis Bailey each combined for five points in the opening quarter to take a 10-8 lead after one quarter. Leivan continued her hot start nailing two more threes in the second quarter to take a 24-14 lead into the halftime break.
Miller held on to escape the Lady Pirates, 54-51, and extended the Lady Cardinals win streak over Ash Grove to eight in a row, and 15 of the last 16.
Miller moves to 14-7 for the season, including 4-1 in the SWC. The Lady Cardinals were back in action Tuesday in Stockton before returning home Friday against Wheaton. Miller concludes their regular season next Tuesday for a senior night showdown with Marionville.