MILLER NETS 1,000TH CAREER POINT IN 56-13 WIN OVER COWANESQUE VALLEY
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | January 29, 2021 | Photo courtesy David Alliger
ATHENS — It was quite a day for Kayleigh Miller. In a two-hour span, the
Athens senior signed her National Letter-of-Intent to play at Penn
College, then scored her 1,000th career point in the Lady Wildcats’
56-13 win over Cowanesque Valley here Friday.
Miller, who scored
13 points in the win, is currently second all-time in school history in
3-pointers made. Appropriately enough, a 3-pointer early in the fourth
quarter pit her over the 1,000-point plateau, and that fact wasn’t lost
on her coach-father Brian Miller.
“The 3-pointer has been her
forte since she was a little freshman, out there playing for coach
(Kelly) Burkhart and making 3s, supporting Emily Lunger and Kara
Chapman. She would always step up and hit the big 3 to help the team.
“Four
years later, she’s become a complete player,” said Miller. “Her forte
is being a shooter, and knocking down 3-pointers; it was nice for her to
get her 1,000th point with a 3-pointer.”
Kayleigh Miller became
the seventh girls in school history to eclipse 1,000 points, following
in the footsteps of Jennifer Nichols (1,528 points), Maryellen Onofre
(1.512), Emily Lunger (1,270), Taylor Clark (1,256), Michelle Shaffer
(1,143), and Kelly McCarty (1,022).
Brian Miller was pleased with the Lady Wildcats’ team play.
“I thought we shared the ball very well,” he said. “(CV) played man-to-man defense, and we ran our sets.
“They
were playing physical, and we found some nice offensive flow, and had
some nice passes, especially to Caydence (Macik) finishing around the
basket,” added Miller.
Of course, defense was once again the cornerstone in the win as Athens allowed just one field goal in the first half.
“I thought we played great defensively,” said Miller. “We contested every shot … we didn’t give them many good looks at all.
“I
thought we played 32 good minutes of defense. That’s what we were
focusing on … we wanted to look good to get ready for Tuesday night’s
game,” added Miller in reference to his Lady Wildcats’ showdown with
unbeaten Towanda.
Miller scored five points in the opening
stanza, and junior Caydence Macik and senior Megan Collins added four
points apiece as Athens raced out to a 15-2 lead.
Macik pumped in
11 points in the second quarter, and sophomore Karlee Bartlow added
four points to fuel a 19-0 blitz that pushed the Lady Wildcat advantage
to 34-2 at the half.
Macik, who was 9 of 11 from the field, led
Athens with 24 points and one blocked shot, while Bartlow added seven
points, two assists, and one blocked shot, and Collins chipped in with
six points and three assists.
Miller also had five assists, two
steals, and a blocked shot in the win, while seniors Rachel Stephens and
Hannah Blackman each had three rebounds and two assists.
Renee Abbott led CV with six points.
Athens, now 9-1, travels to face Towanda (7-0) Tuesday.
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