Trailing late, Williamsburg Christian Academy’s Imani Bryant tried to loft the ball past Lilly Riggleman, but the Miller junior tracked Bryant’s intentions, leapt up and hauled in a steal with 24 seconds left to play.
Then Miller’s Kristin Histand came up with a steal.
Then Miller’s Rachel Odumu intercepted a WCA outlet pass in the corner.
With three straight steals and solid free throw shooting in between, Miller suffocated Williamsburg Christian in the closing minutes to win the VISAA Division 2 title 48-43 Saturday evening.
“If we’re not playing defense, we’re not winning the game, that’s how it goes,” Odumu said. “We held it in and took it home.”
It was Miller’s first Division II title, the Mavericks’ fifth since 2005 and first since 2011.
The third-seeded Mavericks had to rally from down 25-20 to the top-seeded WCA squad. Miller exploded out of the locker room for the third straight game in the tournament, and by the end of the frame they led by eight, holding WCA to just three points and a single field goal in the third quarter.
“We changed defenses a little bit to see if we could get a little more aggressive on the defensive end because they were settling in against the 1-3-1,” said Miller coach James Braxton. “And it worked, we got them to speed up a little bit.”
Riggleman was instrumental to the run with seven of the Mavericks’ 16 points in the third. Along with 3-pointers by Lexi Mallory and Histand, Riggleman provided just enough offense for Miller to capitalize on the lock down defense and build an insurmountable lead.
“We consist of just a smart type of play,” Riggleman said. “We just know the game. You have to play fast, but you can’t rush and our team knows that. We have players who all know what to do with the ball when they get it.”
WCA refused to go away though, and closed to within three at 38-35 with 1:39 left to play, then again to three at 44-41 with 29 seconds left. That’s when the defensive spurt got going for Miller with the trio of steals jumpstarted by Riggleman.
“Throughout the whole season, she’s been sort of been the go-to player,” Odumu said. “For her to step up on a day like this, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
The win wrapped up a tremendous run to the state title by a Mavericks team that seemingly wasn’t as explosive as in years past after losing Whitney Martin and Taylor Sandidge to graduation. But the Mavericks managed to knock off Spotswood to win the Daily Progress/NBC29 Holiday Classic and then Liberty Christian in the Blue Ridge Conference tournament title game. Add in the state championship win and it was an historic season during Braxton’s tenure at the helm.
“We’ve got some seniors who’ve been here awhile and they’ve been leaders and they’ve been led by some good players,” Braxton said. “They’re tough and they just don’t die.”
