Under Ed Huckaby, Fishburne Military Academy’s post graduate basketball program is always looking for competition even when its an exhibition game. In Miller’s high school program, he feels he gets just that.
“I know (Miller coach) Scott Willard and he runs a great program so this is a game that’s good for us and good for them,” Huckaby said. “He’s a former Divison 1 college coach and so am I and when you are, all you want is competition.”
The new-look Mavericks — who lost six of its seven total players last year to graduation — may have only had seven practices, but with the regular season a little under a month away, all looks well in Crozet as Miller was able to top Fishburne in a fast paced scrimmage that featured plenty of offense, 82-72.
“It’s our first scrimmage and it was in our house so the environment was great,” Willard said. “Overall I was very happy with the way it turned out and now we can continue to practice, get better and look forward to our next scrimmage.”
Though the Caissons were without four starters with Division I collegiate talent, the Mavericks still put together an impressive showing, especially considering that Willard’s team boasts not a single senior.
Behind a great night of shooting from Andrew White, Miller was able to jump out in front of Fishburne early. The Mavericks opened up an 8-point lead to begin but allowed the Caissons to take their only lead of the night towards the end of the first quarter. With White, and Western Albemarle transfer Travis Hester getting hot in the second quarter though, Miller quickly reclaimed its lead and went into the break with a healthy 15-point gap.
“They had a really good night shooting,” Huckaby said. “They ran the floor well and hit their shots.”
In the second half, the offenses on both sides got warmer and more comfortable, but the Mavericks outpaced their visitors and built up as much as a 21-point lead. Finally, in the fourth, the Caissons began to clamp down more defensively, and although they crawled back to within 10 points of the lead, not even the 10 minute quarters left enough time to mount a comeback.
“We were told (by our coaching staff) that we would get physically beat up tonight,” White said. “I took it as a challenge. This is a new atmosphere for me coming from (Thomas Dale High) public school. I just wanted to set the tone because I put in the most work I’ve ever done in the offseason. I’m coming into this year with a big chip on my shoulder to try and show what I can do.”
Eventhough he was part of a heavy rotation, he showed a lot in the minutes he played. White led all scorers with 25 points, 12 of which were off of 3-pointers. Inside the paint, Georgetown commit Brandon Bolden, freshman Markell Lodge and Hendrix Emu all showed their rebounding skills and tenacity underneath the basket on offense. With White, Hester and a boat load of other reliable long rage shooters like Chase Cannon, Willard plans to stretch the floor more than last year.
“We’ve got a lot of pieces,” Willard said. “We’ve got a big guy down low and a lot of wing players that can shoot and penetrate. They all also can play some defense. So that allows us to open up the court a bit and run. If people want to come out and run with us that’s great. If not, we’re going to have an advantage.”
The Mavericks will see Fishburne again in February in a regulation game and Huckaby plans to employ his full roster in that contest.
Miller heads to the University of Richmond next Friday when it will play another scrimmage, this time against Christchurch.
