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Pull Away Late: Miller girls basketball beats Seton to advance to state final

Photo by Bart Isley

Miller’s girls basketball team has waited a while to have a dynamic offensive threat in the post, but they’ve certainly got one now. 

 

Alary Bell poured in 21 points Friday evening and the No. 1-seeded Mavericks managed to pull away from No. 4 Seton late for a 59-48 VISAA D1 state semifinal win. With the victory the Mavericks return to the state title game for the first time since 2019 and get a shot at their first state championship since the 2018 title run.

 

“It has been years since we had a legitimate post and as long as we can keep her out of foul trouble we’re in pretty good shape,” said Miller coach James Braxton. “She’s a horse down there and she goes to the boards and gets rebounds.”

 

Bell combined with Brooklin Ingram who had 14 points and Naomi Ryan who had 13 points to carry the Mavericks offensively in the win.

 

It wasn’t easy though as Seton came out on fire from beyond the arc and Miller’s star guard and the Blue Ridge Conference player of the year Presleigh Braxton had to navigate some foul trouble during the win. Seton buried four threes in the first quarter and tacked on two more in the second quarter and trailed just 28-25 going into the half. Mary Pennefather finished with 19 points, with all five of her field goals coming from 3-pointers. 

 

“We started in 2-3 zone and they were drilling them and we were fouling and midway through the third quarter we decided to change our defense up,” James Braxton said. “It’s kind of a junk defense that we haven’t run a whole bunch, kind of a triangle and two. We started to score a little more fluidly in the second half too.”

 

To manage Presleigh Braxton’s foul trouble, the Mavericks turned to Lily Pallante, who handled the point well and kept Miller on track, minimizing mistakes and putting players in positions to make plays. 

 

“She did a really good job of filling in and playing aggressive,” James Braxton said.

 

Miller created some serious distance between itself and Seton in the third, with a big boost coming from Ingram hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. The Mavericks then clamped down on defense in the fourth, holding Seton to just eight points and a single 3-oppointer from Jackie Hugo. 

 

Presleigh Braxton finished with seven points and Larissa Cole chipped in four. 

 

The Mavericks will face No. 6 Covenant, a team in the midst of a Cinderella run to the championship game. 

 

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