By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Miller girls basketball enjoyed yet another successful campaign in 2023-24 with a sixth-straight 20-win season.
The 21-9 Cardinals also captured a sixth-straight district championship, falling to Norwood in the Class 2 state quarterfinal round.
Heading into his third season at the helm, head coach Ryan White has reason for optimism and believes has the necessary pieces in place to finally make it past the quarterfinals.
With everyone on the roster returning, including all-state selection Loghann Leivan, it’s easy to see why.
Leivan, a 5-foot-8 junior, averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals as a sophomore.
“Loghann is coming off her second-straight all-state season,” White said. “Our expectations for her have never been higher. She has proved to make an impact physically, but in order for us to get over the hump we need her to be more of an impact emotionally. Loghann has done a great job both in the weight room and court this off season. Of all things, I am most excited to see her grow as a true vocal leader.”
Leivan is joined by a trio of key returnees in Ashlynn Helton, Rachel Nunez and Alexis Bailey.
Helton, a 5-foot-8 junior, posted 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals per contest last season.
“Ashlynn is coming off her best season yet,” White said. “In my opinion, Ash played at an all-state level, and that effort continued into this off-season. Ash is physically becoming one of the best athletes in the conference but, in order for us to get over the hump, we need her to accept the burden of being our team’s vocal leader.”
Nunez, a 5-foot-8 junior, averaged 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals last season.
“Rachel affects a basketball game in too many ways to count,” White said. “Last season, she was the stat leader in multiple categories. This season we need Rachel to grow in her role offensively and accept her leadership role. She has the capability to score 15 a night. In order for us to get over the hump, we need her to demand the ball around the rim.”
Bailey, a 5-foot-2 senior, recorded 6 points and 2 steals per game as a junior.
“Bailey is coming off a very impressive district and playoff run shooting the basketball,” White said. “From the arc, Bailey shot 67% hitting 14 total 3-point shots in the last four games. We look for Bailey to increase her confidence on the offensive end and still maintain her role as a main defender.”
Leivan, Helton and Nunez could all eclipse the 1,000-point milestone at some point during the season.
White also believes a trio of freshmen have the ability to make an impact at the varsity level this season in Layni Johnson, Riley Prier and Jolene Chew.
White on Johnson – “Layni has the potential to be a massive piece to our program. She comes into this season hopefully able to fill a very specific spot that gives our program a chance to compete. Layni is one of the hardest workers I have been around. She puts in countless hours outside of practice. In order for her to be able to make an impact varsity, she needs to be able to guard at an extremely high level and be able to knock down open shots. I am very excited to see if Layni will be able to fill this role.”
White on Prier – “Players like Riley really get me excited to coach. She is that athlete that just wants to play extremely hard on the defensive end. Her offensive abilities have some work, but her energy is unmatched. We hope that Riley as a freshman can help us defensively, while working on her offensive confidence. I am excited to get to coach a player as tough as Riley.”
White on Chew – “Jolene has the potential to be a really good basketball player. Her ball skills are very good as a freshman and this summer, she found herself being able to go by many players. When she learns to finish and shoot, I believe she will be very dangerous offensively. Jolene this summer also showed that she can get down and guard if she wants. In order for her to get varsity time we need to see her confidence grow on the defensive end.”
For Miller to continue building on recent success and enjoy another deep postseason run, White believes its offensive efficiency must improve.
“This season I would really like to take a step up on the offensive end,” White said. “We have stressed the defensive end so much over the last three years, the offensive end hasn’t excelled as much as it could.
“With us being more experienced, I would like to improve upon our scoring efficiency each night. This starts with me having a better system to get players the ball in certain situations. Our girls are very talented on this end of the court and this year we need to show that.”
Following a Nov. 19 jamboree at Rogersville with Kickapoo, Republic and the host school, Miller will open its season Nov. 22 at home against Hollister.
