LCA boys neutralize Miller's post players, can't stop guard

Miller School’s front line consists of two 6-foot-8 players from Cameroon in Hippolyte Tsafack and Brice Kofane. LCA coach John Patterson reasoned his team wouldn’t have much of a shot of winning Saturday night’s VIC, Divison I championship at VES if the Bulldogs tried to defend those two man-to-man.

So they dared senior guard Preston Terrell to beat them. And he did.

Terrell hit three big 3-pointers during a third-quarter Mavericks run, giving Miller the space it needed in a 53-46 victory.

“We wanted 10 (Terrell) to beat us,” Patterson said. “If 10 makes plays and shots, we had no chance. That’s how good and skilled they are. We have to pick our battles, and we battled in the paint with them, because we had to. I told our kids, if 10 beats us, it’s coach Patterson’s fault. Coach Patterson will take this loss.”

The game was a physical grind through two quarters, but the Mavericks (14-6) broke it open early in the third quarter. Just before halftime, LCA’s Desmond Rice was called for an intentional foul for pulling 6-6 guard Mychal Parker to the floor on a breakaway. That sent Parker to the bench, where athletic trainers applied ice to his right elbow.

Parker returned after the break and scored the first five points of the second half as the Mavericks built a 26-16 lead. When Parker cooled off, Terrell got going. His third 3-pointer was the back-breaker, as it came with LCA guard Mike Rocco right in his face. The shot put Miller up 35-23, and left Rocco shaking his head, gesticulating as to say, “What can you do?”

“I was off in the first half,” Terrell said. “But the post men gave me the help. They gave me the ball. I give all the praise to them. Hitting the shots from the outside opened the big men up.”

The Bulldogs (12-11) staged a late rally, scoring the game’s final eight points. Miller led 53-38 with 1:10 to play, but the Mavericks missed three of their five free-throw attempts to keep the Bulldogs alive.

Ethan Layer, who led the Bulldogs with 16 points, scored nine of those in the final minute and a half. But after Parker missed two free throws with 19.9 seconds left, the Mavericks smothered Layer. He tried to force a 3 and draw a foul, but Miller didn’t bite. His well-defended 3 never got close to the rim, and Miller dribbled the rest of the time off the clock.

Terrell was one of four players in double figures for the Mavericks, who only give six players extended minutes. The Cameroonian duo combined for 22 points — Kofane with 12 and Tsafack with 10.

“The biggest problem is how do you guard the post?” Patterson said. “Do you front it? Do you play behind it? Do you choke it? What do you do with it? We tried a little bit of everything tonight.”

LCA and Miller School will both advance to the VIS, Division I tournament next week. Pairings will be announced early next week.