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Miller, Braves crush Bombers

Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Windham’s Blake Eye (13) tries to dribble around Logan Lendak (1) during their game Monday at Grand Valley High School. The Bombers’ Phillip Maiorca (10) looks on during Badger’s 70-43 victory.

ORWELL — Aiden Miller hit a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter.

Badger had a 16-8 lead at the time. There was a discrepancy about the scoreboard. Was it 18-8?

It was 16-8. The Badger faithful thought it was a 10-point lead.

The last time the Braves boys basketball team played against Windham, it took Badger overtime to beat the Bombers at home. They had reason to be nervous. Not in this game. The Braves rolled in the Division IV Orwell District semifinal 70-43 at Grand Valley High School.

Top-seeded Badger (19-5) plays the winner of tonight’s second-seeded Bristol and third-seeded Andrews Osborne game, Friday at 7 p.m.

“It’s amazing,” said Badger senior Aiden Miller, whose team shot 30-of-58 from the floor. “It’s confidence. Let’s keep it rolling. That’s our motto in the locker room. Let’s keep it going. Let’s keep the gears turning because it’s a huge game on Friday, too, whether it be Andrews Osborne or Bristol, two amazing teams as well.

“It’s up to us, a mindset. It’s what we got to do. We’ll keep rolling.”

Miller, a first-team, all-Northeast Inland District boys player in Division IV, had a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds to pace the Braves.

“He’s a heady player,” Windham coach Marty Hill said. “He doesn’t ever lose control. He has a nice release on his shot for our division. He can shoot over most guys.”

There’s a lot to say about Miller. He’s quite a talent, driving through the middle of most defenses, whether it be against Windham (13-12) or recently at Ursuline.

“He has the ball on a string going around guys,” said Badger coach Josh Upshire, who was this year’s boys Northeast Inland Division IV coach of the year. “You can’t coach what Aiden does. He’s a special player. It wasn’t like it was given to him. He was in the gym over the summer, working his butt off. He leads guys by example. He’s always in the gym.”

It wasn’t all Miller Monday. Keith Barto, a 6-4 senior post, had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

“We tried to help on Miller and he got a lot of backside rebounds,” Hill said. “He did a good job on the back end of the press.”

There wasn’t much Windham did well on Monday. Anthony Maiorca had a steal and basket late in the third quarter. Badger had six of its 12 miscues in the third. Maiorca had 10 points, while Bailey Rutherford led the Bombers with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Burt Jones had 13.

Badger outscored Windham 6-0 to end the third quarter and outscored the Bombers 22-9 in the fourth.

Windham was 15-of-53 from the floor and outrebounded 40 to 25.

“Our problem was we tried to do it as individuals,” Hill said. “We didn’t try to do it as a group. We’ve had that happen in other games. Then we’ll have other games where we’ll have 22, 23 assists. You don’t get any assists when nobody’s moving either. We weren’t moving.”

Windham shot 2-of-25 from 3, not something in which the Bombers specialize. Windham could not penetrate through the Badger interior or have the patience try to break through.

“We had a couple good practices too,” Hill said. “They ran up a couple of out-of-bounds play we drew up, showed the kids. You’d think they never seen it before. That happens. End of the year, you know it’s your last game and you fall behind and that’s what’s on the kids minds. I’ve had it happen before. I’ve been on the other end of it.

“That’s high school basketball.”

For Miller, it’s all about being a better player. That’s all he ever wanted.

“To do it with my brothers out here, it’s made me grow so much more,” he said. “Doing this with them and making me strive to get better. That’s how I got better, and it makes me want to get better every day in the gym with them.”

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