East Hardy senior Brooke Miller netted her 1,000th career point to provide one highlight of positivity to an otherwise rough contest ruined by the Lady Rams stomping through the Den for a 64-31 victory in Baker on Monday night.
Entering the game, Miller needed only three points to reach the milestone mark and the magic number came with 53 seconds remaining in the second period.
Southern Garrett took a 12-4 lead in the first quarter as five players Brooke Davis, Laina Holler, Courtney Roth, Kayla Harris and Hanna Owens (4) scored points while the Lady Cougars had baskets by Julia Hahn and Leanna Basye.
The Lady Rams went up 24-12 with two minutes and change left in the first half with the last points scored by Kayla Harris, two of her six markers in the frame en route to 14 points for the game.
Hahn assisted Miller on a jumper at 1:38 and Basye stole the ball moments later, but Southern Garrett’s Rachel Reams forced a jump ball with Miller.
Basye threw the inbounds pass to Miller, who had the position to collect the ball and lifted the ball into the hoop inside the paint with two Lady Rams defending to surpass the 1,000 point milestone with 53 seconds left and cut the deficit to 24-16.
“It means a lot to me. I’ve been working really hard since freshman year, being able to start when I was a freshman. I’ve always tried to the best that I can do and I’m really glad I have something special to remember my senior year,” East Hardy senior Brooke Miller remarked.
“It was really exciting to get it here at home, but there weren’t that many people here supporting us although there was a big crowd. It makes me happy.”
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Miller blocked a Lady Rams attempt, then East Hardy missed the final shot of the half with Southern Garrett dashing into the break with a 24-16 advantage.
The Lady Rams started the third period on a 10-0 run which included four of Courtney Roth’s game-high 16 points for a 34-16 lead at the 4:41 mark.
Reams, Holler and Owens scored during that span for Southern Garrett, while East Hardy missed three shots and committed two turnovers.
Over the next minute and a half, the Lady Cougars walked twice around a steal by Emma Baker before Southern Garrett sandwiched errant baskets around an iron hit by East Hardy with rebounds by Miller and Baker.
The run came to an end as Basye dished to Strawderman for a jumper at 3:07, but the Lady Rams got back on track with a putback by Harris.
Basye tripped and fell, but managed to recover the ball and was tied up for a jump ball in favor of East Hardy.
Miller was fouled trying to go back to the rim after collecting a rebound and knocked down one free throw at 2:16.
Harris grabbed the ensuing board and was fouled on the drive creating two more points at the line.
Southern Garrett applied full-court pressure and the Lady Cougars broke it with a pass from Basye to Strawderman around to Hahn for a layup, 38-21 at 1:35.
The Lady Rams closed the third period on a 10-nil run and extended it to 23-0 midway through the final stanza.
Roth hit a jumper at 1:19, then swiped the ball during the press and scored eight seconds later.
Davis made a steal and fed Roth for a layup, then Wilt stole the ball to setup a give and take with Harris leading back to Wilt inside.
Roth stole then all and Harris assisted Davis for the last basket of the frame, 48-21.
Southern Garrett started the fourth period with a shot by Roth, then Holler made a defensive board and Wilt scored on a putback.
Roth created a steal and passed to Holler for a layup at 5:47 to extend the lead 54-21.
Holler snatched another rebound and the Lady Rams found an opening along the perimeter for Bethany Evans to drill a 3-pointer.
The Lady Cougars missed again and Evans hauled in the carom leading to a basket by Roth.
After a walk by East Hardy, Southern Garrett’s Nea Orem netted a putback for a 61-21 advantage with 3:53 remaining.
Miller assisted Basye on East Hardy’s next possession as the ball finally found the net at 3:32.
Orem added a free throw when fouled collecting a rebound, then Miller snatched the ensuing board and the ball was lost out of bounds.
Orem was fouled again during a rebound, but walked seconds later.
Harris blocked a shot and stole the ball in the same motion which led to a basket by Orem.
Strawderman made a short range jumper for the Lady Cougars at 2:07, now trailing 64-25.
East Hardy’s Tera Jones blocked a Lady Rams attempt and forced a jump ball.
Southern Garrett walked after a rebound, then Hahn dished to Strawderman, who drilled a long range jumper having been just inside the perimeter line at 1:24.
Strawderman made a steal and scored on the breakaway layup to slice the deficit to 64-29 with a minute to go.
The Lady Rams missed a pair of free throws and two field goals before a jump ball was created giving East Hardy one last possession.
Hannah Fogel hit a jumper along the baseline with six seconds left for the Lady Cougars to make the final score 64-31.
Roth led the Lady Rams with a game-high 16 points and Harris contributed 14 markers.
East Hardy was paced by Strawderman with 12 points, followed by Hahn and Basye with six markers apiece.
The Lady Cougars host Pendleton County on Wednesday night, then visits Moorefield on Friday and travels to Tucker County on Monday.
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