Western Reserve girls chasing new goals

March 6, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

Minutes after the Western Reserve High girls basketball team had secured its first district championship, first-year head coach Steve Miller had a new mission was on his plate.

“We’ve got to go back and set some new goals because we’ve had a hell of a season and we’ve lived to play another day,” Miller said after the Blue Devils (20-6) defeated Columbiana on Saturday in the Division IV district final at Mineral Ridge High School.

“It’s a big accomplishment,” Miller said. “In November, we set goals. [One] was to win the [Inter Tri-County League Tier Two] — we did that.

“[Another] goal was to get to the regionals, we did that,” Miller said. “[Another] goal was to win 20 games — we did that.”

The Blue Devils will travel to Massillon Perry High School tonight to face Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans in the regional semifinals.

“I don’t know what’s going to be there, but I am going to be excited for it,” junior Aleah Hughes said after scoring 15 points and making 13 rebounds against the Clippers.

Senior Tory White called the district title “unreal — this is our goal.

“We talked about goals in the beginning of the season,” White said. “Now that it’s here and it’s happened.

“It’s just unreal.”

The Blue Devils and Clippers (23-3) shared the ITCL Tier Two crown, splitting their regular-season series.

“The difference was at the foul line — they went 3-for 15,” Miller said of the Clippers in round three. “When we they beat us, I think we went 4-for 15.

“Free throws are a huge part — we’ve shot 70 percent at the foul line all season,” Miller said. “That’s what we do — we rebound, we pound it inside and we make free throws.”

Hughes said their goal was to not let Columbiana’s long-range shooters get comfortable.

“Defensivlely, we couldn’t let them make threes,” Hughes said. “Once they get hot, they could keep on making them.

“We just played our best.”

Miller was pleased with how well the Blue Devils defended the Clippers.

“To hold them to under 40, that’s great effort by my girls,” said Miller who once coached Western Reserve’s boys teams for several seasons. “We started the season giving up 64 points the first two games.”

That start did not go over well.

“We had a little talk and said we ,,, [need to] play defense [better],” Miller said. “To get to the regionals, we played some defense.”

Miller said the Blue Devils are at their best playing a halfcourt scheme.

“We know we’ve got to run and prevent transition buckets,” Miller said. “If our [big players] get into foul trouble, we are in trouble. We’re a pretty good half-court defensive team.”

The Blue Devils likely are bring the least experience to the regional. White doesn’t mind, saying the team thrives on an underdog mentality “to just prove them wrong.”