Western Reserve’s readiness all about trust

By BOB ETTINGER

sports@vindy.com

BERLIN CENTER

Western Reserve girls basketball coach Steve Miller has spent the entire season building trust with the Blue Devils so when the time came for them to believe, there would be a foundation for that belief.

Miller has reached that point in the season where he must call on his team to go to the well as they head into the Division IV regional tournament.

“You’ve got to know your team,” Miller said. “I’ve told them all season that when they need me, I’ll be there. It was the same when we got to the district final. They’d never been there. I was there once as a player and twice as a coach. I’ve been there. I’ll have them prepared. They’ve trusted me and I’ve trusted they’ll do what they need to do. It’s all about having trust in one another.”

Western Reserve will battle Dalton in a Division IV regional semifinal at Massillon Perry High School at 6:15 p.m. today.

“We have a couple of tapes,” Miller said. “Dalton is a team that’s been to the regional three straight years. Obviously, they have aspirations of getting to the regional final. They got to the regional final last year and have circled the date. They’ve got McKenna Geiser and Emma Cannon, who were both Northeast Inland first-team players. They have a couple of other good players. They love the perimeter. They run five-out open motion. They hang their hats on defense. They’re similar to McDonald. They’re patient on offense and a very good defensive team.”

With a win, the Blue Devils will play the New Washington Buckeye Central-Willoughby Cornerstone Christian winner in the regional championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“I have peeked ahead,” Miller said. “I’ve got a snapshot looking ahead. We play Thursday and it’s a quick turnaround and play again Saturday. Some coaches have the mindset to just do what they do at that point. Neither one of them have a walk in the park. At this time of year, you’ve got to be good, but you’ve also got to be a little lucky. Cornerstone is a damn good team, damn good. But they aren’t deep and one of their key players is hurt. That will be an interesting semifinal, too.”

Dani Vuletich might be the leading scorer and Alyssa Serensky has had big nights, but the Western Reserve offense runs through point guard Kennedy Miller.

“As a coach I go through, and the offense goes through, Kennedy,” Miller said. “She knows me, being my daughter. She knows what I want with tempo, when to get the ball inside, when to go the basket herself, when to pass off for a jumper. She’s shattered the single-season assists record. She’s an unsung hero in distributing the ball. She knows where the hell to get the ball.”

Defensively, Miller is still formulating his plan.

“The biggest challenge is trying to figure out how to take away what they do best,” Miller said. “They have a multitude of scorers. If we leave anyone open, they can make us pay. We have to extend the perimeter, but at the same time they do a nice job of cutting to the basket for layups.”

Joining Vuletich, Serensky and Kennedy Miller on the front lines will be Olivia Pater, Brooke Morris, Maddy Owen and Erica Dezee.