Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — There’s a stark difference between regular season Milee Smith and tournament-time Milee Smith.
Both are incredible basketball players.
But when tournament-time Milee shows up, with an extra bounce in her step and that look in her eye, special things start to happen.
Smith showed up and showed out in Saturday’s Division III district quarterfinal. Her 33 points, eight rebounds and four assists powered Unioto to a 75-53 runaway win over Athens.
The Tanks are advancing and Smith is just getting started.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“If you look at her in the pregame and you start to see a little hop in her step, if she’s bouncing around, get ready,” Unioto coach Jeff Miller said. “If she’s got a little bounce in her, she’s going to be on another level that night. In the tournament, you can just kind of see that little smile, that little bounce, and we have that conversation. It’s like, ‘Hey listen, it’s your time. You’re our offensive leader. Go do your thing.’ She does that. Tonight, she was really good.”
Athens delivered the day’s first punch, shooting out to an 8-2 run behind Alexis Koopal and Olivia Smart, which prompted the Shermans (19-4) to take a timeout with 4:38 to go in the first quarter.
But out of that break, Smith called for the ball and went to work.
The junior scored at the 4:26, 4:09 and 3:28 marks to bring the deficit to one at 10-9. When she scored with 1:54 left, it gave the Shermans their first lead at 14-13.
Athens would briefly go back out in front at 17-14, thanks to a bucket and two free throws from Koopal, but Smith teamed up with Mya Hamilton to give Unioto a 22-18 lead going into the second.
“They came out and they hit a couple of shots early,” Miller said of Athens. “There were probably a couple of shots where we were like, ‘We’re going to dare them to take those kinds of shots and if they hit them, we’ll adjust.’ They hit them right out of the gate. But I think our pace starts to wear on you about the third quarter. And I think that happened tonight. We were able to stick to what our game plan was after the run they had. We didn’t go away from it and it paid off.”
Unioto’s Kendal Walker began the second with a jumper before Smith got a bucket and a foul shot to fall, pushing the advantage to 27-18. When Keyairah Beard dialed long distance later in the quarter, the Tanks’ advantage had ballooned to 30-20.
The Bulldogs (18-6) wouldn’t go away, though.
Behind Koopal and Brystol Stump, Athens eroded the 10-point lead to five on two occasions — at 32-27 and 37-32. However, Smith and Hamilton spearheaded an 8-0 run to end the first half and put Unioto ahead 45-32 at the intermission
Asa Holcombe and Quinn Banks helped the Bulldogs get to within seven at 46-39 early in the third, but that was as close as they’d get. Unioto’s Maggie Holbert answered with a bucket, followed by a triple, to push the lead back to 55-41 with 2:07 left.
It was smooth sailing the rest of the way.
“In girls basketball, I’ve been following this for 20-plus years. I used to think you could have two really good players and just throw three other kids out there and you could make a pretty good run,” Miller said. “That’s not the case anymore. You have to have some really good players and then some really good role players. I really feel like we have four kids that can score 20 any night. We have two [Smith and Hamilton] that are averaging close to 20 and another two [Holbert and Beard] that can score that many. We’re comfortable with that. I’m just really proud of all of them tonight.”
Statistically, following Smith’s output, Hamilton posted 21 points and five rebounds while Holbert added 10 points as well. Beard also chipped in with seven points and five assists.
Koopal led the Bulldogs with a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds while Smart added 13 points. Stump also contributed with 10 points and four rebounds while Holcombe finished with five points and 11 boards.
As the Bulldogs’ season — one that included a TVC championship — comes to a close, Unioto advances to a Division III district semifinal at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Logan High School.
The Shermans will meet with Sheridan, a 51-49 winner over Marietta on Saturday.
In terms of seeding, the Generals’ win was an upset. But Miller and company know that’s not a reality.
Sheridan has a storied program and it’ll pose a true test for Unioto.
“When you look at Sheridan, just traditionally, they’re going to play really good defense, they’re going to be really well-coached, they’re going to be fundamentally sound and they’re not going to turn the ball over,” Miller said. “So when you go scouting, you look for strengths and weaknesses, and there’s not a lot of weaknesses there. They’ve got a really good team. We have a couple of days to get ready and we’ll go Wednesday and see what we can do.”
BOX SCORE
Athens: 18-14-11-10 — 53
Unioto: 22-23-14-16 — 75
Athens: 21-62 FG, 5-12 FT, 6-22 3pt., 37 rebounds (Koopal 13), 16 turnovers, 11 assists (Holcombe 3, Chapman 3). Scoring: Koopal 14, Smart 13, Stump 10, Banks 8, Holcombe 5, Chapman 3.
Unioto: 29-60 FG, 9-13 FT, 8-25 3pt., 26 rebounds (Smith 8), 7 turnovers, 14 assists (Beard 5). Scoring: Smith 33, Hamilton 21, Holbert 10, Beard 7, Walker 4.
SPONSORED BY KINGSTON NATIONAL BANK
