Lady Cardinals strike gold, take Gem City Classic

The Miller Lady Cardinals are once again the victors of the Gem City Classic after defeating host Diamond for the second time in three seasons, 44-39.
The tournament began on Monday night as the Lady Cardinals took on the Seneca Lady Indians in a game that was over quickly. Miller has had to overcome the absence of two time All-State selection Loghann Leivan and All-District selection Ashlynn Helton who are both out to injury. Miller had to rely on a trio of freshmen in Jolene Chew, Riley Prier and Layni Johnson to step in their absence and they played a big role in the opening round victory, 67-38. Johnson had the top scoring performance in the entire tournament with 27 points.
The win set up a semifinal matchup against Lockwood, which eventually ended in a 58-52 Miller victory.
That win then set up a Diamond-Miller championship for the third year in a row after splitting championship trophies the last two years. Defense was the story from the start as threes from senior Alexis Bailey and sophomore Tori Hollister sparked an 11-8 lead after the first quarter. The Cardinals offensive struggles continued in the second quarter as a three from Chew and three points from senior guard Alexis Bailey was all the scoring to close the half. Diamond went into the break leading 18-17. Diamond continued to extend the lead thanks in part to eight free throw attempts in the third quarter alone, and a three from Lauren Turner pushed the Miller deficit to 29-25. Then junior Rachel Nunez woke up. She scored 12 of her game leading 20 points in the final frame as the Lady Cardinals were able clinch the victory 44-39.
Miller improves to a perfect 4-0 up to this point but things are really about to get tough for the Lady Cardinals who will travel to Chadwick to take on a three-time defending district champion.