Miller wins the Ayala championship with style

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What a great show of athletes Monday in the championship of the Best of the West girls’ basketball tournament at Ayala, and a great game, too, as No. 2 Miller came from 10 points down, 41-31, with 2:27 left in the third quarter, to win in overtime over No. 7 Muir, 63-58.

Chloe Wells, who is only a sophomore, continues to make big plays. She made a huge three-pointer with 14 seconds left to send the game to overtime, and finished with 24 points and six steals. She is making the transition this season from shooting guard to point guard. I know one thing, it’s nice when the ball is in her hands. She was the tournament MVP.

Miller is 10-1 and its only loss is to No. 11 Redondo, 64-59, in a game in which Coach Mel Wilkins said he was still toying with his starting lineup.

Miller had an amazing tournament. It played five games, and despite being the top-seeded team in the tournament, didn’t win any by more than five points. It was suggested that Miller was playing up or down to its competition. Wilkins agreed.

‘Our plan was to keep everything close,’ Wilkins said, acknowledging that he is in a soft league and this was a chance to expose his team to the vice-like grip of pressure. ‘Last year, we were blowing teams out, but in the playoffs we were struggling in the close games.’

Miller may have kept the game close in the tournament opener against Corona Santiago by not pressing, but I don’t think the 10-point third-quarter deficit to Muir (10-1) was by design.

Muir looked good despite a losing performance. ‘We had some mental breakdowns and a few defensive lapses and they took advantage,’ said Muir Coach Gary Johnson. ‘Tonight AB Miller was the best, but I’d like to play them again.’

It would be worth seeing, but they’re in different playoff divisions, so it’s not going to happen.

-- Martin Henderson