Carson Francis, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LOGAN — When Milee Smith is on her A-game, it’s contagious.
Throughout her four years of high school, she’s been the centerpiece of Unioto’s success, and it was no different when the lights came on Monday evening.
In a rematch with Sheridan in a Division III district semifinal at Logan High School — the third postseason meeting between the two teams in the last four years — Smith and the Shermans started off red-hot and never looked back.
The senior’s game-high 24 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks spearheaded a deep offensive showing from Unioto as the Shermans advanced to a district final with a 68-46 win.
“I felt like we were really prepared. We know Sheridan is a good team and they’re going to bring their best every time we play them, and we just had to match that. I feel like we did that really well tonight on offense and defense,” Smith said. “I felt like everybody did what they had to do and played their role on the court tonight, and it led to a good win.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
After tip-off, the Shermans (22-2) wasted no time lighting up the gym.
Charlotte Dennis buried a triple on the opening possession before Smith chalked up her first two of the night, giving Unioto a quick 5-0 lead at the 6:37 mark in the first quarter.
Sheridan (20-5) tried to extinguish the hot start by calling a timeout at that time, but Unioto was unfazed.
Kiley Puckett connected from outside and Smith cashed in another deuce to put the Shermans out to a 10-0 run. Sheridan would climb back and cut the deficit to 12-9 by way of the 3-ball, but Unioto had an answer for that, too.
“I felt like we hit every shot we took, which really put [Sheridan] behind the 8-ball. They kind of had to go away from what they wanted to do and start scrambling,” Unioto head coach Jeff Miller said. “We got them out of what they wanted to do systematically, and it allowed us to maintain that lead throughout the game.”
Smith’s defense made way for her own offense.
Her three blocks in the frame accompanied her eight points as the Shermans built a 20-11 lead after one.
“If you look at Sheridan, traditionally and especially this year, they don’t have the typical offensive weapons they’ve had the past few years. They’re all playing off at the next level. But the one thing that’s consistent with them is that they’re going to guard you,” Miller said. “They’re going to guard you tight, they’re going to be aggressive, and they give up about 30 points a game. We talked about how points were going to be difficult to come by, and all of a sudden, I looked up and we’ve got 20 in the first quarter.”
The University of Dayton commit picked up right where she left off in the second, knocking down a pair of triples to help her team build a 28-14 lead at the 5:25 mark.
While the night had Smith’s name written all over it, Unioto was getting contributions from top to bottom in its lineup. All five starters graced the scoresheet in the first half, and Jillian Mathey contributed four points and five rebounds off the bench to lead the Shermans into the break with a commanding 32-16 lead.
“Once you get to these district and regional-type games, you’re not going to win games with just two or three kids. You’re going to have to have a good seven kids to have good games to be able to win,” Miller said. “I felt like tonight, having a starter that didn’t play, every kid that we put in the game tonight played really well. They executed what our game plan was, and that’s what you gotta have to win these kinds of games.”
Sheridan found some bright spots in the second half by way of Nora Cooperider, who knocked down four shots from beyond the arc en route to a 14-point, five-rebound performance.
But that would be nowhere near enough for the Generals to make it close.
Smith would still have her way and put up another six points in the third. Dennis, Keyairah Beard and Maggie Holbert also chipped in to push Unioto’s lead to 47-27 heading into the final eight minutes.
The Shermans led by as many as 30 after Beard and Holbert scored late to put themselves both in double figures, putting the finishing touches on a 22-point win to advance to a district final for a fourth straight year.
“[Unioto’s seniors], especially Maggie and Milee, they’re going to have played over one-hundred high school basketball games. Not many kids even play close to that,” Miller said. “Right now, their goal as leaders is to take one more step. We’ve talked about going one game at a time until we get to where you guys want to be.”
Following up Smith’s well-rounded performance was Beard, who put up 14 points. Dennis finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Holbert contributed 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Unioto will now advance to Saturday afternoon’s Division III district final at 1 p.m. at a location to be determined. There, the Shermans will square off with the winner of Steubenville and Tri-Valley, who play Wednesday evening at Union Local High School.
“It might be cliche, but I think it’s one of those deals where we need to worry about us and more about what we do than we do the opponent. We pick some tendencies of the opponent, but we really need to make sure we do what we do, and do it well,” Miller said. “We faced Tri-Valley last year and Steubenville’s had a great year. They’re 22-1 right now. But we’re going to head over and watch them play Wednesday night, put together our game plan, and we’ll be back Saturday ready to go.”
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