Nancy Swarts

    Milford's girls basketball Head Coach John Lohmeier knew winning back-to-back Southern Nebraska Conference titles would not be an easy task.
     "The SNC is usually one of the toughest in the state," he said. "You know the competition is tough when you have a 14-2 record and are only seeded third in the tourney."
    Milford 53, Sandy Creek 32
     The Eagles took advantage of their first-round bye and watched their first opponent, Sandy Creek, play before their match up Jan. 28. Lohmeier said he looked forward to a very fast-paced game with considerable pressure.
     "We love it when teams press us, as this always seems to get our running game going a little bit," he said. "We are fortunate to have great ball handlers on this team and lots of kids that usually make good, quick decisions." 
     In the first quarter both teams tried to get out and run and shot an even 12 points each, but by the half the Eagles outscored the Cougars 29-20. 
     "Eight different Eagles played during this half and eight different girls scored for us," Lohmeier said. "With that kind of balance it makes us very difficult to guard."
     While the overall offense was good to see, Lohmeier felt the team needed to execute their defense better. His halftime locker room talk must have been inspirational, as the Eagles held Sandy Creek to 12 total second-half points and handed them a 53-32 defeat.
     "Against a team such as the Cougars, this is quite a feat," Lohmeier said. 
     Milford hit 19 of 43 field goal attempts for 44 percent and 16 of 20 free throws for 80 percent. Taylor Moore led the way with 14 points, and Savannah Lohmeier added a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
    Milford 62, Heartland 46
     Jan. 31, the Eagles had a semifinal shot to avenge the Heartland Huskies, who dealt the Eagles one of their few losses of the season during their Heartland Holiday Tournament. 
     "Heartland is a very talented team that matches up with our quickness and athleticism," Lohmeier said. "If you don't rotate your defense and get a hand in their face, they're usually going to make their shots." 
     The Huskies quickly took a six-point lead, but once the Eagles got things rolling, they scored the next 14 points in the first quarter, leading 16-10 by the end of it. By the half, their lead increased to 33-21. 
     "In the second half, our depth seemed to show a little," Lohmeier said, and the result was a 62-46 victory. 
     He said the Eagles' focus allowed them to switch defenses at least a dozen times in the game. 
     Milford hit 30 of 49 shots from the field for 61 percent, and one of five free throws for 20 percent.
     Lohmeier paced the Eagles with another double double-19 points and 10 rebounds, while Moore added a double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Jordan Dahle chipped in 11 points.
    Sutton 54, Milford 48
     Feb. 2 Milford faced the 16-1, No. 3 Class C-2 Sutton Fillies for the SNC championship. This time it was the Eagles' opponent was looking for blood, as the Fillies only loss in an otherwise perfect record came at the hands of Milford. This time, Sutton pulled out a 54-48 victory.
     "We knew this was going to be a great game," Lohmeier said as Sutton wanted revenge and Milford wanted to prove the last game with Sutton wasn't a fluke.
     Some of the Eagles' old habits came back to haunt them, he said, and defensively the Eagles struggled particularly at the three-point line.
     "You simply can't run a zone defense recklessly against a great shooting team like Sutton and expect to win. Before you knew it, we were down by 10 and had to battle back the rest of the game," Lohmeier said
     The Eagles went into the locker room at half behind by the score of 34 to 21. Then came another one of the team's inspirational halftime chats.
     The team came back to the court playing man-to-man rather than zone defense, and basically shut down the two Sutton hot shots, allowing Sutton only two baskets from the field the rest of the game.
     It still wasn't quite enough to win. Lohmeier said the one statistic that was glaringly lopsided in the second half was Sutton's 30 free throw shots compared to Milford's seven.
     The final outcome was a hard-fought loss of 48-54. 
     As a team, the Eagles hit 18 of 52 shots from the field for 35 percent, and 6 of 10 free throws for 60 percent.
     Moore was the only Eagle in double figures with 14 points, and Lohmeier grabbed eight boards and had five assists to lead those categories.
     Lohmeier said he was very proud of the way his girls never quit fighting, particularly in the second half against some very tough odds. 
     "After the game I told the girls I was proud of their second-half show of guts and passion," he said. He also reminded them of his cliché, "Build on your wins and learn by your losses." 
    Upcoming action
     Friday, Feb. 8, they travel to Heartland for another tough regular season match-up.
     Subdistrict action begins next week.