Make state. Check.
Win a game a state. Check.
Win a second game at state to make the final. Check.
Win the state title. Not quite.
The Milford girls’ basketball team came eight points short of winning its first girls’ basketball state championship March 8, falling to Lincoln Christian 49-42 in the Class C1 championship game March 8 to finish the season at 25-2. Both losses were to the Crusaders.
“We know them well,” Coach Bryce Roth said. “There was a lot of background noise all year. We tried to block it out.”
The “background noise” was talk of a rematch from the holiday tournament, a game LCHS won by two points.
“It was fun. We knew they were two very good teams that can defend and score,” Roth said. “It was a battle.”
Neither team shot particularly well, he said. LCHS connected on 30% of its shots, and Milford made 28%. The difference came at the three-point line, where Lincoln Christian made nine and Milford made four.
Roth said three triples in the third quarter gave the Crusaders just enough separation to hold off the Eagles.
Ayla Roth led the team with 18 points and delivered four assists. Shayla Rautenberg put up another double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“Everyone had good looks,” Coach Roth said. “It was a couple-possession game. With two really good teams, it comes down to a couple plays.”
Both teams scored their lowest point totals of the year, he said.
Coach Roth praised the Milford defense, which held LC’s leading scorer Mattea Kassebaum to just six points. Taylor Oldfield was assigned to guard her and did a great job, the coach said.
This wasn’t the coaching staff’s first trip to a championship. Coach Roth was on the sideline with Auburn’s boys when they won. Coach Greg Miller was the assistant for the Seward girls’ team when it won four consecutive titles. Coach Michele Kontor has coached state champion cross country teams, and Brett Muller and Kennedy Mogul have big-game experience, Coach Roth said.
The tournament opened with a battle of eagles between Milford and Arlington. Coach Roth said Milford had two good days of preparation leading into the opening round. Milford shot well to open the game, leading 19-9 after the first quarter and 35-20 at halftime.
“I’m proud of how we came out,” Coach Roth said.
He said the coaches reminded the team at halftime to continue to play its game and not lose its edge.
Arlington cut into the lead in the third quarter, making some big shots in the period, but Coach Roth said he looked the players in the eyes, and they had the belief that they were better than Arlington. In the fourth quarter, MHS outscored AHS 12-4 to win 61-40.
Izzy Yeackley scored 16 to lead Milford, going 5-13 from three. Ayla Roth added 13 points and nine assists, with Rautenberg adding 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots.
Milford outscored Arlington 26-16 in the paint.
“We were pretty balanced,” Coach Roth said. “What we were is who we are.”
While it’s hard to get past the first round, it’s even harder to get through the semifinals. Milford drew Minden for its opponent. Although the Whippets knocked Milford out of state tournament contention last year, Coach Roth said that never came up.
“We went back to work,” he said. “I thought we were locked in and ready to go.”
The game didn’t start well, for the Eagles, however. Minden held a 20-12 lead at the end of the first eight minutes.
“We took their best punch,” Coach Roth said. “I looked at the kids’ eyes and said ‘That’s not us.’ The challenge is to weather the storm.”
Milford did and threw a roundhouse of its own, outscoring Minden 27-7 in the second quarter to take a 39-27 lead into halftime.
“We said we can’t let up. We have to continue to defend and rebound,” Coach Roth said.
He was pleased to see Milford finish with nine offensive rebounds to six for Minden.
Yeackley led the team again with 16 points, hitting 5-12 from three. Rautenberg and Ashlynn Miller added 14 points each, and Ayla Roth scored 13 to go with eight assists. Rautenberg grabbed 12 boards.
Coach Roth was pleased with how his younger players stepped up against Minden. When Rautenberg and Ayla Roth were in foul trouble, Abby Crabtree came in and hit a big three and got a key steal, the coach said.
“I loved how the younger players had a chance to shine,” he said. “They’ve worked so hard and been phenomenal all year.”
Milford will graduate four seniors, three of whom plan to play basketball at the next level. Karlee Kuklis came off the bench for the Eagles and always put the team first, Coach Roth said.
“She’s a phenomenal teammate, a great leader, a great kid,” he said.
Oldfield plans to attend Doane University in Crete, while Ayla Roth and Yeackley will head up the road to Concordia University in Seward. All three plan to play basketball.
Coach Roth thanked the community for its support throughout the season.
“I can’t say enough about the community, what it meant to go on this ride with these girls,” he said. “We’ve moved the bar pretty high.”
