Milford tops Broncos, Bluejays on court

Jaxon Weyand of Milford blocks a pass by Lane Zimmer of Centennial during Dec. 18's game at Utica.
Jaxon Weyand of Milford blocks a pass by Lane Zimmer of Centennial during Dec. 18's game at Utica.
Stephanie Croston
Posted

“It was a good weekend for us,” Milford Coach Tony Muller said.

His Milford boys’ basketball team won both its games, beating Centennial 49-37 and Ashland-Greenwood 56-53.

The Eagles and Broncos matched up Dec. 18 in Utica.

“It’s always a tough game,” Muller said.

Both teams shot well to start the game, with Centennial leading after one quarter 15-14. Things cooled off in the second quarter, but Milford took a 19-18 lead into halftime.

Muller said the Eagles started out playing man-to-man defense, but MHS couldn’t slow Centennial junior Jake Bargen, who finished the game with 18 points. Milford switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense with about three minutes to play, and that slowed the Broncos somewhat, Muller said.

“We felt that was the best option for us,” he said.

After halftime, the Eagles outscored Centennial 14-8 in the third quarter and 16-11 in the fourth.

Micah Hartwig led Milford with 18 points, and Jaxon Weyand added 13. Seth Stutzman finished with eight points, five rebounds and three steals.

Milford didn’t have much time to recover, as the Eagles hosted Ashland-Greenwood Dec. 19. Again Milford started out in its man-to-man defense but AGHS built a 10-point lead. Milford switched to the 1-3-1 zone, and that was very effective, Muller said.

The Eagles cut the lead to one with 20 seconds to play in the first half, but after getting a rebound, the Bluejays stripped the ball and got their own layup and free throw to hold a 30-25 halftime lead.

Milford continued to cut into the lead and went ahead with about 1:30 to play in the game.

Stutzman was the scoring leader with 19 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Hartwig added 11 points. Both had three steals and three assists.

Milford (5-0) defeated Bruning-Davenport-Shickley 59-34 Dec. 21 in the first round of the holiday tournament and topped North Bend 70-55 Dec. 22 before the Christmas break.

The Broncos (3-2) are off until the holiday classic at Malcolm. CHS will play Wilber-Clatonia Tuesday, Dec. 29, at 7:30 p.m. and Malcolm Wednesday, Dec. 30, also at 7:30 p.m.