By Anvil Welch
awelch@joplinglobe.com
Miller’s girls, in making their first journey to the semifinals of Missouri Class 2 prep basketball, wlll start with unbeaten Harrisburg.
“They’re very good,” Miller coach Brandon Weiss said of the Bulldogs (29-0) on Tuesday. “They’ve played some good teams, too.
“Typically, they’ll go 10 players deep,” Weiss said. “It doesn’t seem like they drop off that much with the second five, either.
“We’re ready to resume competition,” Weiss said. “We’ve played some good teams as well ... perhaps starting with (Class 4 champion) Webb City in the Joplin Tournament.”
Miller, 27-4 and ranked eighth in the final regular-season poll conducted by the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, challenges No. 2 Harrisburg at 8:20 on Thursday night at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
Thayer (27-3) and Canton (25-5) tangle at 6:40 in the first semifinal at the University of Missouri.
The Class 2 girls championship will be decided at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday. The consolation contest will be held at the same time on Friday.
Canton lost 56-49 to Sparta in the 2008-09 final. Miller eliminated No. 1-ranked Sparta in the sectional round this season.
Harrisburg has reached Show-Me Showdown for the second time. It was fourth in Class 1 in 1977.
Harrisburg reached the semifinals by beating No. 5 Penney 68-45 at Chillicothe Middle School behind 5-foot-10 sophomore Chelsey Kroese’s 24 points and 5-11 senior Ashley Fisher’s 18. Fisher has signed with nearby Columbia College.
Harrisburg coach Dan Bachmeier told Rus Baer in the Columbia Daily Tribune:
“These girls (the Bulldogs) are so good. They’re competitors. This is what they wanted, and they got it. I don’t know if we can play any better.”
The Bulldogs sank their first six shots from the field.
Probable starters for the Cardinals are 5-5 senior Betsy Epps, 5-7 junior Jessica Cook, 5-7 senior Nicole Adams, 5-8 senior Hannah Wilkerson and 5-7 junior Kaitlin Johnson.
Weiss, who’s assisted by Jennifer Leeper, said the leading reserves for the Cardinals include 5-4 sophomore Brooke Hill, 5-7 freshman Emily Allen and 5-11 freshman Jessica McAdams.
Weiss said the Miller roster will be completed by 5-4 sophomore Kayla Gammill and four more freshmen in 5-7 Jenae Atwell, 5-5 Haley Logan, 5-5 Taylor Reynolds and 5-4 Anna Smith.
“Sure, they’re excited,” Weiss said of the Cardinals. “But right now they’re staying on an even keel.”
Weiss said the team practiced at Missouri State in Springfield on Monday and were planning to return on Tuesday in an attempt to become accustomed to a college floor.
