3 QUESTIONS
2/
How does miller rebuild around Presleigh Braxton?
Miller’s girls basketball team is accustomed to competing for state titles on a regular basis as last year’s state final four loss to Steward — in a game where fouls stacked up quickly for the Mavericks — snapped a string of six straight championship game appearances that led to five straight state titles from 2014 to 2018. This season the Mavericks have Presleigh Braxton back to lead the way. Braxton is a sophomore point guard who grew up in Miller’s gym in a lot of ways, the daughter of head coach James Braxton. She played well as an eighth grader and then took things up a notch last year alongside Olivia Wagner, with Braxton dishing out 4.1 assists to go with 12.3 points per game. With Wagner gone, the graduation of Talia Prosper and Miller dealing with the absence of Central Connecticut commitment Shauna Russell who’s unable to return from Ireland because of COVID-19 as well as Larissa Cole who tore an ACL, even more of the load will fall on Braxton’s shoulders. While Braxton can be a streaky shooter, she seems to be at her best when she’s setting the table for others and playing defense — a true point guard. Odds are good she’ll have to be a little bit of everything this year, but she’ll have some help from Mikalaha Thompson, Ella Smith and Kennedy Johnson on the wing as well as a pair of talented eighth graders in Lily Pallante and Naomi Ryan. Playing kids in eighth grade has worked out for the Mavericks pretty well lately as Braxton herself can attest. If those young players can jump into serious roles, that’ll go a long way toward helping Braxton continue to be as productive as she’s been the past couple of years and keep Miller in that state tournament mix if a state tournament is held.
3/
can covenant and tandem rebuild after losing focal points?
While STAB and Miller are bringing back full cupboards and known entities, Covenant and Tandem both have their work cut out for them in order to rebuild this year while also trying to determine if they’ll play games. The Eagles graduated both Ella Dalton and Claire Marie Colley, the squad’s two double digit scorers with Dalton notching a double double seemingly every night with 17.2 points and 14.2 boards per contest while tossing in another 4.5 assists and 4.8 steals each night. That’s a ton of production to replace on its own, and with Colley notching 11.1 points per game, there’s more to account for. Covenant will turn to seniors Stella Maton and Isabella Harris, the squad’s leading returning scorer and rebounder respectively, to carry the load. Harris is tough on the boards with 9.3 rebounds per contest while Maton scored 7.8 points per game. She’ll need to get on track for the Eagles to get the offense going. Tandem will have to rework without Alana Carter-Johnston heading to Fluvanna after averaging 21.0 points and 4.6 steals per game as a freshman. The Badgers will likely turn to seniors Stella Lane (11.2 points and 8.3 boards per game as a junior) and Elaine Xie to carry the load, but they’re going to have to develop some offensive playmakers as Carter-Johnston accounted for nearly half their points last year. ✖
4 PLAYERS TO WATCH Olivia Wagner
St. Anne’s-Belfield Junior All-State 17.9 ppg, 3.5 spg
Daija Bennett
St. Anne’s-Belfield Senior 10.0 ppg, 2.4 spg
Isabella Harris Covenant School Senior 9.3 rpg
Presleigh Braxton Miller School Sophomore All-State 12.3 ppg, 4.1 apg
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