The game wasn’t pretty, but you don’t get bonus points for style.
“It was definitely a defensive struggle,” Milford Coach Bryce Roth said of the Eagles’ 36-26 win over Wahoo Feb. 27 in the district final.
He said, in looking at the district pairings, he thought the Milford/Wahoo and Malcolm/North Bend matchups were the hardest.
“Wahoo is dangerous,” Roth said. “It was a good opportunity for us to grind one out and win with defense.”
The score was only 7-6 after the first quarter, with Wahoo banking in a three-pointer. Roth said both teams were tight to start the game.
In the second quarter, Wahoo made a couple three-pointers and both teams scored 10 points. The Eagles scored on a last-second drive by Ashlynn Miller to give MHS a 17-16 lead.
The Eagles came out after halftime and doubled down on their defense, Roth said, holding Wahoo to just 10 total points in the second half. Milford scored 19 after halftime.
“Buckets were hard to come by,” Roth said.
He said the Eagles moved the ball better in the second half and limited the Warriors to six points in the paint.
One of the key moments in the game came about the midpoint of the fourth quarter. Wahoo connected on a three-pointer to cut the lead to three. Senior Kylie Jakub made the only shot she took all night to push Milford’s lead back to six, and the MHS defense allowed just two points over the last four minutes of the game.
“Our defense was absolutely lights out in the second half,” Roth said. “The girls responded when it got tough and made it hard to score.”
Rautenberg finished with a double double of 20 points and 15 rebounds. Milford outrebounded Wahoo 30-20.
Miller added eight points, Jakub and Maeli Kubicek had three each, and Adalyn Cisneros scored two.
Roth was grateful for the home crowd that filled the gym for the game.
“The crowd was amazing. It was rocking,” he said. “The district finals are special. When you win on your home floor and cut down your own nets – it means a lot.”
Roth said playing a tough game in the district final makes the team better for the state tournament.
“It sharpens us more than a blowout,” hs said.
The Eagles (25-1) enter the state tournament as the top seed in Class C1. MHS gets a subdistrict finals rematch with Central City in the opening round Thursday, March 5, at 9 a.m. at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.
“I’m proud of the way we were able to push through and keep our season alive,” Roth said.
Although the game is a rematch, Roth said every game is different.
“We learned a lot from that game,” he said. “We have to continue to see what we can learn.”
