Miller outlasts St. Anne’s

They’re all three 6-foot-7 or taller and, naturally, they all crash the boards. Hard.

They were also the difference Thursday night as Miller held off a hard-charging St. Anne’s-Belfield squad 75-68 in matchup of two of Division II’s top three squads.

Meet the Mavericks’ front line of Marshawn Powell, Brice Kofane and Hippolyte Tsafack, a trio that combined for 31 rebounds and 54 points against the Saints. Miller asserted its dominance inside early and often against St. Anne’s and, despite a valiant second half effort by the Saints, Miller’s work underneath turned the tide.

“That’s kind of us right now — we shoot it and we have to go get it and go get it again and go get it again until we can finish it off,” said Miller coach Fred Wawner. “And that may continue to be us.”

Powell led the way with 25 points and 13 rebounds, helping stake the Mavericks to an eight-point halftime lead with a double double before the break. Powell also went 8 for 9 at the free-throw line, a big part of the Mavericks’ 23 for 27 night at the charity stripe.

Kofane finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to go with his three blocks.

Kofane also kicked off a sterling Miller defensive effort against St. Anne’s star Brett Goodloe. A series of Mavericks defenders held Goodloe to 15 points and no 3-pointers — a rarity for the Saints’ leading scorer.

Tsafack rounded out the frontcourt group’s night with his own double double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Mychal Parker gave Miller yet another option with a well-rounded night. Parker had 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Saints were resilient throughout, fighting back after Miller extended its lead to 12 points early in the fourth on a breakaway dunk by Kofane. Undaunted, the Saints immediately reeled off a seven-point run to cut the lead down to five points, but that was as close as STAB got.

“You could tell the difference in the second half when we were attacking versus the first half when we were more passive and weren’t really attacking the rim,” said St. Anne’s coach Brian Kent. “In the second half, we did a better job of that.”

St. Anne’s also made a couple of runs at the Mavericks late in the final frame, cutting the lead down to six points on a Quincey September 3-pointer. Down the stretch though, Miller matched the Saints bucket for bucket with strong performance at the free-throw line.

“I was proud of our kids for stepping up and making some free throws,” Wawner said. “In our close games we haven’t converted at the free-throw line. It wasn’t pretty, but that’s a good win for us.”

Mark Terrell had a terrific all-around night for the Saints with 11 points, four assists, four steals and five rebounds. St. Anne’s also showcased its usual scoring balance, with Goodloe’s 15 leading the way while Bryan Lynch had 14, Alex Asher finished with 10 and September scored 11.