KINGWOOD, W.Va. — Let’s face it: Preston High teams are consistently overlooked. This year was no different, but a few group of Knights have broken the mold this year, including Brian Miller’s girls’ basketball team.
“A lot of Preston sports get overlooked,” Miller said. “Some teams have had years where they’ve been able to dispel those doubts, but consistency has been the issue up here
“We’ve played well so far. You look at the schedule at the beginning of the season and see where we could be should things go well, go bad or [anything] in between. So far, our start is where I had it if most things would go right.”
The Knights started out better than last year with a 4-0 run, albeit last season they lost their season-debut before winning seven straight. Currently, they’re sitting at 6-1 through the 2019 portion of the season, only losing to Phillip Simmons (S.C.) in overtime in the Hilton Head SeaHawk Holiday Classic before moving on to win the final two games. It should be noted, Preston redeemed its 2018 season-opening loss against Buckhannon-Upshur on Dec. 12 with a 59-53 win.
One thing Miller credits his success to is a young core of girls with another year behind them.
“The overall IQ [is better],” he said. “Last year, we had seven freshmen on varsity, and we’re still young but the experience [helps]. A couple of those young ones are starting to figure out what we’ve been talking about, which takes time and experience. Believe me, we’ve still got some flaws, but we’ve done a good job of hiding those. They have a better understanding of what they’re good at, what they aren’t good at and what we [the coaches] want.”
That need for consistency is what has driven Miller over his 18-year tenure.
Entering the job, the Knights averaged two-win seasons, and he wasn’t slow to deny that his first few years were the same. After a time, his coaching began to stick with his teams and slowly they began to tack on wins. Now, even in the worst years, the Knights are looking at .500 seasons. Last year, they ended the regular season 12-10 before losing to University in the postseason.
Keeping momentum, playing smarter
Miller has three girls he can almost always count on the lead the team, but also noted — with concern it would be a “coaches answer” — that the whole team contributes each game. But it’s not a coach’s answer if it’s true.
“We’re deep,” Miller said. “Every game we play a minimum of 11 [girls] and we have 13 total on varsity. In practice, they’re competing for playing time, which is making practice more energetic.”
Sophomore guard/forward Michelle Thomas leads the Knights in scoring, averaging around 20 points a game. She’s broken the 30-point threshold a few times, too. Fellow guard, junior Tori Garlits is the one maintaining the smooth operations, making sure that the wealth is shared while knocking down buckets as well. And the third and final pillar, guard Chesney Manko, is the “quarterback” of the Knights as Miller put it — making sure everyone is in the right spot on both ends of the court.
“Honestly, it’s somebody different every night [leading]. If you look at our box scores we’ve had a different leading scorer every night where Michelle [doesn’t lead],” Miller said.
One example Miller gave was the Knights’ 56-30 win over the holiday tournament host Hilton Head, when the bench netted 41 points.
“The starters weren’t playing well, so we just left the bench [players] in. Our four leading scorers all came off the bench,” Miller said.
However, Miller knows the hard part is still to come. The Knights will be squaring off against Lewis County (4-1) in Weston next Tuesday before playing Bridgeport (3-2) and University (4-3) in back-to-back home games. The following stretch is highlighted by a home game against Fairmont Senior (5-1) — which has defeated both AAA teams its faced in Morgantown and Martinsburg — before they end the season with three road games at North Marion (5-0), Morgantown (2-5) and John Marshall (3-3).
“As long as we play hard and smart I think we can go out and beat anybody on any night. Some years [you know] you don’t have a chance in some games, but this year each game we have a 50/50 chance. We have a say in every game,” Miller said.
Preston’s next game is will be at 7:30 p.m. today at Robert C. Byrd.
