Staff file photo / Brian Yauger
Western Reserve junior Kylee Ramsey drives to the basket during the team’s district semifinal victory over Chalker earlier this month.
For a Division VII basketball program, losing four seniors can be a devastating loss. The departures of three three-year starters and a sixth man open up a lot of holes in a rotation, and smaller schools don’t always have players to fill those roles.
In Steve Miller’s time at Western Reserve, he’s seen many strong classes walk out that door, but a “reload, not rebuild” approach has kept the Blue Devils around as one of the area’s most decorated programs over the last decade.
Entering this season, Western Reserve had to revamp its lineup, and while the returning players had varsity experience, still had a ways to go to be what the team needed. But, like every year, the Blue Devils reloaded, and today, the team suits up for its sixth regional appearance under Miller.
After last year’s district final loss to Richmond Heights, they went into the offseason with one simple question: “What do we do differently?”
“We lost a lot of good seniors,” Miller said. “We fell short. But what are we going to do differently? Because it’s easy for a small school to say, ‘Well this class is gone’ or ‘That class is gone,’ but to be a true program, I think you have to be able to just reload and be able to be competitive and do it year in, year out. So I (told the girls that) I expect us to do what we need to do in the offseason to be back playing in this game again next year, and giving ourselves a shot to win, so what’s it going to take?”
It takes a certain mindset, and Miller’s returners have shown plenty of it.
“We just kind of set goals for ourselves, and I knew in the summer, the way that we competed, that we were extremely feisty, gritty, relentless, and we played with a lot of effort,” Miller said. “That’s something that people say you could coach, and you try to, but to be honest, you’ve got to have a certain mindset, and it takes a certain type of personality to be able to play that way. And I liked what I saw this summer, so we just kept building off of the summer.”
Citing his football background, Miller has built his teams in a similar fashion. While guard play from Quincy Miller, Kylee Ramsey, and Giana Leone has been a big part of this team’s success, it all starts in the trenches with Isabella Mauro. Mauro is approaching the single-season rebounding record and has been a two-way staple this season.
The mindset that’s helped the Blue Devils thrive this season hasn’t gone away yet just because they got a trophy though. There’s excitement, there’s a loose feeling in the locker room, but when it’s time to get to work, they do just that.
“They seemed maybe a little giggly (at practice) but in a good way,” Miller said. “But when I talked, when I spoke, and when we got to talking about the game plan, I felt that they were locked in. They don’t seem happy with where they are, happy with (what they’ve achieved thus far), but they’re not satisfied yet, and I like the look in their eyes still.”
Looking toward tonight’s game against Mogadore, the Blue Devils have a chance to win on the regional stage for the first time in Miller’s tenure.
There’s a sense of familiarity between the programs, which is always a double-edged sword. Even though their preseason scrimmage was months ago, each team knows what the other will have in store. But both teams have that similar edge to their game that is always important come this time of year.
Miller has already warned his kids about the necessity of “winning ugly”. With how scrappy both teams are, a “pretty” win is all but out of the cards.
“With us being familiar, it’s going to be good for them too. They’re familiar with us. (Mogadore coach) Jen (Ritch) and I spoke a lot this year. We’re fans of each other. We help each other. We’re happy to be playing against each other because we both know we both got a legit shot,” Miller said. “I mean, it’s a 50/50, game on Thursday (no matter what the seeds say). You can throw that out. We’re both very similar. We have extremely tough, gritty, hard-nosed kids coming from a public school system, coming from a sports town. It’s gonna be a good one.”
Start time for tonight’s game is set for 8 p.m. at Massillon Perry High School.