SETTING THE SCENE: With the regular season moving into its final stages, the Milford High School girls basketball team will be back on court chasing a pair of wins in two home contests this week. The highlight of the week is the third annual Game of Hope, a yearly match-up with Eastern Cincinnati Conference rival Turpin that benefits the Cure Starts Now. The Eagles (7-9, 4-6 ECC) open the week on Monday night by hosting McNicholas, before turning around two nights later for the ECC battle with the Spartans.
GAME OF HOPE THIS WEEK: Milford's third annual Game of Hope will be held on Wednesday, January 25. The Milford and Turpin Basketball families are uniting once again to raise money for "The Cure Starts Now Foundation" and the fight against cancer.
"Our Game of Hope is to honor Lauren Hill and to keep her dream alive to find a cure for cancer. Our Game of Hope represents all cancers represented by the color purple and this year the color grey to represent childhood cancer," shared Milford girls head basketball coach," Kristi McKenney. Click here to read more about the event.
A LOOK BACK: January 18 vs. Loveland: Loveland 51, Milford 47
THE SHORT STORY
Milford shot 50% in the second half and outscored Loveland by nine, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a tough first half as the Tigers defeated the Eagles for the second time this season by a 51-47 score. The Eagles finished the night shooting 40% from the field, but couldn’t overcome a season-high 27 turnovers.
RECORDS
Milford 7-8, 4-5 ECC
Loveland 6-8, 4-5 ECC
KEY PLAYERS
Milford
Tori Gilman 17 points, 5 assists, 5 steals
Hannah Thierauf 13 points
Hayden White 9 points, 9 rebounds
Loveland
Courtney Henthorn 18 points
Jillian Hayes 17 points, 9 rebounds
NUGGET OF NOTE: With five steals, senior Tori Gilman extended her ECC-leading count to 63 and has nabbed at least four in 10 of 16 games this season.
January 21 at Glen Este: Glen Este 34, Milford 30
THE SHORT STORY
Milford shot a frosty 25% from the floor in the second half as Glen Este overcame a three-point halftime deficit to knock off the Eagles by a 34-30 score in what is the final scheduled match-up ever between the schools. Glen Este’s defense suffocated the Eagles in the third quarter as MHS scored just two points on 1 of 9 shooting.
RECORDS
Milford 7-9, 4-6 ECC
Glen Este 11-7, 6-4 ECC
KEY PLAYERS
Milford
Hayden White 11 points, 7 rebounds
Glen Este
Dakota Reeves 17 points, 5 rebounds
NUGGET OF NOTE: The Eagles failed to knock down a three-point shot in a game for the first time since a loss to Turpin on January 17, 2015, a span of 52 games.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS: A look at Milford’s schedule for the upcoming week:
- Monday, Jan. 23 vs. McNicholas, 7:30 p.m.
- 2016-17 Record: 5-9, 2-4 GCLC (T-7th Division II area coaches’ weekly poll)
- Top Scorer: Senior Jaclyn Geygan (13.5 ppg)
- Last Meeting: 2015-16; Milford 66, McNicholas 32
- Wednesday, Jan. 25 vs. Turpin, 7:30 p.m.
- 2016-17 Record: 11-5, 7-3 ECC (8th Division I area coaches’ weekly poll)
- Top Scorer: Senior Kaitlyn Workmam (10.9 ppg)
- Last Meeting: 2016-17; Turpin 35, Milford 32
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: A look at Milford’s statistical leaders through 16 games:
Points per game: Tori Gilman (14.7), Hannah Thierauf (11.4), Katelyn Rheude (6.5)
Assists per game: Tori Gilman (3.0), Katelyn Rheude (1.6), Hannah Thierauf/Hayden White (1.3)
Rebounds per game: Hayden White (7.6), Katelyn Rheude (5.3), Olivia Redrow (5.0)
Steals: Tori Gilman (66), Katelyn Rheude (31), Hannah Thierauf (27)
Blocks: Hayden White (12), Tori Gilman/Olivia Redrow/Ashli Sheldon (5)
Field goal percentage: Tori Gilman (.445), Hayden White (.367), Hannah Thierauf (.333)
Three-point percentage: Hannah Thierauf (.318), Ashli Sheldon (.250), Tori Gilman (.235)
Free throw percentage: Katelyn Rheude (.786), Hannah Thierauf (.742), Ashli Sheldon (.583)
INSIDE THE ECC: Kings has vaulted back to the top of the extremely tight Eastern Cincinnati Conference standings, holding a one-half game lead over Walnut Hills. The Knights stand at 8-2, with Walnut at 7-2, followed by 7-3 Turpin and 6-4 Glen Este. The schedule of ECC conference games this week includes: Wednesday-Turpin at Milford; Saturday-Glen Este at Kings, Walnut Hills at Anderson and Withrow at Loveland.
POLL WATCH: Milford did not receive any votes in the Jan. 16 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer Division I area coaches’ poll. Mason is the heavy favorite at No. 1 with 10 of the 13 first place votes cast this week. Lakota West took the other three top votes and is second, ahead of the GGCL trio of Mount Notre Dame, McAuley and Ursuline. The ECC is represented next by Walnut Hills (6th), Glen Este (7th) and Turpin (8th). Kings is also receiving votes. The coaches’ poll is released every Monday at Noon at preps.cincinnati.com/coachespolls.
RETRO DAY: During the 2012-13 school year, five of the six seniors on this year’s Milford High School girls basketball team were members of a highly-successful eighth grade squad that went a perfect 16-0 and captured the Eastern Cincinnati Conference Championship. There coach that year? Phil Sheldon. Now fast-forward to January 14, 2017 and the quintet and their teammates were back on the court taking on ECC rival Anderson, led by a familiar face in…head coach Phil Sheldon. And it wasn’t just any game, it was a special throwback game between the two schools.
The brainchild of Milford head coach Kristi McKenney, the Eagles broke out the same jerseys the five seniors had worn as eighth graders for Sheldon for the second match-up between the schools this season. The Eagles also took time to say thank you to their former coach during a brief pre-game recognition. Click here to continue reading.
Milford Eagles Season/Career Highs
Kyrsten Brown
Points—Season: 2 at Seton; Career: 2 at Seton (2016-17)
Rebounds—Season: 2 twice; Career: 2 twice (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 1 twice; Career: 1 twice (2016-17)
Tori Gilman
Points—Season: 29 vs. Princeton; Career: 29 vs. Princeton (2016-17)
Rebounds—Season: 6 twice; Career: 7 vs. Anderson (2015-16)
Assists—Season: 6 at Winton Woods; Career: 6 twice
Ali Kirk
Points—Season: 5 at Seton; Career: 5 at Seton (2016-17)
Rebounds—Season: 4 vs. Princeton; Career: vs. Princeton (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 2 at Anderson; Career: 2 at Anderson (2016-17)
Maddie Plucinski
Points—Season: N/A; Career: N/A
Rebounds—Season: N/A; Career: N/A
Assists—Season: N/A; Career: N/A
Olivia Redrow
Points—Season: 9 vs. Princeton; Career: 9 vs. Princeton (2016-17)
Rebounds—Season: 10 vs. Glen Este; Career: 10 vs. Glen Este (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 3 at Anderson; Career: 3 at Anderson (2016-17)
Katelyn Rheude
Points—Season: 20 vs. Kings; Career: 20 vs. Kings (2015-16)
Rebounds—Season: 11 vs. Kings; Career: 11 vs. Kings (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 4 twice; Career: 4 twice (2016-17)
Double-doubles—Season: 1; Career: 1
Bryn Rolfsen
Points—Season: 5 vs. Walnut Hills; Career: 5 vs. Walnut Hills (2016-17)
Rebounds—Season: 5 vs. Princeton; Career: 5 vs. Princeton (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 1 five times; Career: 1 five times (2016-17)
Ashli Sheldon
Points—Season: 12 at Northwest; Career: 12 at Northwest (2016-17)
Rebounds—Season: 7 four times; Career: 7 four times (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 2 at Northwest; Career: 2 at Northwest (2016-17)
Abby Thierauf
Points—Season: N/A; Career: N/A
Rebounds—Season: N/A; Career: N/A
Assists—Season: N/A; Career: N/A
Hannah Thierauf
Points—Season: 22 at Winton Woods; Career: 22 at Winton Woods (2016-17)
Rebounds—Season: 8 at Withrow; Career: 8 at Withrow (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 4 vs. Kings; Career: 4 vs. Kings (2016-17)
Hayden White
Points—Season: 11 at Glen Este; Career: 11 twice
Rebounds—Season: 14 twice; Career: 14 twice (2016-17)
Assists—Season: 3 vs. Anderson; Career: 3 vs. Anderson (2016-17)