By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Coach Chris Reed would not be out of line if he accepted some credit for Rush-Henrietta’s success in boys basketball this season. The Royal Comets, after all, are 12-2 and ranked sixth in Class AA by the New York State Sportswriters Association and he’s won 255 games in a 17-year career.
But Reed is a realist. He knows that he has a once-in-a-generation player in the form of 6-foot-7 Dane Miller, who’s a rail-thin 210 pounds but can make more moves that U-Haul.
“It’s amazing how smart you become when you’ve got a player like that,” Reed joked Saturday after Miller put up 20 points, 14 rebounds and four assists during a 59-53 victory against No. 20 Syracuse Christian Brothers Academy.
Miller played all 32 minutes, largely on the perimeter, but still made his presence felt inside. In the first quarter alone he had two thundering dunks that came from so far above the rim that it was reasonable to wonder if (rather than when) he was actually going to come down.
“It’s been a lot of fun to see him mature and get to this point – and hopefully to the next level,” Reed said.
Miller’s future is already clear. He committed a year ago this week and formally accepted his scholarship to Rutgers in November. The Scarlet Knights (1-8 conference, 10-12 overall) finally broke into the Big East win column Saturday against DePaul, but they have a lot of upside. Their leading scorers are freshmen Mike Rosario (17.5 points per game) and Gregory Echenique, and Miller and forward Austin Johnson of Blair Academy in New Jersey constitute a solid two-man recruiting class.
“I want to come in, putt some weight on and help make them a powerhouse,” said Miller, who averaged 22 points, 16 rebounds and six assists as a junior. “I don’t want people coming in and saying, ‘Oh, Rutgers . . . easy win.’ Next year when I come in I want them to say, ‘It’s Rutgers. We’re going to have to play our hearts out if we’re going to win.’”
Miller has the kind of game that can contribute to making a college team better. The Royal Comets will need him to play more of an inside game down the stretch as they face teams with height, but his ball handling, perimeter shooting and exceptional ability to thread passes to the open man all suggest he can swing between the “2” and “3” spots at Rutgers.
And the bonus is that Miller is not from the shoot-first school of basketball. He didn’t force up anything dubious against CBA and didn’t need to be spoon-fed the ball in open space in order to set up his moves.
“My favorite play is making the pass,” Miller said. “There’s no need for me to shoot 25 or 30 times a game. I’d rather shoot nine times and get 10 assists. If I’m getting 10 assists then that means everyone is in the game. Everybody’s smiling when you get him the ball. Everybody’s a scorer.”
Although he was shy as a youngster, Miller is now engaging off the court. He’s quick with a joke and a smile and handles interviews with ease, a necessity with so many people eager to compare his talent to Greece Athena product and former Syracuse University power forward John Wallace, who went on to be a first-round draft pick.
“There’s no question he has a presence,” Reed said. “Part of why Rutgers was after him so hard so early was that. They feel he’s a kid that other people want to be around, a kid who affects other good players because he can pass the ball so well. I really think he enjoys basketball, he loves playing the game. That’s what makes him special besides God-given talent.”
More Hardwood Heroes
* Minutes after Rush-Henrietta tamed CBA, Rochester East senior guard Jerrold Brooks took the floor and poured in 50 points in a 109-75 rout of Syracuse Corcoran. Brooks, averaging 27.3 points a game, was 18-for-24 from the field and had 11 assists and seven steals for the Orientals.
* New Rochelle, ranked eighth in Class AA but reeling from a mid-week loss to sub-.500 Scarsdale, knocked off No. 3 Mount Vernon, 82-75. Sophomore P.J. Torres scored 20 points, including 10 in the third quarter, and Antoine Mason had 17 points. Travis Wright added 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
* Bishop Kearney, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class B, broke out to a 17-2 lead and held off Class A No. 19 Aquinas, 55-50. Patrick Coyle scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
* Also in Class A, No. 18 Pittsford Sutherland edged No. 6 Newark in overtime, 63-57, as senior guard Patrick O'Keefe popped for 23 points, including four of the final six to close out the game. Javon McCrea, Newark’s 6-6 junior center, finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds.
* Jamesville-DeWitt, top-ranked in Class A, beat Northeast Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) in the PrimeTime Shootout at Villanova, 68-55, as guard Brandon Triche put up 20 points and 10 assists.
* Comsewogue's A.J. Uhl hit three-pointers with eight seconds left in regulation and at the overtime buzzer to finish with 20 points in a 74-71 win vs. Huntington. Steve Luerssen also scored 20 points for Comsewogue.
* Campbell-Savona gave up a nine-point lead in just over a minute down the stretch but got a Nate Smely free throw with 11.6 seconds left to edge Prattsburgh, No. 6 in Class D, 52-51.
* Kristen Ryan scored eight of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 rebounds as Bishop Ludden knocked Class B No. 6 Westhill from the ranks of the unbeaten, 59-53.
* Syracuse Nottingham edged Class AA No. 16 Cicero-North Syracuse, 57-56, on Iaellan Walters' free throw with seven seconds left. Nikki Works led the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
* Emily Trapani scored 27 points for Fayetteville-Manlius in a 69-58 victory over Rochester's Nazareth Academy, ranked second in Class C.
* Class D No. 3 Hamilton remained perfect with a 48-28 win against No. 13 Richfield Springs. Kylie Martin piled up 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Charles Finney junior Takiya Webb had 32 points, 30 rebounds and eight blocked shots to dominate Rochester Franklin, 76-38.
Basketball Milestones
* Red Hook beat Millbrook, 76-42, making Rod Chando the winningest coach in Section IX history with a mark of 561-173. Chando eclipsed the win total of retired Highland Falls O'Neill coach Jerry Kaplan.
* Vernon-Verona-Sherrill coach Al Knapp recorded his 520th career win, tying the Section III record, with a 52-36 victory over New Hartford.
* Monsignor McClancy boys coach Don Kent picked up his 400th win in 36 seasons against Mater Dei from New Jersey.
* Casey Sheehan scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Greece Athena defeated Webster Thomas, 77-60, for Jim Johnson's 300th win.
More Accomplishments
* Saratoga Springs junior Madalayne Smith set two Section II records at the Suburban Council indoor track championships at the University at Albany. Smith won the 55-meter dash and 55 hurdles in 7.09 and 8.11 seconds, respectively. Smith also went 18 feet, 2 inches in winning the long jump.
* Senior Brianna Cromartie of Aquinas ran the No. 2 time in the nation this winter, :39.55, as she won the 300 dash in Section V-record time at the Tiger Invitational at Rochester Institute of Technology. She also took the 55 dash in :07.22. At the same meet, Fairport’s 3,200 girls relay won in 9:27.61 to break a 14-year-old Section V record, and 300 runner-up Kala Allen of Williamsville East snapped a 25-year-old Section VI record with a :39.87 clocking.
* All-state football player Ken Betts of Fredonia won the 152-pound division at the Noco/Southtowns Duals, picking up his 250th career victory in the process.
Football Hirings
* Ted Swavely, 35, a starting lineman on the school's undefeated 1991 team and an assistant since 2001, was named the football coach at Rome Free Academy.
* Carmon Audino, a long-time Albany CBA assistant, was named the head coach at Troy Catholic Central. He is the brother of Union College coach John Audino.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
