SETTING THE SCENE: With the arrival of the final week of the 2016-17 regular season, the Milford High School girls basketball team will take to the court twice this week as they try to reach double digits in victories. Coming in the week 8-12 overall and 4-8 in Eastern Cincinnati Conference play, the Eagles tip off the week looking to play spoiler in the conference championship race with a Wednesday night trip to Kings. Saturday night will bring the season-finale for the Eagles when they host Withrow, while looking to send their six-member senior class off on a high note.

TOURNEY TALK: The Eagles will open OHSAA Tournament play on Saturday, Feb. 18 when they take on Oak Hills at Sycamore High School. The game will tip off at approximately 5:30 p.m., but fans should note that the match-up is the fourth of five games at Sycamore that day and presumably could start later than scheduled. Click here to see Milford’s sectional tournament draw.

A LOOK BACK: February 1 vs. Hughes: Milford 51, Hughes 20

THE SHORT STORY

Milford dominated in every area as they overwhelmed Hughes by a 51-20 in non-conference action. After yielding just seven points in the first half, the Eagles built their lead to a game-high 33 midway through the fourth in cruising to victory.

RECORDS

Milford 8-11

Hughes 1-18

KEY PLAYERS

Milford

Tori Gilman 11 points

Katelyn Rheude 11 points

Hayden White 4 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists

Hughes

De’Asia Mack 18 points, 5 blocks

NUGGET OF NOTE: The Eagles enjoyed one of their best free throw shooting games of the season as they connected on all nine attempts.

FINAL GAME STATS LINK

February 4 at Walnut Hills: Walnut Hills 46, Milford 44

THE SHORT STORY

Milford stormed back from a 13-point halftime deficit, taking the lead with two minutes to play, but ultimately coming up just short to Walnut Hills, 46-44. After tallying just 13 first half points, the Eagles outscored Walnut by a 31-20 count in the second half. After Walnut retook the lead on a shot by Sean Kelly Darks, Milford couldn’t get off a potential game-tying shot attempt as time ran out.

RECORDS

Milford 8-12, 4-8 ECC

Walnut Hills 15-4, 10-2 ECC

KEY PLAYERS

Milford

Katelyn Rheude 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals

Tori Gilman 12 points, 4 assists

Hayden White 7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals

Walnut Hills

Emma Mertes 17 points

Sean Kelly Darks 10 points

Kennedi Myles 6 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals

NUGGET OF NOTE: Milford rode a strong free throw shooting performance in the second half to the comeback as each team made nine field goals, but the visitors made 11 of 15 from the stripe to just 1 of 4 for the hosts.

FINAL GAME STATS LINK

THANK YOU SENIORS: Senior Night is scheduled in conjunction with the Eagles’ Feb. 11 home finale against Withrow. That evening, the 2017 Senior Class consisting of Tori Gilman, Olivia Redrow, Katelyn Rheude, Ashli Sheldon, Hannah Thierauf and Hayden White will be honored for their contributions to Milford Basketball.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS: A look at Milford’s schedule for the upcoming week:

• Wednesday, Feb. 8 at Kings, 7:30 p.m.
• 2016-17 Record: 15-5, 9-3 ECC (10^th Division I area coaches’ weekly poll)
• Top Scorer: Sophomore Carolyn Bruns (11.4 ppg)
• Last Meeting: 2016-17; Milford 58, Kings 57 (2 OT)
• Saturday, Feb. 11 vs. Withrow, 7:00 p.m.
• 2016-17 Record: 10-9, 3-9 ECC (RV Division I area coaches’ weekly poll)
• Top Scorer: Junior Jerria White (15.5 ppg)
• Last Meeting: 2016-17; Milford 56, Withrow 51

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: A look at Milford’s statistical leaders through 20 games:

Points per game: Tori Gilman (13.9), Hannah Thierauf (10.8), Katelyn Rheude (7.2)

Assists per game: Tori Gilman (3.2), Katelyn Rheude (1.6), Hayden White (1.5)

Rebounds per game: Hayden White (7.6), Olivia Redrow (5.2), Katelyn Rheude (5.0)

Steals: Tori Gilman (74), Katelyn Rheude (39), Hannah Thierauf (33)

Blocks: Hayden White (15), Tori Gilman/Olivia Redrow (6)

Field goal percentage: Tori Gilman (.440), Hayden White (.366), Hannah Thierauf (.315)

Three-point percentage: Katelyn Rheude (.286), Hannah Thierauf (.284), Ashli Sheldon (.258)

Free throw percentage: Katelyn Rheude (.816), Hannah Thierauf (.744), Ashli Sheldon (.583)

INSIDE THE ECC: The final week of the regular season has arrived and no less than four teams are still alive in the chase for the 2017 ECC Championship. Walnut Hills has the inside track, starting the week at 10-2, one game better than Kings. Glen Este and Turpin are both still alive as well at 8-4. The schedule of ECC conference games this week includes: Wednesday-Milford at Kings, Anderson at Glen Este, Turpin at Withrow and Walnut Hills at Loveland; Saturday-Withrow at Milford, Anderson at Turpin, Kings at Walnut Hills and Loveland at Glen Este.

The schedule for ECC teams in the tournament includes: No. 5 Walnut Hills vs. winner of No. 11 Little Miami-No. 13 St. Ursula (Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m. at Lakota East), No. 8 Glen Este vs. No. 28 Seton (Feb. 18, 7:00 p.m. at Sycamore), No. 9 Kings vs. No. 27 Winton Woods (Feb. 18, 1:00 p.m. at Sycamore), No. 12 Turpin vs. No. 17 Mercy (Feb. 18, 1:30 p.m. at Lakota East), No. 18 Loveland vs. No. 7 Princeton (Feb. 16, 6:00 p.m. at Lakota East), No. 19 Withrow vs. No. 10 Fairfield (Feb. 18, 3:00 p.m. at Sycamore), No. 20 Milford vs. No. 15 Oak Hills (Feb. 18, 5:30 p.m. at Sycamore) and No. 32 Anderson vs. winner of No. 1 Lakota West-No. 31 Western Hills (Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m. at Sycamore).

POLL WATCH: Milford did not receive any votes in the Feb. 6 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer Division I area coaches’ poll. Lakota West is on top of the poll again this week, earning 14 of the 18 first place votes. Mason continues to hold down second with two first place votes, ahead of McAuley, Mount Notre Dame (remaining first place vote) and Walnut Hills from the ECC. The conference is also represented by Glen Este in eighth and Kings in 10^th, along with Turpin, Withrow and Loveland all receiving votes. The coaches’ poll is released every Monday at Noon at preps.cincinnati.com/coachespolls.

GAME OF HOPE: On Wednesday night, January 25, 2017, the girl’s basketball programs from Milford High School and Turpin High School staged their second Eastern Cincinnati Conference match-up of the season. While the final score indicated a 42-28 Turpin victory, even the Spartans would agree that the biggest winner of the night was The Cure Starts Now Foundation. This game wasn’t just any game between two area rivals; instead it was the third annual Game of Hope and when all the pomp and circumstance of the evening was complete, a total of $5,000 was raised to benefit the fight against cancer. Click here to continue reading.

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 twice; Career: 6 three times

Ali Kirk

Points—Season: 5 at Seton; Career: 5 at Seton (2016-17)

Rebounds—Season: 5 vs. Hughes; Career: 5 vs. Hughes (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: 11 vs. McNicholas; Career: 11 vs. McNicholas (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: 2 twice; Career: 2 twice (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: 9 vs. McNicholas; Career: 9 vs. McNicholas (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: 6 vs. Hughes; Career: 6 vs. Hughes (2016-17)