Feb 17, 2017 4 min read

Jenna Miller is proof that one bad half doesn’t ruin a game, a season or a career.

Miller, a senior guard for the California High School girls basketball team, has contributed many points and big plays during her time with the Trojans. But all Miller had to show for her efforts by halftime of California’s WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game Friday night was a lot of nothing.

Miller was held scoreless in the first half and California found itself trailing upset-minded Sto-Rox, 13-12.

But there were still 16 minutes of basketball remaining and Miller was determined to utilize them to the best of her ability so that California’s season and her high school basketball days would continue.

Miller made a 15-foot jump shot on California first possession of the second half and went on to score 14 second-half points as California pulled out a 33-30 victory at Trinity High School’s Hiller Hall.

The win by California was the 20th of the season for the Trojans and perhaps the most memorable one for Miller. Her biggest shot among the 14 points was a three-pointer from the left wing that gave the Trojans a 31-30 lead with 1:33 remaining.

“I held my breath when that ball was in the air,” California coach Chris Minerd said.

The basket gave California its first lead since the three-minute mark of the third quarter.

“I felt like if we could just get a lead on them, then our experience would pay off,” Minerd said.

That’s what happened down the stretch. The playoff-tested Trojans (20-3) held Sto-Rox (16-7) scoreless over the final 2½ minutes, outscoring the Vikings 6-0. After Miller’s three-pointer made it 31-30, Sto-Rox turned the ball over while trying to lob it to the Vikings’ towering center JaQuaye Young, who scored 10 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked two shots and generally caused havoc and tentativeness for California.

The turnover set up a free throw by Dominique Gaston with 36 seconds remaining that gave Cal a two-point lead. Sto-Rox then missed a pair of shots that could have tied the score and Miller added another free throw with 10 seconds remaining to make it a three-point game.

Sto-Rox still had a chance to force overtime but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

The win sends California to the quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Our Lady of Sacred Heart, which had a first-round bye.

“At halftime, I felt terrible,” Miller said. “I had not helped my team and I needed to step up in the second half. … The three-pointer, I hadn’t made one yet so I wasn’t confident, but you never know if you’re going to make a shot if you don’t take it. It felt good going off my fingers.”

Neither team led by more than five points. Cal was up 7-2 after one quarter but was outscored 11-5 in the second quarter and trailed 13-12 at halftime. Sto-Rox led 25-23 after three quarters but California had started to turn the tide by getting the ball to Miller at the foul line, in the middle of Sto-Rox’s 3-2 zone defense.

“At halftime, I said if we could just make an effort to get the ball to Jenna at the high post and let her work we’d be alright,” Minerd explained.

“We knew this was going to be a tight game. We have a matchup problem with (Young) but we did a nice job on her. We played good team defense but her size changed the whole game for us.”

Miller was the only California player to score in double figures. Bailey Vig followed with seven points.

Lexi Frazee led Sto-Rox with 12 points but she was held scoreless in the pivotal fourth quarter.