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player ready...When Maine South junior forward Tommy Gardiner was lost to a knee injury before the seventh game of the season, Hawks coach Tony Lavorato knew what his boys basketball team was up against.
“When your 18-point, 7-rebound guy goes down, you just don’t snap and get that back,” Lavorato said. “It took us a while to get going and we’re still trying to work through it. But everyone has picked up a little piece of the load.”
In Friday’s 54-41 Central Suburban South win over visiting Niles West, several Hawks did their parts. Sophomore guard Essam Hamwi scored 23 points, senior forward Ryan Coffey scored 11 and junior point guard Michael George did a steady job directing the offense against the Wolves (4-10, 1-4).
And throughout this season, the Hawks (12-9, 3-2) have gotten the best of junior forward Grant Miller.
Miller only scored six points in the win over Niles West but through 20 games, the 6-foot-7 Miller averaged 10.3 points and 7.5 rebounds to lead Maine South in both categories. When Gardiner went down, Miller knew he had to step up.
“(Lavorato) implied that I needed to take on a larger role for the team,” said Miller, a Park Ridge resident. “I realized we needed more scoring and I started to look for the ball more and started playing more confidently.”
When post players are young and getting their first taste of varsity basketball, eagerness can sometimes get the best of them when they get the ball in their hands and have their backs to the basket.
Miller knows that tendency well.
“It’s a mental maturity thing. Younger players tend to get sped up by the game, and make their moves too fast,” Miller said. “That used to be a problem for me and to some extent it still is.
“Sometimes you’re so jacked up on energy but you have to relax and let the game come to you. You have to tell yourself that you’re going to get your move up and you don’t need to rush it.”
This year, Miller has more consistently let the game come to him.
“Grant is slowing down and finishing around the basket better than he ever has this year,” Lavorato said. “But what happens is, you get comfortable with what you’re doing and you begin to allow plays to develop. Your fundamentals take over.”
Miller was mainly a varsity practice player last season, but Lavorato suited him up for varsity games late in the year. Miller saw spot action last year, mainly providing “hustle plays, rebounds, that sort of thing,” Miller said.
He added: “We had Brad Perry last year so it was good to watch him progress as a finisher and learn some other things from him, too, like leadership.”
Perry was Maine South’s 6-foot-11 senior center last year, and now plays at Carthage College in Wisconsin.
Lavorato has been impressed by how Miller has thrived in his expanded role this year.
“He’s a high-energy guy who’s able to score, he’s able to rebound and take charges, and now he’s the anchor of our defense on the back end,” Lavorato said. “He’s a top-flight student and on and off the floor, he represents us in the right way.
“And he’s only a junior, so we get him for one more year.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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