It was a history-making Saturday night for Willie Miller and Lake Station.
But while Miller became the program’s career scoring leader, nothing meant more to the 6-foot-4 senior guard than coach Bob Burke and the Eagles securing a long-sought sectional title.
An emotional Miller wiped his hand over his face as he tried to put the accomplishment in perspective. Lake Station won its only other sectional title in 1941.
“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, cutting down some net,” Miller said. “I talk to Burke about it all the time, every single day. That’s all he talks about — net, net, net. I can’t even explain what it feels like. I’ve never been here before. I’m stuck. I’m just stuck.”
Senior guard Armoni Gonzalez expressed similar sentiments after Lake Station’s 66-48 win against host Hanover Central in a Class 3A sectional championship game.
“For 365 days, that’s all our coaches have been talking about,” he said. “Last year, we struggled. … It really was just revenge. We wanted it bad. Our coach wanted it bad. We really did it for him. We played very hard. We played our hearts out. We left everything we had on the floor.”
Indeed, Lake Station (22-3) lost to Bishop Noll in a sectional final last year. But the Eagles came back this season with five senior starters — including guard Adam Eastland, forward Maurion Turks and forward Travis Randolph — and could not be denied.
“For these seniors, it means everything to me that they were finally able to get it done,” Burke said. “We kept that thought in the back of our minds from last year, watching Bishop Noll, so that’s been the goal. I could not be happier for these guys, what they’ve endured for four years.”
Lake Station, which will play the winner of the NorthWood sectional in the South Bend Washington Regional on March 11, led 27-23 at halftime. The Eagles then outscored Hanover Central 17-0 in the third quarter, with Gonzalez posting six of his game-high 20 points and Miller adding five of his 12.
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Gonzalez said he had never seen a shutout in a quarter in high school, college or the NBA.
“That’s crazy,” he said. “When we come out after halftime and we’re up, we think we won the game already. But sectionals, it’s different — different environment, different atmosphere. So we just took it. No letting down. No stepping back. We were giving it to them with all we got.”
Burke didn’t realize what the Eagles had done until after the quarter ended.
“I’ve never seen them work so hard defensively,” he said. “They just grabbed every rebound. It’s the best I’ve seen them play. I never would’ve expected that. I guess they were ready and really kicked it in when they needed to.”
Eastland scored 16 points for Lake Station, which topped Hanover Central 55-51 on Jan. 21 on its way to the Greater South Shore Conference title.
Senior guard Josh Austgen led the Wildcats (16-10) with 15 points. Senior forward Chase Kuzma and sophomore forward Brad Rohde each scored 14.
“We just played,” Miller said. “I told Travis before the game, ‘We have to lock down on the bigs. We have to play defense.’ And that’s what we did. Even though they hit some stuff, there was nothing easy.”
Miller broke the scoring record with his 10th point, hitting the second of two free throws with 7:29 left in the game, prompting Lake Station to call a timeout. He eclipsed the mark set by assistant Dominique Smith, who graduated in 2019.
“It’s amazing,” Miller said. “Domo, he mentored me. I talk to him all the time, practice with him. He gives me pointers. To break his record, it’s crazy because that’s my mentor.”
Lake Station’s contingent started celebrating as the time ticked away and its elusive title came closer into view.
Turks exited with 2:13 left, and Randolph, Gonzalez, Miller and Eastland followed with 1:29 left as a multitude of hugs were exchanged on the sideline.
“We were able to call timeout with about 10 seconds left just to have a moment with us and nobody else,” Burke said. “That was a special moment. I don’t think it will set in for a little while. Just to know I get to come back on Monday for another practice with these guys, it’s all worth it.”