Miller helps lead Eagles’ resurgence in girls basketball

St. John-Endicott had one of the premier small-school girls basketball programs in the mid-1990s, finishing fourth or better in the State B tournament for five straight seasons (1993-97) and winning the 1996 State B championship. The Eagles have yet to return to the State B, but thanks to 5-foot-9 shooting guard Ellen Miller, they are in good position to do so.

Miller’s emergence from a quiet role player to a team leader in her first year as a full-time starter has fueled SJE’s resurgence. She leads the Whitman County League in scoring with an average of 18.9 points per game, and the Eagles (11-4 overall, 6-1) are tied atop the WCL standings with LaCrosse-Washtucna (10-4, 6-1).

“She started out being real quiet, a little bit timid,” said SJE head coach Don Kemper, who first coached Miller in seventh grade. “(But) this year she has decided that she wants to become a leader on the team. She has become more of a vocal leader. She’s come a long way from being ‘Quiet Ellen’ to the player she is now.”

The evolution was in full effect during the Eagles’ recent eight-game winning streak, which included their first six league games until a loss at Colton on Saturday. Miller scored 162 points during the streak, a 20.3 average, and led the team in scoring seven times. She also reached the 20-point mark five times, including a career-high 30 against third-place Tekoa-Oakesdale on Jan. 3.

“I’ve gotten a lot faster … and I worked a lot on my shooting over the summer,” Miller said. “I’ve tried to make myself an inside-out player. When I played the ‘3’ I played down more often, and now I’ve had to learn to shoot outside more and have more confidence to just take the outside shot.”

Miller, an All-WCL second-team selection in 2005, shares team leadership with three seniors in the starting lineup, including point guard Sydney Gossard, who was first-team all-league last season and averages 13.5 points per game this season. The two combine to score 32.3 points per game, the most of any one-two punch in the league, and run the top of SJE’s 2-3 zone defense.

“She’s my hustler,” Gossard said of Miller. “No matter where I am, if I’m in a bad situation, I can toss the ball her direction and she’ll get it.”

Where Miller will receive the ball is anyone’s guess. She has the quickness to get past defenders on the perimeter and the size to set up shop under the basket and get to the free-throw line. Her game also features a soft jumper that is ideal for the stiff rims in the St. John gymnasium.

This versatility allows Miller to play all five positions on the floor, Kemper said.

“She’s played every spot for us from the ‘1’ to the ‘5,’ and she doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t complain, just goes out and does the job,” he said. “She’s really becoming a student of the game.”