Boys Basketball: Sebastian Miller continuing his growth for St. Francis

ELMHURST – Sebastian Miller began his starting guard role at the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic one year ago.

Miller, a St. Francis sophomore, has grown from being the primary ballhandler to playmaker. He's now trying to put the whole package together in his second varsity season.

"I've improved playmaking-wise, getting steals, transition buckets," Miller said following St. Francis' tough 77-73 overtime loss to St. Laurence in the Jack Tosh opening round on Thursday at York.

St. Francis faces Sandburg in the consolation bracket at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Spartans senior forward Robert Nocek has observed everything in Miller's game has get a lot better from a year ago.

"IQ-wise, better passes [and] better decisions," Nocek said. "When he was a freshman, he would [get] a little rushed because he's a freshman on varsity, but he's gotten a lot better."

Despite the offensive improvements, defensive adjustments and growth are part of the process as well. The Spartans committed 23 total turnovers. Miller had four, including a pair late in the game.

Miller also had 23 points, but the Spartans couldn't close out St. Laurence late. The Vikings had a 64-61 lead with 52 seconds in regulation, but St. Francis guard Brendan Yarusso knocked in a three following Danny Blank's rebound with 30 seconds left to tie it. Vikings guard Darius Wilson missed a layup at the buzzer to send it to overtime.

The Spartans took a 71-68 lead on Miller's layup with 1:14 in the extra period, but Vikings guard Finn Walsh grabbed a steal and layup to pull within one. Miller's turnover on the inbound led to Walsh converting a pair of free throws to take the lead. Jalen Hamilton split his two free throws before Trey Davis converted both for the 75-71 advantage.

Miller's jumper was as close as the Spartans could pull within. Davis finished the job with another pair of free throws to close it out.

Another aspect of a frustrating loss for the Spartans (3-5) was shooting 2-of-8 from the free throw line. St. Laurence (9-3) shot 55%.

"The mistakes we make are the mistakes of some of us a lack of experience," Spartans coach Erin Dwyer said. "The good thing, is, everything we make [in terms of] mistakes, we can fix. I thought we battled back. We put ourselves in a position to win the game...just closing out games."

Davis had 15 points, four rebounds and four assists for St. Laurence.

Walsh had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Wilson led with 21 points for the Vikings.

Nocek finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans. Yarusso had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Blank had seven points and 13 rebounds.

"He's the guy we really lean on," Vikings coach James Sexton said on Davis. "Last year, he shot about 48% from three. This year, he's off to kind of a struggle, but we really rely on him. He's a pretty cool customer; the moment doesn't really get to him."