Solo, Henderson lead Springfield boys to first victory
BY ELI THOMAS
THE CHRONICLE
SPRINGFIELD – Springfield Millers guard Lejhaun Henderson grabbed the basketball in the backcourt and immediately lifted his gaze and raced toward the rim. Henderson had multiple Dallas Dragons defenders ahead of him, but weaved through them effortlessly. He finished the coast-to-coast effort with a layup through heavy contact for two points and a foul.
“Not to be cocky, but every time I’m going to the rack, I feel like nobody can stop me,” Henderson said.
The senior guard’s highlight play had the crowd and Millers bench on their feet, roaring approval. Springfield took a 20-point lead with 1:50 left in the third quarter on Henderson’s “and-one.”
How sweet was the victory? It had been 22 months since the Millers last won a game.
Multiple players quit mid-season in 2024 or did not return from last year’s Millers team. Senior Noah Solo stuck around, and was a major contributor in Friday’s win. “I wanted to stick with the team because I believe that you can’t fix culture if you’re not willing to try,” he said. Solo is a natural leader and the quarterback on the football team. He described himself as a calming presence, which first-year head coach Jeremy Young echoed.
The Millers lost 59-30 to the Dragons nine days ago, but Henderson (injury) and Solo (out of town) were absent from the game. The duo certainly made their presence felt in the second matchup last week – Henderson finished with 22 points, five rebounds, and four assists, and Solo had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Both put constant pressure on the rim; Solo’s strength allowed him to get downhill and create easy space in the halfcourt, and Henderson’s smooth athleticism and skill made him dangerous every time he got a transition opportunity.
Young said his players were timid in the earlier game, but the Millers showed early in the rematch that wouldn’t be an issue. Multiple players dove for loose balls within the first two minutes, and the 1-3-1 defensive zone that Young put in place worked perfectly to create havoc and deflections. The Millers kept the Dragons from making a field goal for the first six minutes of the game, their defensive intensity setting the tone.
That intensity, however, also got the Millers in trouble. Point guard Kayden Roberson recorded his third foul early in the second quarter, and he wasn’t the only one. By the fourth quarter, the Millers had five players with at least four fouls. Young was visibly upset with the referees, but kept telling his players “we don’t need it.” He said he was proud of the maturit y his players showed and how little they let the frustration affect their play. “That right there is the reason we won, because they just put their heads down and worked,” Young said.
Roberson’s absence in the first game was significant because he was the primary defender on Lukas Lawless. In the rematch, the Dragons sophomore point guard had 20 of the team’s 31 first-half points. He made 5 3-pointers, including a halfcourt buzzer beater at the end of the first half. Lawless made a 3-pointer early in the third quarter, but didn’t score again due to Roberson’s efforts.
Despite an 8-point lead, giving up such an improbable shot heading into halftime could have elicited a “here we go again” response from the Millers. However, they came out scorching hot, scoring 27 points in the third quarter to build the lead to 22 points. They nearly scored as many points in that one quarter as they did the entirety of the first matchup against the Dragons.
Young said the halftime message was to stay the course, because his team was dominating. “We had more rebounds, more assists, more steals, and less turnovers. We were on it,” he said.
Without a massive performance from Lawless, the game would have been out of hand much sooner.
Young’s coaching philosophy emphasizes discipline, but he allows his players to make mistakes so they can learn from them. He is trying to help them build habits that will serve them for the rest of their lives. His day job of teaching special education means he is used to meeting people where they are, and discovering what’s best for the individual rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. “Relationships are the key to all coaching. (The players) don’t care what you know until they know you care,” he said.
On the court, Young is all about intensity and effort. The Millers’ staff track plays that wouldn’t show up on a typical stat sheet, such as tips, deflections, and dives for loose balls. In practice, he will add a point to the scoreboard when someone dives on the floor to grab the ball.
Coming into Friday’s game, Young could tell that the 0-3 start to the season was weighing on his team.
“Having this (win) be at home in front of all the people that have seen what’s gone on in the past …” Young said after the game, “It couldn’t have gone any better. I’m really happy with that.”
