Junior guard making things happen for Penn Hills girls basketball

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, December 15, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Penn Hills guard Milani Oliver crammed a game’s worth of moments during the final two minutes against Woodland Hills on Dec. 10.

With Penn Hills trailing by four, Oliver chased down a loose ball, pulled up at the 3-point line and knocked down a key jumper. Less than 30 seconds later, Oliver crashed to the rim, was fouled and made a layup to put Penn Hills ahead.

While the Indians lost the game 43-40, the 5-foot-5 junior guard gave spectators a full range of what to expect from her.

“It’s all confidence,” said Oliver, who finished with a game-high 30 points. “I mean, I want to win bad. I don’t like to lose. Losing’s not my thing. So it’s just confidence. Like, if you want that, go get it. It’s all confidence.”

Oliver has the mentality Penn Hills needs. The Indians are off to an 0-3 start and employ a young roster. Oliver has excelled in multiple sports for the Indians. She helped Penn Hills’ 1,600-meter relay team qualify for the PIAA Class 3A championships last season.

“It gets me motivated to run faster,” Oliver said.

During a wild final 120 seconds against Woodland Hills, Oliver never slowed down.

Penn Hills trailed 31-27 entering the fourth quarter.

The Indians battled back and took the lead, 39-38, when Oliver made a layup with 38 seconds left. However, during the celebration, a Penn Hills player came off the bench onto the court and the team was hit with a technical foul.

While Oliver made her free throw, Woodland Hills tied the game at 40 after making two of four free-throw attempts. Two of the attempts came due to the technical, the other two came following a common foul by Penn Hills.

During the second set of free throws, Oliver was chirping at the free-throw shooter.

“It’s all love,” Oliver said. “If we lose or win, I just talk a lot. I’m always going to talk a lot. But it’s all love with everybody I play with.”

Penn Hills coach Robert Cash said he believes Oliver still has room to grow.

“She still doesn’t understand the level she can get to,” Cash said. “I still don’t think she reached a peak of where she can be at. She just has to get in the gym and keep working to understand what her levels are.”

Oliver said that Cash has always pushed her hard. He also coaches club basketball and has worked with Oliver for six years.

“With Robert pushing me, I feel like I’m improving every day,” Oliver said. “Because when I’m in the gym, he’s pushing me. He’s hard on me. But it’s all love.”

Cash said he would like to see Oliver improve her ball handling and decision-making. He also would like to see her grow as a leader.

With the makeup of the Indians’ roster, Oliver will have the opportunity to grow.

“She’s a good leader, but she’ll become an elite leader and an elite ball handler,” Cash said. “She could be an elite level player that could play at a lot of different schools, but it’ll come back to the work that she puts in over the next year, year and a half, to decide where she’ll go.”

Tags: Penn Hills