On Thursday night, the Miami High School girls varsity basketball team faced the unbeaten Show Low Lady Cougars, a team one sports site ranked first in the state, and handed the visitors their first loss of the season.

Entering the game, the 17-0 Lady Cougars were ranked No. 1 in Arizona by MaxPreps.com. They looked the part early, building a 6-1 lead, but Miami came right back, taking an 8-6 lead on a three-pointer by junior Savannah Pietila. The Lady Vandals were ahead 10-8 at the end of the first quarter, and controlled the game from there – despite a last-minute Show Low rally – to win 55-41. Freshman Tamia Pietila led Miami with 24 points, while Savannah Pietila scored 19; each of them sank a trio of 3-pointers and collected nine rebounds. Miami senior Layla Thompson also pulled down nine boards and blocked four shots. For the Lady Cougars, senior Grace Moore had 10 points and 16 rebounds.

With Thursday’s win, the Lady Vandals are 7-2; they are 2-0 in Section 2A Valley, along with San Carlos. Next up is the Eastern Arizona Holiday Basketball Tournament in Thatcher, where they will play Safford on December 27.

Following the girls’ team’s win, the Miami boys fell to the Show Low Cougars 66-57. The loss dropped the Vandals’ record to 1-7; they are 0-2 in Section 2A Valley. No game statistics for either team were available at press time. Next for the Vandals was the Dec. 22-23 Copper Cities Tournament at Miami and Globe High Schools, results of which will be published in the Silver Belt’s next edition.