No matter what hand Oakland Mills senior Miriam McKenzie uses, she?s always right.
The 5-foot-8 guard uses her left hand to write and brush her teeth. But it?s her right hand that has brought her accolades on the hardwood. McKenzie shoots and dribbles with her right hand but is equally adept at scoring in close with her dominant, left hand. The versatility makes her not only one of the most complete scorers in Howard County, but also in the Baltimore region, averaging 27.1 points per game, seven more than a year ago.
“She?s going to be tough to replace,” Oakland Mills coach Seth Willingham said. “She?s somebody that you can?t replace on the basketball court. Just her presence. Her academics is great, how hard she works in the weight room, there are countless things I could say about her.”
McKenzie has always been a southpaw, but broke her left arm as a 6-year-old when she was playing around at church. It was just a few months later that she picked up a basketball for the first time and was forced to learn with her opposite hand.
Her versatility on the court earned her a scholarship to play at Loyola next winter, and allowed her to become the school?s all-time leading scorer with 1,599 points in a 45-32 win over Glenelg last Thursday night.
“Having the school?s scoring record means a lot, but I would like it a lot more to make it to the state playoffs,” McKenzie said. “That?s definitely the number one goal. We can?t say our goal is winning a state title if none of us have ever been there before.”
Oakland Mills (15-3, 13-3 Howard County) saw its bid for a second state title and first since 1998 come to an end last year in a 48-44 loss to Douglass in the Maryland 2A South Region quarterfinals.
The loss was especially difficult for McKenzie, who made a buzzer-beating three-pointer against Edgewood in the opening round to give her team a 50-47 victory.
“It?s not my best memory of last year because we ended up losing,” McKenzie said. “I am pretty confident. I think we can do something special if we all play together.”
But growing up and learning to deal with tough losses and controlling her emotions has been a key for McKenzie, who also averages 12.7 rebounds, 4.8 steals and 4.1 assists per game. She has emerged as a leader for the Scorpions and works to help keep the team focused. With a showdown against No. 3 Mount Hebron (21-0, 16-0) looming on Friday night at 7, she should have no problem rallying her team.
To Willingham, that?s an even bigger key to her successthan being able to shoot with either hand.
“When she came in as a freshman we butted heads pretty good,” he said. “She was definitely talented, but lacked a few fundamental skills and me and her have one thing in common, we both hate to lose. That?s something that got us through the hard times.”
