First, he was a senior starter on the 1998-99 team that won the program’s first Section VI title in 19 years.

After graduating from college, he eventually became the Red & Green’s jayvee coach under legendary head coach Ben Drake, a position Miley held for 19 years. During that span, Jamestown claimed six sectional titles and made three trips to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four.

And now?

Miley hasn’t missed a beat.

Jamestown senior Jaydian Johnson. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

In his second year as the varsity head coach, Miley has compiled a 40-8 record, claimed back-to-back sectional and Far West Regional crowns and, at 7:45 tonight, he’ll lead Jamestown (19-3) into its second straight NYSPHSAA semifinal when it squares off with Section VIII Port Washington (20-4) in a Class AAA clash at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton.

But when Miley and his crew boarded the bus this morning for the trip on the Southern Tier Expressway, it’s a good bet he was as calm, cool and collected as he’s been all season, because he knows he has what he describes as a group “that is up for the challenge every single time.”

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The Red & Green were being run through their paces Tuesday night at McElrath Gymnasium. As they scrimmaged, Miley would occasionally blow his whistle, stop the action and go over a certain offensive play or defensive alignment.

Otherwise, he let his players do what they’ve done well since early December — just play.

Jamestown junior Elijah Farmer. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Leading the way is senior Jaydian Johnson, a 6-foot-1 guard, who has turned in one of the finest seasons in school history, averaging 23.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He is coming off one of his best performances of his career when he poured in 29 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out nine assists and collected three steals in a 69-64 victory over Rush-Henrietta in the Far West Regional.

Johnson isn’t Miley’s only difference maker.

Juniors Dominic Gonzalez, a 6-0 guard, and Elijah Farmer, a 6-5 forward, are among Western New York’s best players as well. Gonzalez is averaging 16.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.6 steals, while Farmer is averaging 15.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. Gonzalez scored 22 points in the Far West Regional and Farmer added 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Joining them in the starting lineup are 6-1 senior forward Carson Panebianco and 5-8 junior guard Jericho Thagard. Guard Gavin Johnson, a 5-11 junior; 6-3 sophomore forward James Jackson; and 5-10 sophomore guard Gio Jackson are the first players off the bench.

“The last few games, it’s really been just taking what the defense gives us,” Miley said. “And when we’re patient, we’ve got some guys who can knock shots down. We’ve done a really good job of getting guys the right shots at the right spots.”

Jamestown junior Dom Gonzalez. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

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The Long Island Press called Port Washington’s 51-49 victory over Half Hollows East in their Long Island championship game, “the biggest win … in boys basketball history.”

That’s hardly an overstatement.

Led by junior Izaias Clemmons team-high 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, and a series of big defensive plays in the closing moments, the Vikings captured their first Nassau County championship since 1946.

Port Washington, which is coached by Sean Dooley — Nassau’s AAA-2 Coach of the Year and the 2023 New York State Coach of the Year — doesn’t score a ton of points, but it is very stingy defensively.

“We’ve watched a decent amount of games on them and they’re tough,” Miley said. “They’ve got some guys that are strong and they have some guys that are really good with the ball. I think it will be a little bit different type of game from the last two (against Niagara Falls and Rush-Henrietta). They are really patient. They’re not scoring a ton of points, but a lot of it is because they slow it down and get the best shot they can get. It’s going to be a tough game.”

The winner of tonight’s semifinal will play for a state title at 7:45 p.m. Friday against the Newburgh (Section IX)-Shaker (Section II) winner.

But first thing’s first.

“After last year (a 52-38 Class AA semifinal loss to Elmont), the guys coming back (said), ‘Coach, we’ve got to get back to states,'” Miley said. “Everybody wants to, and I thought we certainly had a shot. To do it, it’s a great accomplishment. Hopefully we can play more than one game this time.”