No wonder Jack Miller was happy.
Hungry, too.
Miller cranked out a double-double in his final home appearance, scoring 20 points and grabbing 17 rebounds as Lower Dauphin claimed a 63-48 victory over Shippensburg Wednesday night in Hummelstown.
Luke Rutledge and Ryan Naccarato also reached double figures for Mark Hofsass' Falcons, bagging 16 and 15 points as LD (14-8) likely did enough to land its first District 3-AAAA playoff berth in eight seasons.
"Absolutely," Hofsass said.
"It's hard for me to believe that we play in this [Mid-Penn Keystone] division and we've gotta win 14 games to at least have a chance to play in the postseason," Hofsass added. "It is what it is."
And while Rutledge and Naccarato combined to go 12-for-21 from the floor, those two knocked down five of their six 3-point attempts.
Ty Kater's 19 points paced Ship (9-13).
Connecting on nine of its first 15 looks from the field -- Rutledge canned all four of his first-quarter attempts -- Hofsass' sizzling Falcons bounced to a lead that hovered between six and eight points.
LD's hot opening stretch enabled Miller to find some holes in the Greyhounds' preferred 1-3-1 zone for easy finishes. The 6-4, 240-pound senior, who signed Wednesday with California (Pa.) to play football, also controlled the glass.
Afterward, while sitting just a few feet outside Lower Dauphin's gym, Miller parked himself in the school's cafeteria and took a few moments to dominate a post-game plate loaded with pizza, ziti and several other items.
"Kaylor [Kulina] and Nacc were huge tonight," Miller said. "They weren't missing, but once in a while they were passing the ball down to me."
And then there was Rutledge.
"He was money tonight," Miller added.
So was Miller.
"He had a great game," said Rutledge, the 5-9 junior who also dished out a handful of assists. "And that was fitting since it was his last game here.
"We're just glad we could let him go out with another win."
With Rutledge racking up 14 first-half points on six-of-eight shooting -- while Miller and Naccarato checked in with eight each -- LD sported a 39-27 lead at the break that really wasn't threatened the rest of the way.
In fact, the Falcons led by as many as 16.
More than enough to reel in victory No. 14 and likely secure a spot in the postseason. And while the numbers may allow Hofsass' Falcons to start making plans sometime Thursday, they won't be concrete until Sunday.
"Our definite first goal was to get in districts and keep working," Rutledge added. "Coach [Rusty] Eberly, our assistant coach, is always keeps telling us that success is a choice. And we're making that choice this year."
MICHAEL BULLOCK: mbullock@pennlive.com
BULLOCK ON TWITTER: @thebullp_n