The Shelly Miles-Ashlei Kenchen matchup lived up to its billing, as the two premier guards in Section Four Class D took part in a rousing game of one-upmanship. Kenchen's Rams beat Miles' Gilberstville-Mount Upton Raiders, 54-43, but the score was just the sideshow. In the individual scoring battle, Miles got the best of Kenchen, 24-16.

After watching the two headliners exchange crossovers, in-your-eye jumpers and slippery moves to the basket, an evaluation is in order. Here's a breakdown of Miles and Kenchen in several key areas: (Grades are assigned on an A to F basis, A being the highest).

Maybe it's because Kenchen is too unselfish or maybe she just doesn't need to score as much for a South Kortright team that's ranked second in Class D, but the Rams' floor leader seems to hold herself back on the offensive end. Kenchen is averaging 19.2 points, but it could easily be 30. She can get to the basket whenever she wants, but she doesn't try to do it often enough for a player of her caliber. Clearly, Kenchen's strength is not with her outside shot, as she rarely even looks to take a 3 on meaningful possessions.

Miles is the prototypical scorer. She's averaging 24.2 points and accounts for nearly 60 percent of her team's offense. Miles never met a shot she didn't like, and she has outstanding range on her jumper. What makes Miles so tough to guard is that she possesses a hair-trigger release, allowing her to get off good shots in tight areas.

Miles is a natural shooting guard who is forced to play point guard for the Raiders. She's a good passer in the open court but tends to force entry passes in the half-court set. Also, Miles sees the game at a different speed than her teammates, so what appear to be ill-advised passes are often the result of G-MU players not sure what Miles is going to do.

Predictably, this is neither player's strong suit since they're both guards. Kenchen, a solid 5-foot-9, holds her own when she scraps in the paint for rebounds. Miles, who's a petite 5-7, plays almost exclusively at the top of the zone and picks up the lion's share of her rebounds on long caroms.

Miles is more of a pest on defense. As G-MU coach Jim Johnson said, "She's like a waterbug." Instead of getting steals herself, Miles is more likely to hover around the player with the ball until her opponent gets annoyed and makes a bad pass. The fact that Miles needs to play all 32 minutes also factors in — she can't pick up any cheap fouls.

Without either of them, South Kortright and G-MU would be lost. Kenchen is a great player on a great team; Miles is a great player on an average team. Kenchen is undoubtedly the better all-around player — the Class D equivalent of Jason Kidd. She does everything, and she does everything well.

Miles is more in the mold of Allen Iverson. She's not really a gunner, but she basically has to score 25-30 a night for her team to win. The scary part is that the two played in the same backcourt over the summer for the Catskill Amateur Athletic Union team.

How good were they? Kenchen put it succinctly: "We were killer."

Jeff Vella is a sportswriter for The Daily Star. E-mail him at jvella@thedailystar.com.