Gov. Mifflin entered Friday's non-leaguer against Lampeter-Strasburg with the Berks Girls League's top offense at 54.9 points per game and third-most made 3s with 51 through nine games.
Mifflin mustered only six points, missed all six of their 3s, and trailed by eight after the first stanza against the Pioneers. The Mustangs decided to go inside.
Mifflin's 6-0 senior center Mia Vazquez dominated on the glass and scored seven of her game-high 16 points in the second quarter as the Mustangs chipped away at the Pioneers lead and eventually pulled away for a 47-38 victory in Lancaster.
"Getting points in the paint is a big part of the game," Vazquez said. "We don't always try to get it down low, but when we do, a lot of it comes from rebounds. I just tried my best to keep us afloat."
As the missed shots piled up early, Vazquez used her effort and size advantage in the post to give the team extra opportunities. It was only a matter of time before the shots started falling.
"I just try and go for every ball, every rebound," said Vazquez, who secured a game-high 15 rebounds. "I have confidence in my teammates. I believe they'll make their shots, but when they don't, I'm on it."
Vazquez found her spots to score as Mifflin head coach Mike Clark went to a triangle offense and the Mustangs full-court defense forced the Pioneers into multiple turnovers.
Vazquez converted an and-one with 2:56 left in the second quarter to cut the Pioneers (5-5) lead to 17-15 and the Mustangs (7-3) trailed only 21-19 at halftime.
"Once we went to the triangle, I knew it was just a matter of time until we'd cut into the lead," Clark said. "Mia was big in the first half. They didn't have an answer for her."
The Mustangs also started face-guarding Lampeter-Strasburg's top scorer and ball handler Elaina Hostetter with guards Bridget Martin and Jayda Armstrong. That gave the Pioneers some problems finding ways to score.
Then Mifflin's high-powered offense, which features a starting lineup of players who each average seven points or more, got going in second half.
"We got out of our heads and just listened to each other on the court," Vazquez said. "We just keep the chemistry alive."
Martin's free throws tied the game to begin the third quarter and sophomore guard Bella Super's scoop layup gave Mifflin its first lead of the game with 6:29 left.
Vazquez was relegated to the bench with three fouls shortly after and L-S regained a three-point lead before Brooklyn George, another starting sophomore for the Mustangs, answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game 27-27.
Lampeter-Strasburg's Kirah Carter, who led the Pioneers with 13 points and nine rebounds, hit a 3 to push her team ahead with 2:05 left in the third.
Martin converted a hoop plus the harm with 49 seconds left to tie it again and George made a free throw to give Mifflin a 31-30 lead headed to the fourth.
Super, who is Mifflin's top scorer and entered Friday as Berks' No. 2 scorer, came alive in the fourth. She hit a 3 to start and scored nine total points in the quarter as the Mustangs pulled away.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Gov. Mifflin | 6 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 47 |
Lampeter-Strasburg | 14 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 38 |
Mustangs (7-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Super | 5-22 | 2-3 | 1-8 | 0 | 8 | 13 |
George | 2-14 | 1-2 | 1-8 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
Martin | 3-10 | 3-3 | 0-1 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
Renninger | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
Vazquez | 5-13 | 6-8 | 0-1 | 0 | 15 | 16 |
Armstrong | 0-3 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Totals | 16-67 | 13-18 | 2-22 | 5 | 40/48 | 47 |
Pioneers (5-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Hostetter | 3-10 | 0-0 | 1-7 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Horner | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
Groff | 1-10 | 5-6 | 0-1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
Carter | 5-19 | 1-2 | 2-5 | 0 | 9 | 13 |
Dombach | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Mann | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
Knarr | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Boyd | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Byers | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 13-49 | 7-12 | 5-16 | 6 | 35/38 | 38 |
Turnovers: Gov. Mifflin 12, Lampeter-Strasburg 19. Team rebounds: Gov. Mifflin 8, Lampeter-Strasburg 3.
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