By Kevin Kauffman, Berks Girls Basketball correspondent
On a day when the high-powered Gov. Mifflin offense struggled with its outside shooting, senior forward Mia Vazquez’s double-double propelled the Mustangs into the BCIAA semifinals, leading her team to a 54-45 win Saturday over Twin Valley in Shillington.
Vazquez’s balanced performance (five points and five rebounds in the first half, six points and five rebounds in the second half) helped stabilize a Mustangs offense that was cold from the perimeter, connecting on just 4-of-28 shots from beyond the arc.
“The girls look up to Mia,” said Mustangs head coach Mike Clark. “She is a great kid to be around, and all the kids love her. I am going to hate to lose her.”
“I try to hype them up as much as I can,” said Vazquez about her role as the senior leader of a roster flooded with underclassmen. “I am not going to be here next year, I want them to keep the same energy when I am gone.”
These teams met just nine days earlier in Morgantown, a 59-44 win by Mifflin (15-7), the runner-up in Berks I. Just like that contest, it was the Raiders getting out to an early lead. Sophomore Lauren Williams scored six of her game-high 20 points in the first quarter, and freshman Olivia Kilgore hit a pair of 3-pointers near the end as Twin Valley built a 16-13 lead after 8:00.
Each team had a run in the second quarter. A pull-up jumper by Williams and two free throws by senior Delaney Hoover capped an 8-2 surge that gave the Raiders their largest lead of the game at 24-15. After a Mustang timeout, senior Jayda Armstrong banked in a 3-pointer from the wing, which ignited a 12-5 run by Mifflin to pull them within 29-27 at halftime.
The Raiders (14-9), winners of Berks II, led 33-31 early in the third quarter when the Mustangs top scorer on the season Bella Super picked up her third foul. Instead of collapsing, Mifflin began to establish itself on both ends of the floor.
A three-point play by freshman Saray Renninger and three free throws by sophomore Brooklyn George gave Mifflin the lead for good at 37-33. Vazquez was successful on all three of her attempts from the field in the period. Meanwhile the defense stepped it up by forcing eight turnovers, and the Mustangs extended their lead to 45-38.
“We just got out of our heads and played as a team,” said Vazquez regarding the Mustangs’ performance after intermission. “We picked each other up and blocked out all of the mistakes.”
The pace slowed down significantly in the fourth quarter. With Super still in foul trouble, Abigail Brumbach entered the game for the first time. Her three-pointer with 5:38 left was the first basket of the quarter by either team and gave the Mustangs their largest lead at 48-38. From there, Mifflin took the air out of the ball on each possession. After an up-tempo first half, Twin Valley was held to only six made field goals in the second half.
“Offensively, we wanted to go to Mia a little bit more than we did in the first half,” said Clark of the second-half adjustments. “We played them not too long ago, and we kept playing the same defense. We did a great job defending their top scorers.”
Along with Williams’ game-high 20, Hoover finished with nine points, while junior Emma Hahn contributed four points and a game-high 11 rebounds, seven coming in the first half, for the Raiders.
George led the Mustangs with 12 points, including 7-for-9 from the foul line. Super also reached double digits with 10 points, and was key to the defensive effort with four of her five steals in the first half.
Gov. Mifflin advances to the BCIAA semifinals Wednesday at Santander Arena. The Mustangs will take on the winner of the Schuylkill Valley-Wilson matchup, which has been rescheduled to Monday night at 5:30 due to weather.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Gov. Mifflin | 13 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 54 |
Twin Valley | 16 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 45 |
Mustangs (15-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Armstrong | 2-13 | 0-0 | 2-9 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
George | 2-10 | 7-9 | 1-8 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
Martin | 2-5 | 3-8 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
Super | 4-12 | 2-4 | 0-7 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
Brumbach | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Renninger | 2-5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
Vazquez | 5-8 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 10 | 11 |
Totals | 18-55 | 14-23 | 4-28 | 10 | 32/39 | 54 |
Raiders (14-9) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Williams | 9-19 | 0-2 | 2-6 | 1 | 6 | 20 |
Hoover | 2-9 | 4-4 | 1-5 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
Schmittinger | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Kaplan | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
O. Kilgore | 2-13 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
H. Kilgore | 0-9 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Hahn | 2-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
Totals | 18-63 | 4-8 | 5-24 | 7 | 28/39 | 45 |
Turnovers: Twin Valley 20, Gov. Mifflin 14. Team rebounds: Twin Valley 11, Gov. Mifflin 7.
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