Twin Valley Still Figuring Out Defense, Can't Contain Warwick's Mia Warfel in Loss to Warriors

When Twin Valley beat Warwick last season, the Raiders were 8-1 and the Warriors 0-8. Ellie Kaplan's double-double was the difference as Twin Valley won by 12 to get off to its best start in four years.

The Raiders went on to win the Berks II crown and qualify for both the county and district playoffs. They thought they'd be returning the majority of their team before Kaplan, a standout lacrosse player signed to play at Michigan, decided not to play. Still, Twin Valley returned significant varsity experience and entered the season with high expectations.

The Raiders have the talent, but just haven't put it together consistently. The result has been an up-and-down start to the season.

Twin Valley entered Monday's game against Warwick with the second-best offense in Berks at 52.2 points per game, but also allowed the fourth-most points in the county at 52.0 ppg.

Twin Valley head coach Matt Hahn draws up a play last season. (PhilMarPhoto)

“It’s been a roller coaster,” Twin Valley head coach Matt Hahn said. “We’ve done a lot of good things, offensively, defensively. It’s just been a struggle to get where we need to be.”

Warwick junior guard Mia Warfel was the difference Monday night, scoring 25 points and hitting seven 3s to lead the Warriors past the Raiders 60-47 in a non-league game in Lititz.

The loss ends a three-game winning streak for the Raiders (3-4), who had lost their first three games of the season. The young Warriors (4-4), with only one senior on their roster, are learning how to win after last season's 7-15 finish.

Warwick opened the game with the first five points before Twin Valley deployed a full-court press. It initially worked as the Raiders reeled off seven straight points capped by Lauren Williams' steal-and-score to make it 7-5 with 4:30 left.

Warwick head coach Erica Lausch called a timeout and Warfel hit three of her seven 3s afterward to propel the Warriors to a 15-10 lead after one.

The Warriors were unconscious in the second quarter, shooting 7-for-9 from the field and not missing a shot until under 1:00 remaining. They led 32-20 at halftime.

Twin Valley's Olivia Kilgore drives against Conrad Weiser last season. (PhilMarPhoto)

The Raiders made their push to start the third quarter when Hailey and Olivia Kilgore hit back-to-back 3s to cut the lead to 32-26. That stretch represented a moment Hahn said his team needs to better capitalize on.

“That’s where we need to learn to step up in those moments and lock down defensively,” he said. “That’s where we have to put our foot down and keep driving through and not just kind of rest on the fact that, all right, we’re climbing back into it.”

They kept hanging around within striking distance until Warfel drilled two 3s to end the quarter, giving Warwick a 48-33 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

The Raiders battled until the end, but could never get the lead into single digits in the final quarter as Warfel tacked on another 3.

Twin Valley is still 3-0 in league play with a lot of basketball to be played. The Raiders already beat Exeter, one of their stiffest challengers in division, and will play the Eagles again. Interestingly, Exeter beat this Warwick team by six points just nine days ago.

The Raiders will also play Conrad Weiser twice; the Scouts were their biggest challenger in the division a year ago.

Their goals are still obtainable and they have one of the best players in the league in the senior Kilgore, a Shippensburg commit nearing 1,000 career points. Hahn said those goals remain unchanged despite the uneven start.

“We have goals every year,” Hahn said. “Our goals are to improve upon last year’s success. Getting some home playoff games in there would be nice.”

The Raiders finished 7-4 in Berks II last year and 14-10 overall. They traveled to Gov. Mifflin in the BCIAA quarterfinals, playing the Mustangs tough in a nine-point loss.

They'll get the opportunity to right the ship in Lower Dauphin's Holiday Tournament on December 29. The Falcons knocked the Raiders out in the first round of the district playoffs last season, giving Twin Valley an early measuring stick as it continues to search for consistency.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Warwick	15	17	16	12	60
Twin Valley	10	10	13	14	47

Warriors (4-4)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Warfel	8-13	2-2	7-12	2	6	25
Myers	3-9	1-1	0-0	0	5	7
Overly	3-12	1-4	1-2	3	1	8
Dombach	2-6	0-0	1-3	6	1	5
Burr	3-4	1-2	0-0	4	10	7
Lipisko	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Sigle	0-0	0-0	0-0	2	2	0
Szobocsan	4-5	0-0	0-0	1	4	8
Totals	23-50	5-9	9-17	18	30/34	60

Raiders (3-4)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Williams	4-13	2-2	2-6	1	5	12
Schmittinger	1-4	0-0	0-1	1	3	2
O. Kilgore	4-12	3-3	2-7	3	2	13
H. Kilgore	4-14	2-2	4-9	0	6	14
Hahn	0-1	1-2	0-0	0	6	1
Winters	1-4	0-0	0-3	3	0	2
Crisi	1-4	0-0	0-2	0	5	2
Cooper	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Cunningham	0-0	1-2	0-0	0	0	1
Totals	15-52	9-11	8-28	8	28/32	47

Turnovers: Twin Valley 16, Warwick 18. Team rebounds: Twin Valley 4, Warwick 4.