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Harrisburg’s offense too much for Huskies

Sentinel photo by MATT STRICKER Mifflin County's Xavier Vega (11) attempts a hook shot while defended by Harrisburg's Markell Horne, and Nahleige Thompson (10) Tuesday in Lewistown.

LEWISTOWN — Harrisburg stepped on the gas and never let off as Mifflin County fell to the Cougars, 96-38 in a Mid-Penn Conference boys basketball game on Tuesday night.

“You know I think they had us sped up right from the start, we never were able to slow down,” Huskies coach Scott Gaffey said. “When they get you all sped up like that, we’re trying to make plays that aren’t there. We just never really recovered from it. I think we played hard and we tried to get better for all 32 minutes and I give credit for our guys for that.”

The Huskies had their stamina tested right out of the gate as Harrisburg turned the game into a track meet, running up and down the court pushing the tempo and quickly began loading up buckets.

The Cougars scored the majority of their points in the opening quarter on the fast break. They also were sharing the wealth, moving the ball to find open shots, as five different players scored at least a basket in the frame.

Davon Lee was scoring inside and outside the paint, 11 points in the quarter. Harrisburg as a team outscored the Huskies 29-10 at the end of the first quarter.

“The speed of the game was too fast for us,” Gaffey said. “To run our offense and to get back on defense, we weren’t very good in transition.”

Mifflin County faced heavy pressure from the Harrisburg defense throughout the first half, as the Cougars forced the Huskies into committing numerous turnovers which led to easy fast-break buckets.

Mifflin County struggled to get going offensively in the second quarter, scoring just six points in the frame. Harrisburg led the Huskies57-16 at the break.

“I just think they did a nice job playing aggressively,” Gaffey said. “Man to man, they trapped, they have quick hands, they got steals. It was definitely Harrisburg’s M.O., they really did a nice job of that.”

Mifflin County pushed back in the third quarter behind the shooting of Tyler Metz who began pressing the Cougar defense. The two teams traded shot after shot with the Huskies only being outscored by four points at the end of the quarter.

Metz led the Huskies with a team-high of 13 points in the game. Xavier Vega added another nine.

“I think Tyler has played great all year,” Gaffey said. “He gave us much needed points tonight.”

Harrisburg was led by Nicari Williams who scored 23 points.

The Huskies also lost in the JV game by the final of 61-56 with Alex Kline being the high scorer for Mifflin County with 23 points.

Mifflin County (0-14) will look for its first win of the season Friday as the Huskies will host Altoona in another Mid-Penn match up.

Harrisburg 96, Mifflin County 38

MIFFLIN COUNTY

Tyler Metz 5 2-2 13, Xavier Vega 3 2-2 9, Cole Knable 1 0-0 2, Connor Zimmerman 1 1-4 3, Jace Shoemaker 0 4-6 4, Conner Cherry 3 1-6 7. Totals: 13 10-20 38

3-point goals: Metz, Vega

Did not score: Mark Shilling, Alex Kline

HARRISBURG

Avery Cloud Jr 1 0-0 2, Nicari Williams 4 12-13 23, John McNeil 6 1-2 15, Nateur Dennis 2 0-0 4, Davon Lee 5 1-1 13, Markell Horne 3 1-3 7, Nahleige Thompson 2 0-0 4, Kyrell Williams 1 0-0 3, Ellyn Houston 0 2-2 2, Gerami Young 3 0-0 8, Amariah Blanton 1 4-9 6, Mehki Graves-Brown 0 2-2 2, Janye Stanley 2 0-0 5, Ahdash Robinson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 23-32 96

3-point goals: N.Williams 3, McNeil 2, Lee 2, K.Williams, Young 2, Stanley

Score by quarters

Harrisburg 29-28-16-23 — 96

Mifflin County 10-6-12-10 — 38

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