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Huskies battle, but fall to Eagles

Sentinel photo by MATT STRICKER
Mifflin County's Marissa Gingrich (10) goes to the basket while defended by Cumberland Valley's Dejah Hill (33) and Sam Murphy Friday in Lewistown.

LEWISTOWN – One awful quarter and some missed layups were too much for the Mifflin County girls basketball team to overcome in a hard-fought 38-34 loss to Cumberland Valley in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth matchup on Friday.

The Huskies (6-7, 5-5) gave the Eagles everything they had and more, but a 13-3 first quarter disaster which saw Mifflin County miss five layups proved to be the difference. The Huskies won every other quarter, out-scoring Cumberland Valley 31-25 the rest of the way.

“A couple of possessions and it could have very easily been our night. Cumberland Valley hasn’t won two state championships for no reason. They kept poise down the stretch and made a couple plays,” Mifflin County coach Roger Herto said. “The key for us is real simple–either this was one real good night or this is the start of us taking our game to a new level. This can’t be a one-night affair. We have big games next week with Harrisburg and Altoona and we have to find a way to the post-season.”

A dramatically improved Husky squad made the switch from the zone to man-to-man after losing 53-19 in their first meeting. The change worked in confusing the Eagles for most of the game.

“I knew this was going to be four games in the week for us and by the luck of the draw Cumberland Valley had only two and I really debated what to do and I decided we needed to do it. I wanted to challenge the kids,” Herto said. “We were giving up a lot of size to this team but the first time we played our zone, we didn’t look good. We spent a day watching video, talking about positioning and challenging them to take more responsibility, man-to-man wise, for who is in front of them.”

Mifflin County had a three from Kate Knable and a bucket from Marissa Gingrich to go on a 5-0 run in the fourth, closing the gap to 35-34 with two minutes left in the game. Back-to-back turnovers by the Huskies, along with a bucket from Dejah Hall and a free throw by Samantha Murphy closed things out for Cumberland Valley (9-2, 7-1).

“I can’t say enough about the last week how the kids have paid attention to our time off the floor when we’re looking at film and talking about things because they are taking it right to the court and doing it,” Herto said. “That effort tonight, defensively, was amazing. That’s the kind of defense you can win with. I felt like the first part of the season we were just trading buckets with people. I like us to be defensive minded. That’s been my personality. When you talk about responding to a challenge, they kids really responded. They gave everything they had.”

After the 13-3 first quarter, Mifflin County jumped out to a 7-2 run in the second on two baskets from Briana Bodtorf and a trey from Gingrich to make it 15-10 in favor of Cumberland Valley. Gingrich led the Huskies with 13 points. Bodtorf had 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Huskies made another push to start the second half with a 10-0 explosion to give Mifflin County its first lead at 22-21. Bodtorf had seven in the frame and Gingrich scored five. The Eagles answered with a 12-3 run of their own with Julie Jekot and Hannah Sauve scoring six each, giving the visitors a 33-27 lead heading into the fourth. Jekot finished with 12 points and Sauve added 10.

“A great team effort defensively. A great team effort on both ends of the floor. I am really proud with how gutsy we were. I love teams that play like that and for the first time in a while, we played like that,” Herto said. “This group stepped up and put defense first. The girls were not happy that we just played well, they were upset we didn’t win and that’s a good sign. We have to bring to the floor the last nine games what we did tonight.”

The Husky JV squad lost 58-13 with Emma Weaver leading the way with nine points.

Mifflin County travels to Harrisburg on Tuesday.

Cumberland Valley 38, Mifflin County 34

CUMBERLAND VALLEY

Julie Jekot 4 2-2 12, Kylie Holcomb 1 0-0 3, Abbie Miller 4 0-0 4, Hannah Sauve 4 2-2 10, Samantha Murphy 1 1-2 3, Dejah Hill 3 0-2 6. Totals: 14 5-9 38.

3-point goals: Jekot 2, Holcomb.

Did not score: Courtney Campbell, Lydia Krause, Reagan Bashore.

MIFFLIN COUNTY

Marissa Gingrich 5 0-0 13, Brian Bodtorf 5 0-0 11, Katie Knable 2 0-0 5, Hanna Rittenhouse 1 2-2 5. Totals: 13 2-2 34.

3-point goals: Gingrich 3, Bodtorf, Knable, Rittenhouse.

Did not score: Morgan Weston, Emma Yeager.

Score by quarters

Cumberland Valley 13 8 12 5 – 38

Mifflin County 3 9 15 7 – 34

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