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Huskies drop 2019-20 finale

Sentinel photo by MATT STRICKER
Mifflin County's Brianna Bodtorf (No. 35) attempts a shot underneath the basketball with Danville's Emily Heath defending Monday in Lewistown.

LEWISTOWN — With the playoffs no longer an option, Mifflin County girls’ basketball coach Roger Herto wanted his team to play hard and end the season with a morale-building victory.

For three quarters the Huskies played with purpose and came close to realizing the goal. It was a fourth quarter meltdown that spelled disaster.

Mifflin County committed seven turnovers and were out-scored 16-3 in the final frame in a 53-44 non-league loss to Danville on Monday night. The Huskies ended their season at 8-14.

“We knew going in Danville was pretty good. We had a decent idea of what we were going to see tonight. There were points in this game where I thought we were going to put them away,” Herto said. “We got up and had the opportunity to do so, but we just turned the ball over. To be up by four heading into the fourth quarter and then being out-scored 16-3 is disheartening. We didn’t have it tonight in the fourth quarter.”

With the score in favor of Mifflin County 41-37 heading into the final eight minutes, the Ironmen went on a 12-3 run to take a 49-44 lead with 1:19 to go in regulation. Corinna Petrus had five points in the run with Emily Heath netting three and Olivia Outt and Linae Williams picking up two from the charity stripe. A Melanie Egan jumper and a Petrus bucket closed out the scoring in the final seconds.

Petrus finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, Williams had 16 points and Heath added 10 for Danville (18-3).

Struggling against the Ironmen zone, the Huskies committed six-straight turnovers in the quarter and finished with 19 for the game.

“We knew we were going to see a 2-3 zone and I did not think our kids would have trouble with it like they did but boy did we,” Herto said. “We had way too many turnovers against the 2-3 zone. There is always somebody open in the zone. You just have to be patient, take your time, move the basketball and we did not do that tonight. That’s probably the most turnovers we had in the second half of the season.”

Briana Bodtorf led Mifflin County with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Marissa Gingrich added 12. Hanna Rittenhouse contributed seven boards.

The Ironmen jumped out to a 17-14 lead in the first with Williams netting eight points in the quarter. Bodtorf and Knable combined for 13 points to lead the Huskies.

Mifflin County got out to a 5-0 run to start the second for 22-17 lead. Gingrich hit a three and Bodtorf, who posted 12 in the first half, had a bucket during the run. The Huskies won the quarter 18-8 and took a 32-25 lead into the break.

“This was a roller coaster ride this season. To a player, everybody in that locker room wants to keep going but unfortunately, we can’t, “ Herto said. “We lose one player in Morgan Weston and it’s always tough when you have that last meeting in the locker room. She was a major role model for this team. Everything we needed this year she was as a captain. I want to thank all the kids and parents for their commitments this season. This was a fun group to work with.”

The third quarter was a low-scoring affair with Danville holding a 12-8 advantage. Petrus had five to lead the visitors. Emma Yeager picked up four in the quarter to pace the Huskies.

Mifflin County won the JV game 37-18 with Halle Rittenhouse leading the way with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting. Tessa Pavlova finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

Despite the loss, Herto is optimistic and looking forward to next season in a new league –the Mid-Penn Keystone

“When we look to the future we are excited about it. It’s important that everybody works on their game this summer. We have kids playing AAU and we’ll being doing stuff together,” Herto said. “It’s just disappointing to end in a game where we didn’t leave our best on the floor. The last couple games, win or lose, we did that. Tonight, we had everything we wanted in front of us and we just didn’t perform well. I’m sad about finishing. I’m excited about the future to see what we can do when we get back together next season.”

Danville 53, Mifflin County 44

DANVILLE

Corinna Petrus 4 8-11 16, Linae Williams 5 5-6 16, Emily Heath 4 2-4 10, Olivia Outt 1 1-3 3, Melanie Egan 2 0-0 4, Kylee Cush 1 1-2 4. Totals: 16 17-26 53.

3-point goals: Williams, Cush.

MIFFLIN COUNTY

Marissa Gingrich 4 1-2 12, Briana Bodtorf 5 4-8 14, Kate Knable 4 0-0 9, Emma Yeager 3 0-0 6, Emma Weaver 1 0-0 3, Lily Yoder 0 0-2 0. Totals: 17 5-12 44.

3-point goals: Gingrich 3, Knable, Weaver.

Did not score: Hanna Rittenhouse, Morgan Weston.

Score by quarters

Danville 17 8 12 16 – 53

Mifflin County 14 18 9 3 – 44

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