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MIFFLINTOWN --There's no better way to go into Christmas break than with a victory and Juniata did just that, as tough defense prevented a hard-charging Halifax team from completing a comeback, as the Indians defeated Halifax, 41-30, in a Tri-Valley League girls basketball contest on Monday night in Mifflintown.
The Indians got to the line and converted well all evening, knocking down 14-of-16 free throw attempts while Mackenzie Bennett scored a team-high 15 points for Juniata.
"I wanted to open up the season like this, it's nice momentum going into the christmas break," Indians coach Mike Smith said. "The girls earned a day off of practice with a win tonight. You heard them cheering earlier, that was what that was for, but I couldn't have asked for better game."
"We were just shooting lights out. I mean that was the best free throw game we've had," Smith added "It was a pretty nice night all the way around. The girls played patient ball, its been what I wanted to see out of them."
The Indians came out the gate swinging on both sides of the ball. Defensively Juniata made the Halifax offense one dimensional as the Indians clogged the lanes inside and forced the Wildcats into becoming a jump-shooting team.
Juniata zeroed in on Halifax player Samantha Manion with a 2-3 zone. Manion scored four of the team's six points in the opening frame.
The defense did not change in the second quarter as the Indians held Halifax to just four points in the quarter, all of which were scored by Manion.
"We know (Samantha) Manion's strong, we know she is going to score points. We were just trying to deny her as much as we could and play straight up defense and make her make the tough shots," Smith said. "Offensively Caitlyn Wells is a really strong guard and I think we kept her under control. Beyond that, they don't have much for outside shooters, so we knew we could contain them with this defense."
On the offensive side of the ball, Juniata was getting contributions from multiple players in each of the first two quarters of the game.
During the first quarter, the Indians had five different players who scored a point in the frame while they had four different players with at least a bucket in the second quarter. The Juniata offense had outscored the Wildcats 25-10 going into the break.
The offense stalled a bit for the Indians throughout the third quarter. However, the defense remained solid and refused many baskets for Halifax with both teams scoring five points in the quarter.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats finally broke through offensively as Manion was attacking the paint and both Alyza Steinhauser and Wells were dropping jumpers from mid-range and beyond. In fact, the Wildcats scored as many points in the fourth quarter as they did in the first three quarters combined with 15.
But that did not deter Juniata as Mackenzie Bennett, Haley Mummah and Regan Lowrey came through with some clutch freethrows. The trio of Bennett, Mummah and Lowrey combined for a perfect eight-for-eight from the foul line to keep it a double-digit lead and finish off the Wildcats.
"Offensively, the second half was not as good as the first half, but we were a lot more patient with the ball," Smith said. "You saw at the end of the game we started to get a little impatient, taking shots that we shouldn't. We missed a ton of layups tonight which my assistant coach Riley was telling me but we got the rebounds from them and put them back up, so our rebounding is getting stronger.
"Super happy with how they played -- every single one of them," Smith said. "Even the girls that didn't get as much time at the end of the game, they come to practice day in and day out and really work our first team pretty hard so I'm very happy."
Bennett led the Indians with 15 points while Lowrey added another 10 points for the evening.
"Mackenzie (Bennett) always can carry the team real nice," Smith said. "Whenever the end of the game comes, we want the ball in her hands. She did a real nice job for us."
Juniata is now (4-1) overall and (3-0) in the TVL and will be back ready to play on Tuesday, December 28, as the Indians will host Big Spring.
Juniata 41, Halifax 30
JUNIATA
Haley Mummah 2 2-2 6, Autumn Clark 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Bennett 4 4-6 15, Regan Lowrey 3 2-2 10, Shaleyn Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Mariska Beward 0 0-0 0, Talon Walton 1 2-2 4, Ava Shearer 1 4-4 6, Anna O'Brien 0 0-0 0, Ima Mercado 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 14-16 41
3-point goals: Bennett 3, Lowrey 2
HALIFAX
Abigail Gray 0 0-0 0, Alyza Steinhauer 2 0-0 4, Caitlyn 3 0-0 7, Madison Roland 1 0-0 2, Samantha Manion 7 3-4 17, Cylah Funk 0 0-0 0, Lily Crum 0 0-0 0, Cam Zimmerman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 3-4 30
3-point goals: Wells
Score by quarters
H 6-4-5-15 – 30
J 15-10-5-11 – 41