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STATE COLLEGE -- They punched their ticket!
It was win and you're in to the district championship game for the Mifflin County girls basketball team as they faced off against Mid-Penn rival State College Friday night.
With their convincing 57-46 road win against the Little Lions, Mifflin County reserved their spot in the District 6 Championship game.
The title tilt will be held on Feb. 24 at Mount Aloysius College in Cresson against the winner of the Altoona versus State College playoff game.
After a slow first quarter, Mifflin County found itself behind 14-13.
Marissa Gingrich heated up late from beyond the 3-point line, finishing with a game-high 21 points. She also had a strong all around game posting seven assists, two blocks and nine rebounds.
Teammate Tessa Pavlova also came up with two blocks defensively.
Defense was also strong suit for Bri Bodtorf, who also finished with 12 points.
Kate Knable rounded things out for the Mifflin County double-digit scorers with 11.
"We knew it would be a much tougher game over here. We got them pretty good at our place and we knew they wanted a little revenge over here," said Mifflin County coach Aaron Gingrich. "They we're playing with house money. We beat them over there badly and they say their younger. If we win we get the top seed in the district. So all the pressure was on our girls. I would say Kate Knable, Aija Binder and Mya Aumiller did a phenomenal job on some of their shooters, limiting them to their looks.
"We got a lot of effort from a lot of players. It's a good win."
In the first quarter, State College used the long ball to jump start the game Jordyn Steindl had the hot hand posting a triple and two inside buckets. Mifflin County had three triples and Bodtorf led the way with five points in keeping up with the Little Lions.
Gingrich had two and Knable tallied a trey but the Huskies trailed 14-13 going into the second quarter.
"Marissa controlled the game for us, adding nine rebounds and seven assists, and Bri worked hard as always, posting her averages of 12 points and eight rebounds," Gingrich said.
Things continued to be tight in the second quarter.
State College started off hot at the beginning of the period, taking a six-point advantage.
However, Mifflin County came scrapping back into the game and switched the momentum as the period grew later.
When the two teams went into the intermission, Mifflin County took a slim lead at 30-29. Gingrich started to heat up, posting seven points in the period.
After having a chance to regroup at the half, Mifflin County came out and took over the contest.
Gingrich continued to shine in the third posting six as the Huskies went into the final stanza outscoring the feisty State College team, 15-11. The run upped the Mifflin County lead to 45-40 going into the fourth.
Mifflin County continued its strong defense when it counted the most, keeping State College at bay for the entire period, allowing only six points in the period while its offense blossomed off the turnovers by scoring 12 en route to the victory.
In the JV contest, Mifflin County fell 34-22.
Jalee Bodtorf led the way for the Huskies with 11.
Mifflin County 57, State College 46
MIFFLIN COUNTY
Bri Bodtorf 4 2-2 12, Marissa Gingrich 8 1-2 21, Kate Knable 3 4-4 11, Mara Aumiller 3 1-2 8, E Weaver 2 0-0 5, Aija Binder 0 0-0 0, Tessa Pavlova 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 8-10 57.
3-point goals: Bodtorf 2, Gingrich 4, Knable, Aumiller
STATE COLLEGE
Diana Tsamakova 3 2-2 8, Jessica Hawbaker 1 2-4 4, Carley Donnell 4 0-0 12, Madison Fry 1 0-0 2, Jordyn Steindl 7 0-0 16, Mya McElhinney 2 0-0 4, Tori Risha 0 0-0 0, E Coudriet 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 4-6 46.
3-point goals: Donnell 4, Steindl
MC 13-17-15-12 -- 57
SC 14-15-11-6 -- 46