Sentinel photo by SAM BAUMGARDNER Mifflin County sophomore Jack Curry shoots over Mechanicsburg senior Liam Owens Tuesday evening at the Mifflin County High School in Highland Park.

LEWISTOWN — Mifflin County boys basketball dropped their home finale on Tuesday, falling to Mechanicsburg, 65-47.

The Husky boys were led by senior Aidan Attivo with 21 points. Carson Franklin followed with eight, and Evan Strohecker put up six points for the Huskies.

Husky coach Wade Curry spoke on how the team prepares for a game against a tough team like Mechanicsburg.

“Typically, days before we play we work on our game strategy, how we are going to play, their offensive sets, their defensive sets, we are going to run against their offense. Typically, the focus is just on disciplines with offense and defense. We generally get a lot of shots up so our guys are feeling good about their shooting and their rhythm. So it’s a lot of game planning,” Curry shared.

It’s important in tough games for players to keep their morale high, Curry spoke on what goes into keeping spirits high.

“That’s usually player driven. You have to have leadership in the locker room, leadership on the court, and coaches try to bring energy to the team in timeouts from the sideline, but most of the energy is driven from the team, that’s where it should be. We try to encourage that type of leadership throughout the year as we prepare for the season,” Curry noted.

Senior Aidan Attivo added to the conversation, “We just need to learn what we can from it. Mechanicsburg is a very athletic team so we honestly just need to try to learn defensively, contain really athletic players better and just move on to the next game.”

The Wildcats were recently named Mid-Penn Keystone champions and stand at 15-1.

“Mechanicsburg is a very talented team. They got three excellent guards who can all score at all three levels of the floor. They are a solid defensive team, they can really get out and transition. They have a Division 1 athlete on the court, Josh Smith, and he makes a lot of plays for them,” Curry spoke on what makes Mechanicsburg such a tough team to face.

“The No. 1 thing I would say is how athletic they are, they have Josh Smith who’s a D1 athlete and they have two other really, really good athletes that they use a lot and they are the quickest and most athletic team in our conference I would say,” Attivo agreed.

Although Tuesday was the last home game of the season, the team still has away games and the postseason to complete.

“We will continue to clean up some of the small things that we need to execute to beat tough teams like Mechanicsburg. It’s a lot of making sure we are in the right positions on the floor in our offensive sets, making sure our rotations are right defensively and that kind of thing,” Curry spoke about the upcoming weeks.

“Hopefully we just keep up with quick recoveries. We have three more games left of the regular season and then we have to take down Altoona or go .500 to make it to districts, so we’re just looking ahead hoping for districts,” Attivo concluded.

The JV Huskies also lost, 50-39, to the Wildcats.

The Husky boys had three players in double figures. Freshman Dylan Bonson led the way with 13 points, sophomore Carson Franklin added 12, and fellow sophomore Lucas Hartung dished out 10.

The Huskies are 8-11 and end conference play against Lower Dauphin on Saturday.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Norry drops BMS, 34-19

NORTHUMBERLAND — Northumberland Christian beat Belleville Mennonite Tuesday, 34-19, in girls basketball action.

For BMS (8-11, 5-5 ACAA), Karina Renno had 13 points and three treys.

For Norry, Ava Philips recorded 18 points.

Next, BMS visits Newport on Monday.

FROM MONDAY

BOYS BASKETBALL

Rams nudge Indians, 68-56

MIFFLINTOWN — Penns Valley beat Juniata, 68-56, in boys basketball on Monday night.

For the Rams (11-8), Spencer Althouse tallied 17 points and Fletcher Ironside added 13. Carter Ironside tacked on 14 points. Noah Patel posted 13 points. The Rams had 10 three-pointers.

For the Indians (10-9), Damien Vance had 13 points and Jasper Shepps recorded 21 points. Ricky Guante added 16 points. Juniata made nine treys in the home contest.

Juniata hosts Midd-West at 7:30 on Wednesday night.

JUNIOR HIGH

Huskies swept by Colts

NEW CUMBERLAND — The Mifflin County Junior High teams traveled to New Cumberland on Monday to take on Cedar Cliff and both suffered defeats. Both teams had issues adjusting to the, much smaller, Cedar Cliff gym floor.

The Husky seventh graders battled but could not overcome turnovers, cold shooting and a scorekeeping error that swung the game by four points in Cedar Cliff’s favor. In the end the Huskies fell 30-23. Connor Donovan led the scoring with eight points and Bronn Zook added seven points.

The Husky eighth grade team also fought the turnover bug and dropped the contest 39-28. Justin Cruz led MC with 11 points. Both Husky teams will try to get back on the winning track Wednesday with their last home game against Hershey.