Gov. Mifflin clamps down in second half, pulls away from rival Exeter, 59-42
SHILLINGTON >> Rivalry games – especially when said rival is fighting for its playoff life in late January – can be pesky affairs.
Governor Mifflin was schooled in that reality for nearly 20 minutes Friday night at home against Exeter in a Berks League Section 1 clash. The Mustangs, the top-ranked team in the District 3 6A power rankings, could not shake the Eagles. Exeter trailed by two points at the half and briefly took the lead early in the third quarter.
That’s when the Mustangs kicked it into overdrive, out of necessity, and shut down the Eagles the rest of the way to record a 59-42 victory.
The win kept Mifflin (15-2, 5-1 Section 1) tethered to front-running Reading (7-0) in the section race and preserved its D-3 power ranking with the postseason looming.
Exeter (9-9, 2-4) was sitting in 18th place in the 16-team 5A field coming into game.
Mifflin led 23-21 at the half before Exeter drained the first two buckets after the break to grab a 25-23 lead. It was the Eagles’ last stand.
Mifflin head coach Dan Haughney ratcheted up the pressure and rolled out the trap – and his club feasted on the turnovers, ripping off a 20-2 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to finally put the issue to rest.
“After they took that two-point lead, the next eight minutes was as good as we’ve played all year,” Haughney said. “We don’t trap a lot, but one of my coaches said, ‘Let’s throw a trap at ‘em.’ We were gonna do it once, and we got a turnover. So we it did it three more times and every time we got a turnover and it just got us into it more. That triggered our man (defense) and I thought that was good. We got a lot of easy baskets and I thought we rebounded well. We’re very happy with our defense tonight.
“They’re (Exeter) a desperate team and I harped on that tonight. But it’s a big rivalry and they always play us tough.”
Isiah Tisdale (14 points) came up huge during the run. Mifflin’s senior guard nailed two long 3-pointers and converted a third bucket in the paint off a turnover to spearhead the rally.
“Coach put in Brandon Shepard as a defensive sub; he’s long and lanky and caused them some problems,” Tisdale said. “That caused some turnovers and my teammates, they found me. And I was hot. Got a couple of easy 3-pointers and knocked them down.
“We’ve had some phases this year when we let off the gas and we’ve got to stop doing that.”
It was an opportunity that slipped through Exeter’s hands late.
“They went to a 1-2-2 three-quarter trap and we didn’t adjust correctly,” Exeter head coach Kevin Boettlin said. “They got the momentum off of that. Our kids’ heads went down and we lost confidence from there. It’s a matter of poise and execution. It’s a matter of knowing what to do and how to beat it. At that time, I guess we just got caught up in the moment. Historically, we beat that. But (Mifflin) was very, very aggressive.”
Exeter’s perimeter game gave Mifflin early fits, with four triples before the break. That hot outside shooting evaporated in the second half.
“We missed a lot of open shots,” Boettlin explained. “It’s that simple. We shot 5 for 20 from the 3-point line. You’re not gonna win a lot of games like that. We did not find our shooting range in the second half.”
Devon Jackson, a first-year transfer, was Exeter’s biggest gun. The guard had 15 points to lead the visitors, including a trio of threes.
“He transferred in from West-Mont Christian this year,” Boettlin said of Jackson. “He’s a nice player and we’re very fortunate to have him.”
Tisdale backcourt mate Bubba Peters led all scorers, with 16 points. Rece Harman chipped into with 10, including a pair of hustle put-backs off missed shots during that big run. Exeter big man Riley Dobraniecki had 10 for the Eagles.
