Governor Mifflin falls short in District 3-AAAA title game
HERSHEY>> Governor Mifflin head coach Mike Clark is fond of saying he likes to the play the best. To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.
Well, he and his Mustangs got to play the best Friday night at Giant Center.
Defending PIAA and District 3 champion Cumberland Valley never trailed in the Class AAAA championship game, emerging with a 65-57 victory over Mifflin to defend its district title.
Needing to play near perfect ball to have a chance at beating the defending state champs, the Mustangs instead suffered from their worst shooting half of the season on the biggest stage: Clark’s crew was 3 of 26 before the break and 1 of 11 beyond the arc in falling behind 22-3.
“I thought if we could stay with them and score, our relentlessness could get them down the stretch,” Clark said. “Oh man, we couldn’t make anything early. … baskets running and in an out. Stuff we usually make. We make some, and it would have been a more competitive game. I’m not gonna say we would have won, but it would have been a more competitive game.”
The Mustangs (27-2) played significantly better ball during the second half but never got closer than seven, which occurred with only 1:37 to play and Mifflin down 56-49. That first half hole was just too deep a dig to climb out of given the remaining time.
“They were just missing some shots,”CV coach Bill Wolfe said. “We were playing some good defense, but they were missng a lot of shots.”
Cumberland Valley presented Mifflin with a unique image: The Eagles were basically the Mustangs, stylistically — with three Division 1 prospects. The Eagles (24-3) run as much the Stangs like to do — Friday night, CV dispensed a heavy open-floor, transition dose to Mifflin, the kind that the Mustangs have handed to 27 opponents this season.
“For the senior class, this is their second district title, to go with two state championships,” Wolfe said. “Although the big difference I think is defense. They press pretty much the whole game; our approach is more a half-court man-to-man.”
Behind Kelly Jekot’s game-high 25 points and sister Katelyn’s 13, the Eagles were in control from the go. Morgan Baughman’s 3-pointer on the game’s first possession, five seconds in, was the gateway to an opening 11-2 crush, the kind that Mifflin has been used to unfurling this winter. The trio is Wolfe’s D-1 prospects.
CV led 25-11 at halftime; a decent second half in which Mifflin actually outscored the Eagles by six points (46-40) was not nearly enough to flip the result.
Kyra Hartman’s hot second half propelled her to the top of Mifflin’s score book, with 18 points. Madison Koehler and Kylie Herman each scored 11.
Clark was able to display a touch of humor with the knowledge the his Mustangs play on into states.
“Good thing is, they’re going one way, we’re going in the other,” Clark said with a relieved laugh, in reference to the upcoming PIAA tournament and CV being bracketed in the West. “So the next one would be the state title game.”
