State College boys outlast young MC squad

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: December 22, 2018

By Kenny Varner

STATE COLLEGE – For three quarters, the Mifflin County boys basketball team stayed within striking distance, trailing by only single digits for most of the contest.

However, an early scoring run in the final stanza proved to be too much for the fiesta Huskies to overcome as they fell 54-37 on the road.

Mifflin County got a spark off the bench from Tyler Metz as he score a team-high 10 points, all coming in the second half.

Julian Jackson sunk two triples for six in a losing effort.

Xavier Vega paced the Huskies in the rebound department with four.

State College was led by Johny Friberg’s 18 points.

Teammates Oliver Kile and Nate Lusk finished in double-digit scoring with a 14-and 11-point effort, respectively.

Lusk also was strong on the foul line, hitting all seven he attempted.

“I thought our kids played really well. What helped is we made some shots that we weren’t able to make before in any other game,” said Mifflin County coach Scott Gaffey said. “Defensively, this was the most locked in that we’ve been. So I’m proud our guys for that and that we took care of the ball. That’s really been a struggle for us. So in games we are able to take care of the ball then we can stay within striking distance of these teams. Hopefully one of these times we can make it over the hump.”

In the first quarter, the two teams went back and forth with each team taking turns at taking the lead.

State College opened with a foul shot by Oliver Kile to get the scoring started.

Mifflin County took the early lead on a put back by Noah Wright with 5:35 left.

Kile hit his team’s first field goal on the following possession, taking back the lead.

Julian Jackson hit the first big shot for Mifflin County, posting up behind the line to sink a triple, making it a 5-3 advantage.

Cam Villeronel, who finished with nine points, seemed to be everywhere in the game and posted points off an offensive rebound, tying it at five.

The Huskies took back the lead as Eric Shilling stole a State College pass and took it in for the easy lay up.

Friberg tied it at seven with a steal and bucket of his own.

On the following State College possession, Friberg was hacked in the process of shooting and hit one of two to take back the lead.

Jace Shoemaker, tied the game once again, hitting one of two from his trip to the foul line.

But with just a few ticks left on the first quarter clock, State scores on yet another offensive outback by Villeronel, making it 10-8 going into the second.

State College seemed to get its offense going in the second quarter as it doubled up Mifflin County 16-8 in the period en route to the 23-12 halftime lead.

Early In the period, Mifflin County tied it with another lay up by Shilling.

From there, the Little Lions went on a 16-4 run.

But Mifflin County refuses to go away as it shot its way back into the ball game early in the third.

Coming out of the break Mifflin County got two points each from Wright and Jayden Jackson to cut it to a 23-16 deficit.

State College battled back with a 5-0 run. The run was sparked by a triple by Friberg.

Trailing by 12, Gaffey went to his bench for Metz. Metz did not disappoint as he came off the bench and immediately hit a triple.

But he was one upped on the next State College possession as Friberg then hit another trey, making it 33-21.

Metz worked his way to the line and hit one of two and then teammate Julian Jackson launched one from beyond the arc, putting the State lead at just eight, 33-25.

Friberg extended things back to 10, on a jumper with 2:32 left in the third.

Metz countered the shot with a field goal of his own, cutting back to single digits.

Friberg was on fire as he was automatic on another three.

Metz was able to pull his team to within 10, hitting one of two from the charity stripe.

But State College would have the last shot of the quarter as Villeronel hit another offensive bucket with 25 seconds left, giving his team a 40-28 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Mifflin County could not overcome the State College lead as the Little Lions continued to out shoot Mifflin County 14-9 en route to the 17-point victory.

Mifflin County also fell in the JV contest, 58-34.