By Todd Hummel
SELINSGROVE — Since the second half of Saturday’s game against Jersey Shore, things have just started to click for the Mifflinburg girls basketball team and junior center Alexis Valentine.
After holding the Bulldogs to just four points after the break with Valentine getting a double-double in their previous game, the Wildcats put together a defensive effort that limited Selinsgrove to just 17-percent shooting, and Valentine just missed a triple-double by one blocked shot in a 52-34 victory over the Seals.
“I think we’re just getting used to playing with each other and getting over our inexperience,” Mifflinburg coach Kelly Griffith said.
It was the second victory in a row for Mifflinburg, which improved to 4-7 overall, 3-4 Heartland Athletic Conference. The Seals drop to 4-7, 2-4.
Valentine led the way for Mifflinburg with 25 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocked shots, following her 14-point, 13-rebound game against Jersey Shore. “She’s special. She’s worked real hard on her post moves the past few weeks and it’s really showed the last couple of games,” Griffith said.
The Wildcats led 9-6 after Selinsgrove’s Eleanor Fina hit a jumper with about two minutes left in the first quarter, but that would be the last Seals field goal until the 2:36 mark of the second quarter. Mifflinburg finished the first quarter on an 8-0 run, the final four points by Bryanna Valentine, who also finished with a double-double, to open up a 17-6 lead after one quarter.
The Seals continued to struggle from the floor in the second quarter as an Alexis Valentine’s three-point play with 4:44 left in the first half would push the lead to 13.
“We couldn’t make a shot and we haven’t been able to for about the last four games,” Selinsgrove coach Scott Kerstetter said. “It’s a confidence thing. We had some looks. You have to make your outside shots against them, because you’re not going to get much inside.”
The only downside for Mifflinburg was turnovers. The Wildcats turned it over 27 times and allowed the Seals to stay in the game.
“We still have our problems getting the ball up the court against pressure,” Griffith said. “We’re really working on that at practice.”
Thanks to the turnovers, the Seals cut the lead to 10 points twice in the third quarter, but both times Mifflinburg had an answer. Bryanna Valentine scored on a putback late in the third, and Katie Oliveri turned a steal into two foul shots as the Wildcats extended their lead to 14 at 36-22.
After a Lauren Hackenburg three-point play cut Mifflinburg’s lead to 11, the Seals never got closer and the Wildcats put the game away with an 8-0 run early in the fourth to extend their lead to 20 points.
Bryanna Valentine finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Mifflinburg. Oliveri chipped in with six points, on perfect shooting from the foul line, and four assists.
Hackenburg led the Seals with eight points.
