State College boys top Mifflin County in boys hoops

By Kenny Varner
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Updated: February 5, 2015

By Kenny Varner

LEWISTOWN – Coming into Wednesday night’s game, the Mifflin County boys basketball team needed just one District 6 win to help its cause for a post season bid.

Despite a 3-16 record, the Huskies still had a fighting a chance as State College came to town.

The Little Lions, straight off of a tough Mid-Penn win the night before, came in ready to go head-to-head in this budding rivalry at the Mifflin County gym.

Mifflin County kept the game within striking distance but unfortunately for the home team, they didn’t have enough to pull out the victory, falling 71-55.

State College was led on the night by freshman sensation Drew Friberg, who posted 20 points and over 10 boards, finishing with a double double in the victory.

Teammate Tyler hall also had a strong game offensively, dropping 15 on the Husky defense.

Evan Seby and Nate Koller played a rough and tumble game, leaving everything they had out on the court, finishing with a 14- and 12-point effort, respectively.

Not only did State College spoil the Huskies post season chances but they also rained on the Mifflin County senior night where the team honored its nine seniors.

Honored were Koller, Seby, Ross Torquato, Colin Spencer, Blake Hunter, Jared Michaels, Jesse Rodgers, Jordan Wolfkill and Matt Short.

“State College has gotten better and better all year round. They knocked off CD East last night. They have a lot of good players and do a lot of good things well. If your were going to beat them we would have to come out and be able to shoot the ball well, move the ball well. They did a little bit better than we did,” Mifflin County coach Dave Sheetz said. “The first half they had the three going and in the second half they got to the foulline. So it was just tough to stop them.”

With its student section filled close to capacity, the Huskies came out with the early momentum.

Seby hit the game’s first shot, shooting a jumper just inside the three-point line, making it 2-0.

After holding the Little Lions on the following possession, Mifflin County got the ball down the court and Koller called his own number, blasting a shot from beyond the three-point line, upping its lead to 5-0.

With a little over 5 minutes left in the quarter, the Little Lions started to get their offense warmed up. It all started with a simple triple by Hall.

As the lead quickly went to two, State College forced one of numerous Mifflin County turnovers and tied the score at five.

Tying the game was Friberg when he took the ball in on the fastbreak.

When the State College 12-0 run was done, the Little Lions took control early with a 7-point advantage before Mifflin County’s Spencer ended the run with a strong shot at the hoop.

As the first quarter would down, the Huskies were able to pull to within three points thanks to 6-0 run.

But like they did for most of the game, State College had an answer, posting two consecutive triples in under a minute to extend its lead to 19-13 going into the second quarter. Both of the treys came from Gulley.

Offensively, both teams took things down a notch in the second quarter. Mifflin County’s defense held the Little Lions to just 14 points.

However, Mifflin County could not capitalize on the defensive effort as it posted just 10 points, going into the intermission trailing by 10 points.

Mifflin County was still in the game, trailing 33-23 going into the third when State College opened the second half with another substancial scoring run.

After a Mifflin County triple by Packer to cut the Little Lions lead to 33-26, State College caught fire going on a 13-0 spurt, extending its lead to a comfortable 46-26 lead with 2:42 left in the half.

Despite a late scoring run by Mifflin County, the Lions led 47-30 as the quarter was winding down.

On the following inbounds pass to Short. He collected the ball and was able to get a good luck and rope a triple at the buzzer, making it just a 13-point lead going into the final stanza.

Despite the Huskies strong effort to come back, the night belonged to State College went onto the16-point victory.

“The kids worked hard. We are going to keep plugging away. We have Hollidaysburg on Tuesday,” Sheetz said. “We’ll keep playing hard.”

In the JV contest, the Huskies grabbed a 51-49 overtime victory from the Little Lions.