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Suburban 'D' shines, South Western girls win


The foundation for success for the York Suburban girls' basketball team begins with defense. Trojans coach Jess Barley has preached that from the first day of practice.

"We are a blue-collar, defensive-minded team," Barley said. "We want to hold teams in the 30s, regardless of who we play. That's the goal every single game. No matter who they are or how many points they average."

Monday evening in the nightcap of the York Suburban Holiday Tournament, the Trojans held a Mifflin County team that averages more than 67 points per game to its lowest point total of the season in York Suburban's 55-39 win at York Suburban High School.

The Trojans will meet South Western at 7:30 p.m. in Tuesday championship game. The Mustangs advanced with a 37-26 win over Twin Valley.

York Suburban (7-2) watched the Lady Huskies shoot 7-of-14 from the field in an opening quarter. Mifflin County led by four after the first period, but Suburban held the Huskies to 8-of-34 shooting the rest of the way. The Trojans also forced Mifflin County into 18 turnovers.

Mifflin County came into the game having surpassed 74 points three times in seven games so far this year.

"If they put up 80 points on us, we're not going to win," Barley said. "Not a chance. Holding teams down in the 30s or even 40s, we give ourselves a chance. We are all about the defensive end of the floor and taking pride in our defensive effort."

While the Trojans were shutting down Mifflin County on defense, the Trojans offense went berserk by their standards. York Suburban scored a season-high 55 points after entering the game having exceeded 41 points only three times in the first seven games.

York College-bound Molly Day scored a game-high 22 points while 6-foot junior Parker Faircloth-Henise added 13 points. The 5-10 Day also connected on two 3-pointers.

"We talked about wanting to use our size advantage (as Mifflin County's tallest starter was 5-10)," Barley said. "We wanted to get Parker and Molly the ball. Molly really stepped up like the senior leader she is. I was pleased with the way she did that. She had some nice drives and finished. That's what we expect from her every night. We need that if we expect to win."

South Western (5-4) advanced to this evening's championship game by opening with 10 unanswered points against Twin Valley.

The Mustangs opened up a 15-point lead by halftime behind nine first-half points from senior Jacey Shipley and six from senior Taylor Gough.

Twin Valley rallied to within 11 in the fourth quarter as South Western went the final 4:45 of the game without a basket, but the Mustangs held on to snap a two-game losing streak.

"The first half was great," said South Western coach Kevin Klunk. "That's how we should look. We are capable of playing that way. We have stretches where we look terrific and then stretches like we don't know what we are doing. Sometimes it seems like we fall asleep for a couple of minutes and make things interesting."

Shipley finished with a game-high 11 points while 5-11 freshman Taylor Geiman added 10 points.

South Western 37, Twin Valley 26

South Western (37)

Feeser 1 0-0 2, Jacey Shipley 5 1-1 11, Gough 4 0-0 8, Soullaird 2 0-2 4, Taylor Geiman 3 3-4 10, McMaster 1 0-0 2, Wisensale 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0. Totals —  16 4-7 37.  

Twin Valley (26)

Beard 1 2-2 4, Wallace 0 0-0 0, Lane 0 1-2 1, Taylor Knorr 4 2-2 10, Jamison 2 1-2 5, Lennon 2 2-5 6. Totals —  9 8-13 26.  

South Western _ 15 _ 10 _ 5 _ 7 _ — _ 37 

Twin Valley _ 6 _ 4 _ 7 _ 9 _ — _ 26 

3-point goals — South Western 1 (Geiman), Twin Valley 0.

York Suburban 55, Mifflin County 39

Mifflin County (39)

Eleana Eckley 3 5-5 11, Maggie Wilson 7 0-0 15, Wright 3 1-1 7, Lepley 1 0-0 3, Rittenhouse 0 3-6 3, Roush 0 0-0 0, Arnold 0 0-0 0, Herto 0 0-0 0. Totals —  14 9-12 39.  

York Suburban (55)

Dumars 1 0-0 3, Reinecker 1 2-2 4, Parker Faircloth-Henise 6 1-3 13, Gettle 1 4-9 6, Molly Day 8 4-6 22, Mooney 3 1-2 7. Totals —  20 12-22 55.  

Mifflin County _ 14 _ 5 _ 12 _ 8 _ — _ 39  

York Suburban _ 10 _ 15 _ 18 _ 12 _ — _ 55

3-point goals — Mifflin County 2 (Wilson, Lepley), York Suburban 3 (Day 2, Dumars).