Wildcat Basketball

By Todd Stanford
The Daily Item

MIFFLINBURG — Offensive rebounding wasn’t Mifflinburg’s strong suit Wednesday night — until it mattered most.

Jim Sower s and Corey Murtha both had key offensive boards in overtime as the Wildcats rallied for a 53-50 win over Shamokin at the Cats’ Den.

The victory was Mifflinburg’s 14th in a row, and kept the ’Cats unbeaten in the Heartland Athletic Conference Division I this year at 8-0 (15-1 overall).

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy said. “What a team effort. Our two leading scorers, Zac (Hoy) and (Sowers) have an off night. And Travis (Trutt) and Connor Pierce and Murtha stepped up. We told them in the locker room that that’s what makes a championship team.”

The Indians (9-6, 6-2) could have forged a first-place tie with the Wildcats had they pulled Wednesday’s game out.

But they couldn’t hold on to a six-point lead (50-44) with one minute left.

“At the end we had to make some plays and make some foul shots,” said Shamokin coach Joe Klebon, whose squad lost 76-61 last month in the teams’ first meeting. “We weren’t able to do that. It hurt us down the stretch.”

The Indians wasted a superb night from senior forward Brent Forbes, who scored his 1,000th career point with his first bucket of the night and finished with game-highs in points (26) and rebounds (15).

“Forbes was just terrific,” Eldon Hoy said.

The Wildcats had just one offensive rebound through the first four quarters, but they grabbed four in overtime. After Trutt converted a three-point play with 56.2 seconds left — pulling the Wildcats to within 50-47 — the Indians turned the ball over against Mifflinburg’s fullcourt press. Sowers then scored on a tip-in with 37 seconds left.

Trutt then quickly got a steal; he was fouled and went to the line with 30 seconds left, making one to tie the game at 50.

Shamokin’s Jake Phillips missed a three at the other end, and Sowers and Forbes both leaped for the rebound; they both tipped it back up in the air, and Sowers then grabbed it when it came down a second time.

“Forbes is a great rebounder,” Sowers said. “I just tried to get a body on him and get up a little higher.”

Sowers was fouled with 11.8 seconds to go, and he made one but missed the second. That’s when Murtha — who had a team-high 20 points — popped in for his offensive rebound.

Murtha, who finished the night with a perfect 7-for-7 effort at the foul line, buried both for the final deficit.

Phillips’ potential game-tying 3-pointer at the end of overtime fell short, and the Mifflinburg fans stormed the court to celebrate the victory.

“I was able to jump over the kid,” Murtha said when asked about his key offensive rebound.

“I came down and got the rebound, they fouled me, it was all good.”

There were 11 ties and three lead changes in the game. After going 0-for-7 from the floor in the first quarter, Mifflinburg trailed 10-5 after one. But the ’Cats used an 11-0 run late in the second quarter to take a 22- 17 lead into the locker room.

Murtha scored five points during the spurt.

In the second half, the Indians continued to pound the ball down low to Forbes. He scored on a three-point play late in the third and then Phillips made a baby hook in the lane as Shamokin tied it at 32 heading into the fourth.

It was 42-all late in regulation when Mifflinburg waited for one shot. After a series of timeouts, Hoy put up an awkward 3-pointer at the buzzer that was off.

The Wildcats now have a twogame lead in the HAC-I race with six to play, putting them in good position to claim their fourth league championship in the last nine years.

BY BARB KROHN

MIFFLINBURG — Mifflinburg closed out the first half of the Heartland Athletic Conference Division I Saturday night with what in the end was a convincing 76-60 win over Selinsgrove.

The win gave the Wildcats a perfect 7-0 record in league play and extended their winning streak to 13. Mifflinburg is now 14-1, suffering its only loss to Hughesville in the second game of the season.

It was perhaps significant that the close of the first half was a game with the Seals, a team that historically has given the Wildcats fits.

“They are so athletic,” said Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy.  “We knew it would be a tough game.”  And despite the final score, it was a war out on the court for the first three-and-a-half periods.  the teams traded baskets almost at will although Mifflinburg held a slight lead at the end of each quarter - 19-17, 31-30 and 48-47.

Defensively Seals senior Ryan Keiser, who finished with 20 points on the night, proved almost impossible to stop.  “Ryan Keiser was fantastic,” said the Wildcats coach.  “We threw good defenders at him, but as a team we didn’t handle it well.”  In a stroke of luck for the home team, Keiser fouled out in the middle of the fourth quarter.  Offensively Selinsgrove took Mifflinburg out of its usual game plan.  “Tonight was really different,” said Eldon Hoy.  “They forced us drive the ball.  It’s not the way we’ve been winning, but it was nice to see that we could.”

Junior Zac Hoy led the dribble penetrate attack racking up a game-high 27 points, 10 of them freebies earned via Seals fouls.  “(Coach) told me to start being more offensive,” said Zac Hoy.  “Jim (Sowers) set some nice picks, there were a lot of them from the whole team, and that opened up the driving lanes.”

Also coming up big was sophomore Connor Pierce who came off the bench to score 13.  “He had some big defensive plays too,” said the Mifflinburg coach.  “I tried to bring energy off the bench,” said Pierce.

Coach Hoy said Saturday’s game was an example of how the Wildcats are finding ways to win.  “Kids are starting to feel more poised and confident that if things don’t go well at first, it will later.  Or (as was the case Saturday night) we’ll just have to adjust and make it happen.”

Mifflinburg will have another challenge on Wednesday when it hosts Shamokin, sitting just behind the Wildcats in HAC-I with just one loss.  “We told them to enjoy (winning the HAC-I) first half,” said Eldon Hoy.  “But we have a team one game behind us on Wednesday.”

Sowers pours in 24 for Mifflinburg

By Chris Dougherty

The Wildcats dominated the first three quarters of play, finishing with leads of 10 or more after the second and third. A fourth quarter rally by Danville would erase any hopes Mifflinburg had of making it a blowout.

Leading 40-29 to start the final period, the Wildcats allowed the Ironmen back into the game with turnovers and careless mistakes. Danville senior center Michael Rudy put his team on his back, rattling off eight points during a 12-3 run that brought the Ironmen to within three at 43-41 with 2:23 left.
“We didn’t take care of the ball real well at times,” Hoy said. “We tried to dribble too much instead of pass and got a little careless late in the game.”
Jim Sowers would convert a three-point play to extend the lead back to five. Sowers finished with a game-high 24 points.
A bucket by Andrew Andreychik brought Danville back within four with just over a minute to play. With the Ironmen denying Mifflinburg point guard Zac Hoy, the inbound passes went to Kaleb Snyder and Travis Trutt, who both broke through the Ironmen press well. Trutt would find Sowers for two layups with under 30 seconds to preserve the win.
“Getting a road win against a tough team is a huge thing,” Sowers said.
On a team that is filled with players capable of scoring in double digits each night, Sowers was Tuesday’s beneficiary.
“It’s a team concept with us, and I think Jimmy would be the first one to tell you that,” Hoy said. “He got points when he was where he was supposed to be and when people found him.
“Tonight he was able to finish and he mixed his game up, which is something he’s gotten better at as the season has gone on.”
Hoy thought Sowers did his best work on the defensive end, despite the 24 points.
“I thought Jimmy did a great job on Michael Rudy,” he said. “Rudy had a lot of buckets, but they were all very well contested and then he was boxed out.”
Rudy finished with 18 points to lead Danville. The majority of his buckets were jumpers away from the basket.
“It was a good battle between me and Rudy,” Sowers said. “He hit quite a few 18-footers, but I was excited to play against him and prepared myself pretty well.”
Zac Hoy added 13 points for Mifflinburg, with three 3-pointers. Trutt chipped in eight.
Mifflinburg will go for a complete sweep through the first wave of HAC-I games when they host Selinsgrove on Saturday.
“We can celebrate this, but we have to come back out and do it again on Saturday,” Hoy said. “One game at a time.”

BY STANDARD JOURNAL

Boys basketball
Mifflinburg 69
Jersey Shore 50

MIFFLINBURG — The Wildcats pulled away in the second half for the Heartland Athletic Conference Division I win.

Jersey Shore kept it close in the first three stanza finishing the third quarter trailing by just seven, but Mifflinburg turned it on in the fourth outscoring the Bulldogs 23-9.

Jim Sowers led all scorers with 23 points and Zac Hoy had 20. Also finishing in double figures was Travis Trutt who chipped in 10.

The Wildcats improve to 12-1, 5-0 HAC-I while the Bulldogs fall to 5-5, 2-3.

Mifflinburg takes to the road Tuesday for another HAC-I matchup against Danville.

by Barb Krohn, Standard-Journal

MIFFLINBURG —  As well as the Mifflinburg boys have been playing, coach Eldon Hoy wasn’t happy with one particular aspect of their game — defense.
So when Milton came to town Friday night he challenged his team to hold the Black Panthers to single figures each quarter.
And while the Wildcats fell one quarter short of their goal, the result was what Hoy was looking for, a complete game pressure defense that resulted in a 70-27 Heartland Athletic Conference Division I win.
Mifflinburg, now 9-1, 3-0 HAC-I, takes to the road today for an afternoon game against Towanda. Milton falls to 2-8, 0-3. The Black Panthers travel to Greenwood tonight.

“Coach has been harping on us to play defense,” said senior center Jim Sowers, who finished with a team-high nine boards and 13 points.
“Our goal was to stop them. We tried to keep them from scoring double digits each quarter,” he said. “After the first quarter we did.”
At the beginning of the game, the Wildcats built an 11-4 lead as a result of their defensive efforts but let the Black Panthers in at the end of the quarter with a seven-point run that evened things at 11. Mifflinburg freshman Michael Wiand hit a shot at the end of the stanza, however, to make it 13-11 going into the second quarter.
The Wildcats reeled off 13 unanswered points in the second period, many of them from foul shots, which had the result of benching many of the Black Panthers starters.
Milton went into the locker room down 31-17, but coach Walt Patynski felt his team was still in the game.
“A couple shots (to start off the third quarter) and you’re in there,” he said.
But that wasn’t what happened after the intermission.
Instead, Mifflinburg came out with 12 unanswered points.
“They’re so explosive and their press wears on you,” said Patynski. “They just need a 10-point run and its hard to find the energy to come back.”
Junior point guard Zac Hoy, who finished with a game-high 17 points as well as eight steals, had been particularly challenged to up his defense Friday night.
“My dad’s been telling me to step up my effort on defense,” said the point guard. “I was able to do that tonight.”
“He’s the one (the coaching staff) has been getting on for lack of aggressiveness on defense,” said Coach Hoy. “If a team takes him out offensively, he gets a little lax defensively.
“But on defense all five have to work as a unit.”
The entire unit was certainly operational Friday night.
“They did a nice job of pressure,” said the Wildcats coach. “It was a team concept. We were switching everything, it wasn’t just one person. If (Milton) set a screen to release somebody, we did a nice job of pressuring the ball.”
And Zac Hoy was reminded how much enjoyment can be had from putting on that pressure.
“I forgot how much fun it is just to annoy people like that.”

Duo combines for 34 points in the HAC-I win

BY BARB KROHN, Standard-Journal

Standard Journal

Published:  Monday, January 4, 2010

Mifflinburg 77
Midd-West 63

MIFFLINBURG — The Wildcats rolled to an early lead and cruised from there, dominating the Mustangs Saturday in boys basketball action.

Zac Hoy led all scorers with 23 points, Jim Sowers added a dozen, Corey Murtha finished with 11 and Travis Trutt added 10.

The Wildcats (7-1) led 26-12 after one and went into the locker room with a 48-31 edge.

Dylan Culp added eight for Mifflinburg. Midd-West was led by Jeremy Troutman’s 13.

Mifflinburg is back in action Tuesday at home against Shikellamy.

Daily Item High School Roundup

ALTOONA — Kaleb Snyder was named the tournament hustler as he scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to help lead the Wildcats to the championship victory.

Jim Sowers also pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with his nine points, while Corey Murtha scored 17 points to lead Mifflinburg (6-1).

Murtha was named to the all-tournament team and Zac Hoy, who had nine points in the game, was the tourney’s MVP for the Wildcats.

Altoona Mirror,  Jim Lane

Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School’s gym has served as a good homecourt advantage over the years, but Mifflinburg didn’t fall into the Marauders’ trap Monday night.

The visiting Wildcats jumped out to an 18-3 first-quarter lead and went on to beat the Marauders, 60-41, in opening-night action of the first Jim Ellis Shootout at BG’s Pleasant Valley gym.

Penns Valley trimmed Bellwood-Antis, 53-40, in the other game and will battle Mifflinburg for the boys’ championship on Wednesday at 6 p.m. BG and Bellwood will square off in the consolation game at 4:30.

Zac Hoy buried a 3-pointer to open the scoring and Mifflinburg bolted to an 11-0 advantage before Brian Logue’s bucket got BG on the board six and a half minutes into the game.

The Marauders weren’t able to dig themselves out of the big early hole, though. With Hoy putting up 13 points, Mifflinburg built a 20-point lead at the half. BG had more turnovers (14) than shots (13) the first half.

“We just don’t expect to be successful, I think that’s the biggest problem we face,” BG coach Josh Baker said of his 2-2 Marauders. “We don’t do things to be successful.

“We go out there and get punched in the face, and we don’t counter punch,” he said. “We just kind of sit there and take it, and by the time you look up, it’s 18-3 and you’re fighting an uphill battle for the next 24 minutes.”

The Marauders outscored the Wildcats 26-25 in the second half, but it was too little, too late.

“We don’t value the basketball, and we’re not aggressive,” said Baker, whose Marauders committed 21 turnovers. “Our defense is actually very good, but when you’re playing defense for two-thirds of the possessions, you’re going to break down.

“In the second half, we were more aggressive and showed some passion and heart - the score reflected that - but we have to do that for 32 minutes.”

Hoy led Mifflinburg with 21 points, Kaleb Snyder added 12 and Travis Trutt 10. It was the Wildcats’ fifth win in six games, and coach Eldon Hoy said the fast start was the key.

“We’ve been starting quickly,” coach Hoy said. “The kids have been coming out intense, ready to play, and they did that tonight.

“It’s a good thing we did, the way Guilfoyle played the second half.”

Coach Hoy said his team is used to playing on bigger courts, so he was happy with the good start.

“I wasn’t sure how we’d react to this court,” he said.

Hoy thinks Penns Valley is a lot like Guilfoyle in its style of play, and he expects a tough game in the final.

“They’re very intense, hard-working kids, and we look for a good game, a close contest on Wednesday,” Hoy said.

Game notes: Mifflinburg star Zac Hoy’s mother, Lori Young, was an outstanding point guard for the Altoona Lady Lions in the mid-1980s.

By Todd Hummel
For The Daily Item

SHAMOKIN — The Mifflinburg boys basketball team has shown flashes of its talent over the last two years, but the Wildcats were hindered at times by their youth and lack of physical maturity.

Tuesday night in its Heartland Athletic Conference Division I opener against Shamokin, the Wildcats set out to prove that they are all grown up.

Whether it was shooting themselves back into the game in the first half, their defensive effort in the second half or their play inside down the stretch, Mifflinburg displayed the depth of its abilities in a 76-61 victory over Shamokin.

“We were outsized (tonight), but last year we were outsized drastically at times. That’s what happens when you’re playing three or four sophomores at a time,” Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy said. “We have a year of experience and maturity. The kids put in the work in the weight room in the offseason.

“Mix that together with what we already had — our court awareness and our defensive pressure — it’s made a huge difference.”

The game was tight early until Jim Showers and Kaleb Snyder each picked up two fouls in the second quarter for the Wildcats. The Indians (1-2, 0-1 HAC-I) got hot from the outside and opened up a four-point lead after Devin Madara canned a 3 midway through the second quarter.

“Shamokin did a good job of getting the ball inside to Brent Forbes and then using that to open up their guards,” Eldon Hoy said.

With their inside attack on the bench, Mifflinburg used its outside shooting to retake the lead before halftime. The Wildcats hit four consecutive 3-pointers — two by Travis Trutt and one each by Corey Murtha and Connor Pierce — in a 15-4 run to take a 39-32 lead after Zac Hoy’s three-point play with eight seconds left in the half.

Shamokin would get two foul shots from Devean Craft with three seconds left in the half and then a 3-pointer from Craft and driving hoop from Jake Phillips to start the second half to tie the game at 39-39 with 6:51 left in the third quarter.

“We were giving them too many good looks,” Eldon Hoy said. “We wanted to put pressure on the ball and make it harder for (Shamokin) to get the ball inside as well. I have to give credit to our guards they did a good job of that.”

Mifflinburg held the Indians scoreless for the next 6:15 of the third quarter and without a field goal from the floor for more than eight minutes. The Wildcats took advantage of their defensive pressure to go on a 13-0 run to take control of the game.

Showers had all nine of his second-half points in the spurt, while Murtha contributed the other four points as Mifflinburg opened up a 52-39 lead on a Showers putback with two minutes left in the quarter.

Mifflinburg would lead by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter, but the Indians made a mini-rally late, getting within 11 on a Jarrod Shurock 3-pointer with 2:19 left in the game.

The Wildcats answered with two foul shots by Murtha and a wide-open layup by Snyder to push the lead back to 15 and end any hopes of a comeback.

Zac Hoy led four Mifflinburg scorers in double figures with 21 points, while Murtha added 17 and Showers had 16. Travis Trutt chipped in with 10 points.