Mike Clark-Gov. Mifflin

The Gov. Mifflin girls basketball team lost four league games this season and three of those defeats came in Shillington. That didn’t sit well with the Mustangs, a perennial power in Berks County. Head coach Mike Clark reminded his players of one thing, “Our house is Santander.” His words rang true as Gov. Mifflin knocked off rival Wilson 47-34 in the BCIAA championship at Santander Arena. It’s the Mustangs’ third county title in the last four years and record 14th overall. They beat #1 seed and Division 1 champ Berks Catholic 41-40 in the semifinals. Clark emphasized how tough their division was this season. Gov. Mifflin went on a 9-2 run to end the first quarter. The third-seeded Bulldogs trailed 14-7 after eight minutes. Shakyla Mayo, who had the game-winning layup in the semifinals, came out on fire with nine points in the opening period. The 5’6 junior finished with 19 points. Mayo and Elisa Fiore drilled back-to-back treys midway through the second quarter to give the Mustangs a 25-11 advantage. Gia Borelli, one of four senior starters for Wilson, hit a triple at the buzzer. The (17-6) Bulldogs were down 25-14 at halftime. Wilson went scoreless for the first seven minutes of the third quarter before Kelsy Moschak made a jumper. Gov. Mifflin was on top 32-18 entering the final period. The Bulldogs had another scoring drought. This one lasted three minutes and 16 seconds. Clark told me that his game plan was to surround Isis Dojan in the paint and force Wilson to make shots from the perimeter. Dojan was limited to three points. The 6’2 junior had 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 blocks against Reading in the semifinals. The Bulldogs finally started connecting from beyond the arc midway through the fourth quarter. Amiyah Nguyen and Borelli nailed consecutive 3-pointers to close the gap to 33-27 with three and a-half minutes remaining. That’s when things got interesting. At least interesting is one word for it. Wilson kept fouling and Gov. Mifflin kept missing; over and over and over again. The (17-8) Mustangs went 13-33 from the free throw line in the final quarter. They were 13-35 overall. Shakyla Mayo was 3-14 from the stripe in the fourth quarter, but she converted a pair of free throws with 44 seconds to go. Sophomore Taylor Koenig followed with two more for a 44-34 lead. Koenig provided eleven points, eight coming in the last quarter. Clark believes her future is very bright. She averages a team-high 13 points. Koenig is tied for the most 3-pointers in Berks County this year with 45. Fiore chipped in with eight points. Clark thought the 5’10 senior improved dramatically from her semifinal performance. Levengood had a team-high eleven points for the Bulldogs. Borelli and Nguyen added eight points apiece. Wilson was 2-5 from the free throw line. The Bulldogs were searching for their tenth county title and first since 2014. Clark talked about the luxury of having five players who can shoot and handle the ball in his lineup. We also discussed how he’s been able to sustain success over a decade at Gov. Mifflin. Clark’s philosophy is to treat freshmen and seniors the same. This was his fifth BCIAA championship. Clark is (181-82) with the Mustangs and (274-100) overall. He guided Oley Valley to a District 3-3A title in 2011 and four straight division championships. The Mustangs and Bulldogs both qualified for the District 3-6A tournament. #11 seed Gov. Mifflin travels to Cumberland Valley on Monday. #9 seed Wilson visits Penn Manor.