Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Altoona's Josh Lowery puts up a shot.

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

Mifflin County treated its game Monday at Altoona Area as a playoff game.

For a half, it seemed like one.

That’s when the Huskies began to pull away and held the Mountain Lions to just 10 points in the second half in a 62-33 win that locked in the decision for 9-11 Mifflin County to enter the District 6 Class 6A playoff field alongside State College.

“This will put us in district contention, so our plan will be to continue on the district path, get back in the gym and get ready for those games,” Mifflin County coach Shane Spencer said. “It starts on the defensive end with us. We have to get out in transition to help our offense, and we have to get shooters to space. We’ll be working on those things.”

District 6 allows three teams to enter its 6A tournament, and the only three eligible to do so are State College, Mifflin County and Altoona, but teams can opt not to play.

The decision on the postseason for 2-19 Altoona will come sometime following its game at Harrisburg tonight.

“I haven’t talked to (AAHS athletic director) Mr. (Phil) Riccio,” Altoona coach Doug Pfeffer said. “We have one more game (tonight), and I’ll sit down with Mr. Riccio and make a decision from there.”

Josh Lowery, who led the Mountain Lions with 11 points, made a layup with 1:26 to play in the first quarter to put Altoona ahead, 10-9, but Mifflin County’s Jack Curry responded with a 3-pointer. The Huskies never trailed again, and Curry finished with a game-high 20 points.

“End of the second quarter, third and fourth we just lost our man too many times,” Pfeffer said. “They are a very good shooting team, and they will make you pay when you’re not on your man.”

Gavin Dunkle’s 3-pointer late in the second quarter cut Mifflin County’s lead to two, and Altoona trailed by just five at the half.

“In the first half, we executed what we wanted to as a game plan,” Pfeffer said. “We got the ball inside to Josh. He converted on a bunch of shots. I thought our defensive effort was there.”

Mifflin County came out of the locker room a different team and outscored Altoona, 19-4, in the third quarter.

“The first half, we weren’t getting to the ball side well defensively,” Spencer said. “The boys committed to making those adjustments, and I think that was the biggest difference. We played more physical. They came out strong and are a physically strong team, and they outmatched us in that first half. The second, our plan was to be more physical, defend better and put ball pressure on. That turned the game around for us.”

The second half collapse has unfortunately become a theme for the Mountain Lions.

“I feel like we just get tired,” Altoona senior M.J. Harrington said. “Sometimes a team makes a play, and we get a little unorganized. If we stay focused like we do in the first half most games, we’re a good team. You could see that against Hollidaysburg and some other games where we’re in the game in the first half. Then we lose our momentum and stuff goes downhill. We’re in a lot of first halves. We always hustle. We always play for Altoona. That’s a good thing.”

Mifflin County continued its momentum in the fourth quarter and pulled away.

Josh Hartzler finished with 16 points. Lowery picked up his fourth foul with 3:41 left in the third quarter and never returned to the game after the score became so lopsided.

“I told them this has been a really difficult year for us,” Pfeffer said. “Tonight, I was very disappointed. When things went downhill, it just seemed like a snowball that got bigger and bigger. We just didn’t battle ourselves out of it. We hung our heads. We didn’t give up, but our execution wasn’t there tonight. I was expecting better.”

MIFFLIN COUNTY (62): Bender 1 0-0 2, Strohecker 1 0-0 2, Hartzler 7 2-2 16, Attivo 1 3-4 5, Curry 8 0-0 20, Haigh 0 0-0 0, Keller 2 1-2 5, Franklin 3 0-0 6, Hartung 0 0-0 0, Parkes 3 0-0 6, Cherry 0 0-0 0, Hartsock 0 0-0 0. Totals — 26 6-7 62.

ALTOONA (33): Greaser 2 0-0 4, Harrington 0 0-0 0, Lowery 5 1-1 11, Herr 0 0-0 0, Dunkle 1 0-0 3, E. Hicks 0 2-2 2, White 3 1-3 7, Wagner 0 1-2 1, Simendinger 1 1-2 3, D. Hicks 0 0-0 0, Barr 1 0-0 2, Diventura 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 6-10 33.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mifflin County 14 14 19 15 — 62

Altoona 12 11 4 6 — 33

3-point goals: Mifflin County 4 (Curry 4); Altoona 1 (Dunkle).

Records: Mifflin County (9-11); Altoona (2-19).

Officials: Jordan Forester, Derrick Soellner, Bill Musser.