Taylor Koenig missed more than two months of Gov. Mifflin’s basketball season last winter after testing positive for COVID-19.
This season, she’s intent on making up lost time.
“I appreciate every opportunity,” Koenig said. “I feel like I missed so much. I need to be an impact player every single game. I need to be somehow involved, whether it’s getting a rebound, a steal, an assist.”
Koenig was very involved Saturday in a Berks Girls Basketball League quarterfinal at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate. She tied her career high with 21 points as the fourth-seeded Mustangs cruised past fifth-seeded Brandywine Heights 70-58.
“I just always want to attack,” Koenig said. “My coach (Mike Clark) always tells me to shoot the ball. He never tells me not to shoot.”
Gov. Mifflin (15-8) advanced to the semifinals Tuesday night at Santander Arena against Berks I champion Berks Catholic, a 52-36 winner over Wyomissing.
Shakyla Mayo scored 17 points, Anyah Oritz had 12 and Shyanna Mayo 11 for the Mustangs, who dropped two regular season games to Berks Catholic.
“I’m really excited to play Berks Catholic and to play there,” Koenig said.
The last time she and the Mustangs played at Santander Arena was in a 50-48 overtime loss to Wyomissing last year in the semifinals.
Koenig, a 5-9 sophomore, played in that game but she was not herself. She missed the first 11 games last season before returning to action Feb. 4. During her time away from the team, she worked on her shot by herself and then last summer with an instructor.
“I haven’t always been a good shooter,” she said. “My trainer really helped fix my shot.”
She scored 42 points in 11 games last season before earning a spot in the lineup this season. She’s emerged as the Mustangs’ top scorer at 12.9 points per game.
“Sometimes I have to slow her down,” Clark said. “Sometimes we’ll get a lead and she’ll start taking bad shots and the momentum switches. She’s only a sophomore. She doesn’t understand that yet.
“I don’t want her to stop shooting. She’s still learning.”
Koenig made 6-of-15 shots from the field and 6-of-6 from the line and had six rebounds and two assists. She made three 3-pointers and increased her league-leading total to 44.
She scored 13 points in the first half when Mifflin built a 37-20 lead against Brandywine Heights (17-5).
The Bullets were seeking their first Berks playoff win since 1974. They committed eight turnovers in the first quarter.
“It had to be nerves,” Brandywine coach Don Vinciguerra said. “They’re a good team and we were worried about them. We have two seniors and one junior. We’re still young and trying to figure it out.”
The Bullets looked like a different team in the second half when they scored 38 points and made eight 3-pointers.
Sophomore reserve Dana Wartzenluft made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 18 points, including 15 in the second half. Freshman Addison Benner had 15 points and Emily Savitz had 12 for Brandywine, which finished with its third-highest point total of the season.
“We told them not to leave certain girls,” Clark said. “We told them not to leave 43 (Wartzenluft) and 21 (Benner). We gave up too many points.”
Brandywine Heights will open the District 3 Class 3A playoffs later this month likely as the No. 1 seed.
Gov. Mifflin earned its fifth consecutive trip to the Berks semifinals, thanks mostly to Koenig.
“I woke up ready today,” she said. “It’s the playoffs, so it’s lock-in time.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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