The perennial power will face the relative newcomer when Gov. Mifflin plays Wilson in the BCIAA girls basketball championship game Friday night at 6 p.m. at Santander Arena.
The fourth-seeded seed Mustangs (16-8) are familiar with the big stage, as they are making their fourth appearance in the title game in the last five years. They won the Berks championship in 2019 and 2020 and are 5-0 in county playoff games at Santander Arena since 2019.
“That goes a long way,” Gov. Mifflin coach Mike Clark said about his team’s postseason experience. “I think it does give us a little advantage.”
On the other side, the third-seeded Bulldogs (17-5) are making their first appearance in the title game since 2017. Coach Chris Gallo is making his first championship game appearance as Wilson’s coach, and so are all of his players.
“I do think they’re going to be nervous — it’s a final,” Gallo said about his team. “The nerves will be there, but I think they’ll play through them a little more quickly than they did the other night.”
The Bulldogs advanced to the title game with a 37-34 win over No. 7 seed Reading High in the semifinals Tuesday night. Wilson held the Red Knights to their second-lowest point total this season.
“I thought we guarded pretty well,” Gallo said. “We’re going to have to do that again.”
Wilson fell behind 7-1 early in the first quarter before going on a 16-3 run to take the lead, which it held for the rest of the game. Despite the win, Gallo would like to see further improvement on the offensive end.
“We missed a lot of layups,” he said. “I’m hoping that we can stick some of those easy shots.”
The Mustangs beat top-seeded Berks Catholic 41-40 in the semifinals Tuesday night with a buzzer-beating floater from junior Shakyla Mayo. Gov. Mifflin trailed for most of the game before rallying in the second half.
The Bulldogs and Mustangs met twice in the regular season. Gov. Mifflin won 54-46 Dec. 16 at West Lawn, while Wilson won 48-45 Jan. 24 at Shillington.
“Hopefully the experiences of playing them twice with the way they play the zone will help (us),” Gallo said.
The most recent meeting between the two sides was extremely close until a strong fourth quarter lifted the Bulldogs to the win. The Mustangs scored just two points in the final four minutes.
“I don’t want to take bad shots in bad situations,” Clark said. “We definitely don’t want to turn the ball over (either).”
The familiar foes will put their title game experience to the test Friday night. Gov. Mifflin will try to win its third Berks title in four years; Wilson looks to earn its first since 2014.
“They’re in good spirits,” Gallo said about the Bulldogs. “They’re absolutely excited and I think they’re ready.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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