A timeless moment sends Gov. Mifflin girls back to Berks title game

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

The eight seconds left on the scoreboard were counting down in Shakyla Mayo’s head. She wasn’t even aware of it really. It was instinct. The product of playing hundreds of games before.

Something told her there was still time. Even when she didn’t catch the ball cleanly and nearly kicked it away, she didn’t panic. She scooped it up, took two dribbles and made the most memorable shot of her life.

That trip down the floor, both clumsy and magical, was a blur.

“The only thing I remember is it going in,” Mayo said. “The ball going in the basket and my teammates rushing over all excited about it.”

Mayo’s shot in the lane as time expired lifted fourth-seeded Mifflin over No. 1 Berks Catholic 41-40 in the Berks girls basketball semifinals at Santander Arena Tuesday night. The Mustangs’ hopes for a third county championship in four years are alive.

Four dominoes needed to fall for Mifflin to prevail. A foul. A miss. A rebound. A basket. All in eight seconds. What were the chances of getting all four?

Mackenzie Gordos went to the line and her first attempt bounced off the rim. Elisa Fiore pulled down the errant shot and fired an outlet pass to Mayo.

Mifflin had no timeouts. No play could be drawn. Once everything started to unravel, it was up to Mayo to recover. She could have rushed into a turnover or launched a hopeless jumper. She resisted both of those temptations.

“If I would have lost my composure, that play would have never happened,” Mayo said. “Before you worry about the time or worry about anything else, you need to get yourself together. Then go from there.”

Mifflin’s season, which started with county championship dreams in December, hit a rough patch down the stretch. The Mustangs lost to Wilson, Berks Catholic and Reading High, the other three semifinalists, in the span of 16 days.

It was never a question of talent. With Mayo, Fiore, Taylor Koenig and Anyah Ortiz, the Mustangs have four of the best players in the league. They needed a reboot and the playoffs provided one.

“I just knew internally that it was go time,” Fiore said. “We wanted to make the most of this moment. I think we were ready.”

Mifflin lost by 17 points when it played Berks Catholic at Shillington in December. It lost by five points in the rematch at Wolf Gymnasium when All-Berks guard Caraline Herb was out of the lineup in late January.

This time was different. The Mustangs were less reliant on 3-pointers and more focused on defense. 

“We weren’t scared of them because we’ve played them twice,” Fiore said. “The second time was way better than the first. We knew we could do it. All week at practice we were like, ‘This is our one shot. We’re never going to get this again.’”

One play that made the last-second hero possible shouldn’t be overlooked. It was delivered by Shyanna Mayo, Shakyla’s older sister. When Shakyla’s desperation 3-pointer fell short, Shyanna chased down the rebound and hit a reverse layup with nine seconds left. That cut the deficit to 40-39. It gave Mifflin a chance.

Berks Catholic twice could have extended the lead in the final seconds and missed the front end of a 1-and-1 both times.

Mifflin coach Mike Clark stormed the court to celebrate along with his players. He lost himself in the moment. Three hours later, he was due to start his overnight shift at Reading Hospital. He hoped to watch the highlights on the local news first.

“I was so proud of Ky,” Clark said. “For her to sit there and want to take that last shot really meant a lot. I think she’s grown.”

Mifflin (16-8) will face No. 3 Wilson for the championship at Santander Arena Friday at 6 p.m. The Mustangs could capture their fifth county title since 2015.

Koenig scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Mustangs. The Mayo sisters each scored eight points. Ortiz had seven. Shakyla’s final shot was her second field goal of the game.

“I’ve been playing basketball for a long time,” she said. “I knew I only had a couple of seconds left. I was like, ‘I guess I have to do something,’ ”

Mayo never made a buzzer-beater before. She never even counted down 3-2-1 to hit one of those clutch shots in her imagination.

This was better anyway. This one was real.