Berks girls hoop notes: Mustangs off to rocky start, Blazers snap streak

By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Gov. Mifflin’s girls basketball season got off to a rocky start with a 42-point loss to Cumberland Valley Friday at the Hempfield Tip-Off Tournament in Landisville.

Pitt commit Jill Jekot led the Eagles with 29 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in the 61-19 win.

Cumberland Valley defeated Dallastown 57-35 to win the tournament; Hempfield defeated Gov. Mifflin 53-50 in the consolation game Saturday.

Not all is lost for the Mustangs, of course; it’s only December.

They’ll need to figure out issues on both sides of the ball in order to defend their Berks County crown, especially with last year’s leading scorer Taylor Koenig out with a knee injury for the foreseeable future.

Koenig averaged 12.9 points, hit 48 3’s and was crucial in moving without the ball and making the offense flow last season. She creates her own shots while also making the game easier for fellow double-digit scorers Shakyla Mayo and Anyah Ortiz.

“Taylor makes everything so much better,” Gov. Mifflin head coach Mike Clark said, “Not just scoring, the way she moves without the ball. You’ve got to worry about her. (Without her), the offense slows down.”

Defensively, the Mustangs could not stop Jekot, who easily found her spots and made easy layups. The sensational 6-foot junior, who can basically do everything on the court, had 27 points in the first half. The Eagles shot 54 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range.

“What can I say about Jekot?” Clark said. “I’ll be glad when she’s gone. She’s unbelievable. We lost her in transition and she hurt us. You can see why she’s going D1; she wanted it more than anybody on the floor.”

Basketball runs deep in the Jekot family: Jill’s sisters Kelly (Villanova/Penn State), Katie (Saint Joe’s), and Julie (LaSalle) played college ball.

Offensively, the Mustangs didn’t have an assist, committed 13 turnovers, shot 14 percent from the field and 11 percent from 3-point range in the opening-game loss.

The opponent needs to be taken into consideration: Cumberland Valley defeated Mifflin by 18 in the first round of the playoff season on the way to the District 3 Class 6A final. The Eagles lost to District 7 champion Fox Chapel by five points in the opening round of the state tournament last season; Fox Chapel went on to reach the PIAA semifinals, losing to Archbishop Wood by two.

Gov. Mifflin usually plays tough competition in the beginning of the year; it pays dividends when the playoffs roll around. It’s a balance between dealing with the emotions of a loss and learning from the experience to build for the future.

“We’ve got Nazareth in there and Central Bucks West, they’re going to be tough,” Clark said of his schedule. “I have to find scoring with Taylor out. You saw that. We’ve just got to get better and figure it out.

“I still think we’ll be fine in Berks County. We have Wyo, Berks Catholic. Wilson and Reading always give us a run in the division and then you can’t sleep on Brandywine over there’ they’ve got everybody back.”

Gov. Mifflin showed improvement in its three-point loss to Hempfield in the consolation round.

Things don’t get easier in the coming weeks as the Mustangsl face Central York, which won a state playoff game last season, and Lebanon, which was a district qualifier and features All-State guard Kailah Correa (20.8 points per game last year).

The Mustangs tip off league play Dec. 16 against Muhlenberg.

Streak is over

Daniel Boone snapped a 48-game losing streak in its season-opener, beating Antietam 41-19 in the Mounts’ Tip-Off Tournament Friday. It was the Blazers’ first win since beating Hamburg 45-44 Jan. 13, 2020.

After consecutive winless seasons first-year Matt Bowe said he wanted to make basketball “cool again” at Daniel Boone. That starts with winning.

Bowe isn’t a stranger to struggling programs; he took over Upper Perkiomen after it went 19-111 in the previous six seasons. By Bowe’s third season the Indians were 15-9 with a district playoff appearance.

Sophomore Aalya Hofer scored 13 to lead the Blazers.

Herb picks up where she left off

Berks Catholic senior Caraline Herb led the league with 49 3’s last season.

She hit four 3-pointers in a six-point loss to Plymouth-Whitemarsh in the first round of the Bulldogs Tip-Off Tournament Friday and five in a 57-44 victory over host West York in the consolation game.

Plymouth-Whitemarsh went undefeated on its way to a PIAA Class 6A title last season. The Colonials’ closest game last season was a seven-point win over Abington in late January. So, that’s a good sign for the Saints.

Herb had 14 points and Molly McFadden 18 in the first-round game. Herb dropped 25 and Sydney Corado scored 13 in the consolation win.

Herb was named to the all-tournament team.

Woes for the Mounts

Antietam has just eight players in its program and announced Monday it won’t field a JV team this season.

New head coach Tim Rivera hopes to turn around a team that went 1-16 last season and suspended play the year before because of COVID-19.

Antietam’s top two players from last year, juniors Jayleeah Tiburcio and Naomi Hopkins, have transferred to Reading High.

The Mounts opened the season with a 48-19 loss to Daniel Boone 48-19 and a 40-9 loss to Lincoln Leadership Academy.

Mounts’ home games will start at 6:30.

Bullets on target

Brandywine Heights claimed the Hamburg Tip-Off Tournament title with a 35-30 win over Tri-Valley and a 31-26 win over Annville-Cleona.

It was a good start for the Bullets, who last season finished with a winning record for the first time since 2014-15.

Addison “Turbo” Benner led the Bullets to an 18-8 record, averaging a team-high 14.1 points per game as a freshman last season.

If theseearly games show anything it’s that Brandywine has other talented players, too.

Olivia Moyer scored 13 points to lead the team in the championship win over Annville-Cleona.

Avery Potteiger had 13 points and 14 rebounds and Grace Potteiger had six points and 10 rebounds in the first-round win over Tri-Valley.

Next up for Brandywine: A trip to Columbia Thursday. The Tide went to the District 3 Class 2A championship and won a state game last year.

Some other opening weekend standouts:

• Ryanne Wheeler scored 12 to lead Oley Valley to a 32-22 victory over Hanover.
• Conrad Weiser’s Sydney Spang scored 23 points across two games, a 58-34 loss to Northeastern and a 42-41 loss to Warwick at the Cocalico Tip-Off Tournament. Spang was selected to the all-tournament team.
• Wilson freshman point guard Laila Jones scored 18 points in a 38-21 loss to Emmaus.
• Mia Vazquez dropped 16 points in Gov. Mifflin’s consolation loss to Hempfield.
• Hailie Edwards had 11 points for Hamburg in its first-round loss to Annville-Cleona.
• Schuylkill Valley’s Natane White had 11 points in first-round loss to Pequea Valley
• Twin Valley’s Hailey Gilgore had 16 points in the Raiders’ first-round loss to Solanco.
• Tulpehocken’s Breanna Claman (15) and Mahala Ruffner (10) scored in double figures in a first-round loss to Upper Perkiomen.