缅北禁地

Scotties remain undefeated with 73-53 road victory

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Mount Pleasant鈥檚 Luke Rivardo (1) slides in front of Southmoreland鈥檚 Ty Keffer (11) as he drives to the basket in the fourth quarter of Friday鈥檚 non-section game at Mount Pleasant. Keffer finished with a game-high 25 points in the Scotties鈥� 73-53 victory.

Jim Downey

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Southmoreland鈥檚 Wyatt Richter reaches towards the basket for a layup with Mount Pleasant鈥檚 Connor Pavlocak trailing the play in the third quarter of Friday鈥檚 non-section game at Mount Pleasant. Richter scored 19 points in the Scotties鈥� 73-53 victory.

Jim Downey

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Southmoreland鈥檚 Ty Keffer shoots from beyond the 3-point arc in the third quarter of Friday鈥檚 non-section game at Mount Pleasant.

Jim Downey

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Mount Pleasant鈥檚 Luke Rivardo (1) slips between three Southmoreland defenders in the first quarter of Friday鈥檚 non-section game at Mount Pleasant.

Jim Downey

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The Scotties improved their overall record to 5-0, while the Vikings slipped to 0-4.

Both coaches admitted their squads missed opportunities that might鈥檝e changed the course of the game.

鈥淲e missed 28 layups. That鈥檚 56 points. It鈥檚 a different ball game if we make those shots,鈥� said Mount Pleasant first-year coach Annie Malkowiak. 鈥淲e aren鈥檛 finishing. That鈥檚 been our problem all year.

鈥淲e left 56 points off the board.鈥�

鈥淏oth teams missed an assortment of shots,鈥� said Southmoreland coach Frank Muccino.

Southmoreland began to slowly pull away late in the first quarter, capped on Ty Keffer鈥檚 layup after a steal just before the buzzer for an 18-13 lead.

Neither team was able to mount a serious run in the second quarter, but Southmoreland put enough baskets together to increase its lead to 34-25 at halftime.

鈥淚t was methodical,鈥� said Muccino, noting, 鈥淲e lost our point guard and we took a little adjusting (to fill the loss).鈥�

The intense rivalry between the schools started to build in the third quarter with increased intensity. That heightened play led to a couple fouls called for physical play.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a rivalry game. You don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� said Muccino.

The Scotties again added to their advantage, heading into the fourth quarter with a 54-40 lead.

Southmoreland closed out the road victory with a 19-13 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Keffer led all scorers with a game-high 25 points. Teammate Wyatt Richter finished with 19 points and Noah Felentzer added 12.

Dante Giallanardo paced the Vikings with 20 points. Connor Pavlocak knocked home the first points of the game on a 3-pointer and finished with 12 points.

Muccino noted his team still needs to put in work as they prepare for the start of section play against Belle Vernon after the Christmas break..

鈥淲e have to play better. We have to match their physicality. They did. They challenged everything we did,鈥� explained Muccino.

鈥淲e did what we needed to do.It鈥檚 easier to fix mistakes coming off a win.鈥�

Malkowiak is just four games into her tenure with Mount Pleasant and said she is diligently working to 鈥渃hange the culture.鈥�

鈥淚 knew nothing about this would be easy. I am trying to instill new habits. I need to be patient. It鈥檚 a marathon, not a sprint,鈥� said Malkowiak.

One segment of that change is how the Vikings deal with mistakes, both physical and mental.

鈥淭he mental errors, instead of the next play mentality, we can鈥檛 move on from that (error),鈥� said Malkowiak. 鈥淚t鈥檚 how you respond. I need to teach them new habits.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know how to finish. They need to learn to play through adversity.鈥�