Canon-Mac survives upset bid from Governor Mifflin
CANONSBURG – If there was ever a game that epitomized the phrase “survive and advance” it was what Canon-McMillan went through against upset-minded Governor Mifflin Friday night.
The Big Macs trailed after three quarters and even when they got the lead in the fourth had to sweat out a close ending.
But it was the three senior starters, Madison Clair, Sam Miller and Lauren Borella, who helped keep the Big Macs in the dance.
Miller had a pair of huge threes and Clair and Borella made free throws late as the WPIAL champion Big Macs held on to win 48-46 in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A girls basketball playoffs.
“The players did it,” Big Macs coach John Fontana said of the comeback. “We just try to put them in position to succeed.”
Canon-McMillan (22-4) advanced to play Allderdice, a 49-42 winner over Upper St. Clair, in the second round on Tuesday. Governor Mifflin, the eighth-place team in District 3, finished 17-9.
The Mustangs made life difficult on the Big Macs, especially standout junior Bella Super, who scored 25 points. That included a three that tied the game at 46-46 with 29.6 seconds remaining in regulation.
Following a timeout, Borella was fouled on an inbounds play and made one of two free throws to put the Big Macs back in front.
Borella played through an illness and finished with seven points.
Then after a turnover, Clair was fouled and made both free throws, but the second was waived off because of a lane violation making it 48-46.
Clair was whistled for a foul on Super, who had a chance to tie the game at the line with 10 seconds remaining, but missed both free throws. The ball went out of bounds off Canon-McMillan, giving the Mustangs one last shot, but they turned the ball over, which ended their hopes.
Once the final buzzer sounded there was some celebration and some relief for the Big Macs.
“I never stop believing in my team,” Miller said. “We know how to battle back when we’re down and there’s not a second in that game that we couldn’t do it.”
The Mustangs drove over 400 miles to get to Canonsburg and for a while it looked like they’d be celebrating on the long bus ride back to York County.
Not much went right for the Big Macs through the first three quarters, but were only down 33-29.
Then Miller caught fire. She hit one three toward the end of the third quarter and nailed two to begin the fourth, the second gave Canon-McMillan 35-33 lead. Clair followed with an old-fashioned three-point play and the lead stretched to 38-33.
“My teammates always do a good job of getting me the ball, our point guard Lauren is great at finding me, so is Madison and everyone really,” Miller said. “We do a good job of finding the open girl. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be able to hit shots like that.”
Super scored Governor Mifflin’s first seven points and Fontana quickly changed his defense. He asked Brooke Stanton to face guard Super until Liv Ross came in off the bench and took her place.
Ross also face-guarded Super and Izzy Bobitski took a turn defending Super as well.
“I knew once we face-guarded her we could maybe slow her down, because if we didn’t face guard her, god knows how many points she would’ve had,” Fontana said. “She might’ve had 40. She still was fabulous.”
Governor Mifflin countered by holding the ball for long possessions.
The most glaring example was at the four-minute mark of the second quarter when Mustangs point guard Bridget Martin stood on the Canon-McMillan logo with the ball on her hip, while the home crowd showed their displeasure with boos.
That possession ended with a three-pointer by Super.
Super had 15 points in the first half.
Canon-McMillan was plagued by missed layups in the first half, on drives, fastbreaks and rebounds, but Clair was able to get one to fall just before the buzzer to cut the deficit to 21-20 at halftime.
Governor Mifflin 11 10 12 13 – 46
Canon-McMillan 10 10 9 19 – 48
Governor Mifflin: Bella Super, 25 points.
Canon-McMillan: Madison Clair, 11 points; Sam Miller, 10.