Beacon girls’ basketball advances to Capital Classic final

An unforgettable season continues for the girls hooping it up at Beacon Middle School.

The 11-0 Beacon team battled a 9-1 Newark Charter squad in the semifinals of the Grotto Pizza bracket of the Capital Classic Feb. 13 at Postlethwaite Middle School in Camden Wyoming.

“We came in here ready to play, ready to fight. Our ‘F cubed’ is fight, finish and focus. When we come into a game, we know we’ve put in the work,” said eighth-grader Mikaela Gordon.

Gordon said the team’s success starts with defense and dictating the style of play.

“We play so aggressively,” she said. “We get the ball, and then we kind of come up a little rushed, but we settle in to get the shot we want.”

Seventh-grader Anna Neustadter opened the scoring with a three and added another one from deep during an action-packed 13-7 first quarter won by Beacon. As easy as shots came in the first, they were denied in the second. Beacon managed the only three points in the quarter and entered the half leading 16-7. Kha’Nihya Johnson led the team with six points at the break.

“Mikaela Gordon, as our point guard, controls a lot of what we do on the offensive end,” said coach Paul Weisengoff. “On the defensive end, she’s the one that I try to communicate with to get whatever we’re going to be running on offense, defense or inbound plays.” 

Gordon started to emerge in the third quarter with her first points. Johnson, a seventh-grader, continued to harass Newark Charter on the defensive end and make life easier for the Vikings when they had the ball. Adding five points to her total in the third, Johnson ended the game with a team-high 11 points. 

“Kha’Nihya Johnson is a tremendously talented individual,” Weisengoff said, noting she got hit in the eye and jaw during the game.

Weisengoff said his young star has been a work in progress, but she has gotten better at controlling her aggression on defense and making plays without fouling.

With Johnson out and the Patriots attempting to stage a comeback to start the fourth, the Vikings knew they needed to defend their 25-17 lead to get the win.

“Hands straight up, get low, and let’s just give it to them with our foot on the gas pedal,” Gordon said.

The point guard stepped up in the absence of an injured Johnson, scoring four of her six points in the game during the final quarter. Fellow eighth-graders Katie Kralevich and Laura Karen Lima each added a bucket to secure Beacon’s 33-24 victory over Newark Charter.

The Vikings are slated to play in the final of the Grotto Pizza bracket at 2:45 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17, at Sussex Academy.