Williams Valley head coach Shane Zellers talks things over with his squad during a timeout (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

TOWER CITY — Shane Zeller’s message to his Williams Valley squad at halftime was crystal clear: Crash the boards, play tough defense.

His Vikings listened well.

Mallory Miller scored a game-high 19 points as Williams Valley outlasted Mahanoy Area 40-35 in a Schuylkill League Division II girls’ basketball game Tuesday night.

Quin Smeltz collected 11 rebounds as the Vikings’ effort on the glass in the second half turned the tables in their favor and helped Williams Valley improve to 5-0 overall, 4-0 in Division II play.

“We made a conscious effort at halftime that we had to get better on the boards and we wanted to run a little bit more in the second half,” Zellers said. “Rebounding starts that, so that was big for us.

“We came out a little flat in the first half. We did a better job of that (in the second half). We made enough shots down the stretch.”

Early on, it was Mahanoy Area that controlled the boards, thus giving the Golden Bears extra chances on the offensive end.

Mahanoy Area (3-3, 2-2 D-II) capitalized, leading 9-8 after one frame and 16-12 with 4:47 left in the first half after a 3-pointer by Lilly Carl and a driving layup by Ella Connolly.

A 3-pointer by Miller sparked an 8-0 Williams Valley run that helped the Vikings forge a 20-19 halftime lead.

In the first half, Mahanoy Area outrebounded Williams Valley 19-12 and outshot the Vikings 26-18. In the second half, the Vikings won the rebounding battle 20-15.

“We said, “We need to pick up the defense, limit the turnovers and play as a team and break their press,” Miller said of the halftime adjustments. “That’s what we did. We picked up with rebounding. We all came together as a team and really rebounded good in the second half.”

In the second half, the Vikings were more aggressive on the defensive end and dominated the glass, thus creating more offensive chances and open looks.

It finally paid dividends in an 8-0 run that spanned the final 22 seconds of the third quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth that gave Williams Valley some separation.

Miller hit a pair of short jumpers, Jasmine Hechler scored on a drive to basket and Quin Smeltz hit a short jumper as the Vikings extended their lead to 35-25 with 3:55 left.

“Playing together as a team is our big thing,” Miller said of the Vikings’ second half. “We connected on the shots. We flowed together as a team, got the open looks and we were able to score off that.”

Mahanoy Area sliced the deficit to five points on two occasions down the stretch but could get no closer.

Four free throws by Miller over the final 49 seconds stretched the lead to eight before Felicia Bro buried a 3-pointer at the final horn to set the final score.

Bro led the Golden Bears with 15 points and had seven rebounds, while Connolly collected 10 points and six boards and Naomi Kowalick had eight rebounds.

“It’s been hurting us all year … we give up too many offensive rebounds, too many second shots, third shots. It’s plagued us the whole time,” Mahanoy Area coach Tom Scheeler said. “We gave up too many shots. We have a way to go, we know that. At some point we have to step up and start doing it.”

Both the Vikings and Golden Bears figure to be in the mix for one of the three Schuylkill League playoff spots from Division II, along with Marian and Lourdes.

For Williams Valley, Tuesday’s win was the second straight key divisional win after knocking off Lourdes 43-26 on Friday. Williams Valley doesn’t play Marian until Jan. 7

“This is the biggest game of the year (so far),” Zellers said. “We had Lourdes at home and Mahanoy at home, so we had to take care of business on our home floor because we have to go there the second half of the year. Going to both of those places in January is never easy.

“The girls responded, came out and played hard.”

Game Summary

MAHANOY AREA (35) — McGowan 1 0-0 3, Bro 5 2-2 15, Carl 1 0-0 3, Kowalick 2 0-0 4, Connolly 5 0-1 10, Gonzalez 0 0-0 0, Haughney 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 2-3 35.

WILLIAMS VALLEY (40) — Kobularik 3 0-3 6, Miller 5 8-11 19, Q. Smeltz 2 1-2 6, S. Smeltz 1 1-2 3, Kasper 2 0-0 4, Hechler 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 10-18 40.

MA (3-3, 2-2)       9 … 10 … 6 … 10 — 35

WV (5-0, 4-0)       8 … 12 … 9 … 11 — 40

3-point FGs: McGowan, Bro 3, Carl, Miller, Q. Smeltz

JV Score: No game

Officials: White, Shinkus