For a basketball team to succeed in a the postseason, it often must be more than meet the eye.
Take, for instance, the Mechanicsburg girls' basketball team. The first thing that would stand out to a spectator would likely be the Wildcats' height, with 6-3 Cecily Carl and 6-0 Hannah Brown.
It would take no one by surprise for Mechanicsburg, already the Mid-Penn Keystone Division champion, to try to dominate a game inside. But in the playoffs, one dimensional offense only takes a squad so far.
In their first postseason game of the year, the Wildcats established early that they will not be one dimensional.
They defeated Middletown 51-35 in the Mid-Penn semifinals on Tuesday night to earn a spot in the conference final.
Mechanicsburg took control of the game early, making four 3-pointers in the first period.
Making the Wildcats even more difficult to defend, two of the trey were hit by guard Megan Ross and the other two were hit by Brown moving outside.
"That's huge," Mechanicsburg head coach Clay McAllister said. "That's what we need, other people stepping up. All year long we've had kids step up and be willing to do it. We're a lot tougher when we have someone hitting shots outside."
Once the outside threat was established, the inside game opened up, especially for Carl. She finished with 21 points, 19 after the first quarter.
"They run that high-low game so well, it's a nightmare matchup for us," Middletown head coach Chris Hunter said.
Mechanicsburg will play Cumberland Valley in the Mid-Penn finals. That game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Milton Hershey, but depending on the probable snowstorm that day, the contest could be moved to Saturday.
Either way, it is an opportunity that the Wildcats appreciate.
"It's really exciting for us," Carl said. "None of us have been in a position like this. It's nice to be playing for something more than trying to get third place in the Keystone."
After the Mid-Penn finals are over, Mechancisburg will host Central Dauphin in the District 3-AAAA Round of 16 on Feb. 18.
In AAA, Middletown will host West Perry in the Round of 16 on Feb 19.
Even in defeat, the Blue Raiders benefitted just by being a part of the Mid-Penn playoffs. It gave them a chance to get a couple of players coming off of injury, Jordan Campbell and Kassidy Deibler, some minutes and back up to game speed.
"It was good for them to get their legs under them," Hunter said.