FARMINGTON HILLS — It seems Mary Cicerone’s post-game assessment of her Marian squad losing the 2019-20 Central Division opener to Mercy Tuesday night was right on: “They wanted it more than we did.”
On the other hand, Mercy coach Gary Morris’ appraisal of the 46-34 victory might be valid, too: “This will help put Mercy basketball back on the map.”
“Marian has beat us the last two years,” he said in a pre-game comment.
Mercy last won the CHSL A-B championship in 2017 and only two other times in a dozen regular season-ending encounters against Marian since Morris found his way to the Marlins court in 2005.
This clash of two unbeaten teams was exhaustingly entertaining, except perhaps for those whose task was to keep track of turnovers and jump balls and blocked shots and intercepted passes and whatever other kinds of mayhem these fiercely proud archrivals created.
The outcome wasn’t decided until the last eight minutes. Mercy led all the way but for a moment toward the end of the second quarter when Marian slipped ahead 17-16.
Mercy went on a six-point run to expand a three-point halftime lead to 28-19. Marian recovered to trail only 30-28 going into the fourth quarter.
“That’s where we locked it down,” Morris said. “Our defense played well, but at halftime I told them to cut down on the gambling and the turnovers.”
Junior Julia Bishop scored 12 of the Marlins' 16 points down the home stretch. She had a game-high 19 with 16 (out of 18 attempts) coming from the free throw line. For the game, Mercy scored half of their points, 23, on free throws.
“This is a huge rivalry,” Bishop said. “The atmosphere was intense. It gets me going when the stands are packed and it’s loud.” She experienced a lot of that in the Marlins’ state championship volleyball season.
Junior Maddie Kenney fired up Mercy in the first quarter with seven of her game total 17.
Bishop and Kenney played stellar roles on defense. Bishop keyed on Marian’s 6-foot-3 sophomore Sarah Sylvester, keeping her to eight points and limiting her effectiveness around the boards. She fouled out with three minutes to play.
Kenney’s job was to shadow Marian’s sharpshooter Shannon Kennedy. The lanky forward wound up with 11 points (five free throws) on 3 of 11 shooting from the floor.
“We were rattled,” Cicerone said. “They had us feeling sorry for ourselves.”
Mercy improves its record to 7-0 (2-0 Central). Marian drops to 5-1 (1-1).
Mercy will get to further define its basketball map when the two teams meet again in three weeks, on Jan. 28, on the Mustangs court.
