Mercy girls basketball fights off Divine Child comeback

The Marlins became the co-champions of the Catholic Central League

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The Mercy Marlins (15-2) girls basketball team is co-champions of the Catholic Central League after defeating Divine Child (13-5) 60-55 Tuesday night. 

The Marlins share a piece of the championship with Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.

Here are four takeaways from the game

Blair went out swinging

Senior Divine Child guard Kennedy Blair (BGSU) left no stone unturned in her effort to bring her team back Tuesday night. Blair was clearly the Falcons’ best option, and she found many different ways to assert herself.

Earlier in the game she showed her ability to drive to the basket and maneuver around defenders, and she finished through contact on multiple occasions. 

In the fourth quarter, she began to shake defenders off the dribble and found her rhythm from behind the arc, knocking down 3 three-pointers. Blair had 16 fourth quarter points on her way to a 35 point night.

Blair said her team didn’t play a complete game Tuesday night.

“We knew what we had to do,” Blair said. “We did it in the second half, (but) we dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half. But it’s going to happen, and we’re going to see them again. I know that.”

White stood out

Senior Mercy forward Maya White was one of the Marlins’ main contributors Tuesday night. White finished with a team-high 22 points, and she got it done from deep and in the post. At 6-foot-two, White’s length proved to be a problem on the boards all night.

There’s currently a friendly rivalry between Mercy and Divine Child. White and Blair, each team’s top scorer, played together on a summer team and became friends. White said her team knew to pay close attention to Blair.

“Even though our rival is Marian, it’s a rivalry for the whole team,” White said. “We knew she has a far range, she can drive, she can post, she can do everything. We knew that if we took her away we could take their whole team away.”

Almost a giveaway

Mercy was in control of the game almost from tip-off. From the beginning of the second quarter to the middle of the fourth, the Marlins were up by no less than ten. 

Midway through the fourth quarter, Blair began to bring her team back as Mercy’s offense stalled. The Marlin lead ended up being enough, but they came close to handing Divine Child a victory.

Morris said he knew it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk.

“We knew they were going to come at us,” Morris said. “Blair made a lot of tough shots bringing them back, but we did enough to get the win.”

Preparing for March

The Catholic Central Ceague is one of the toughest in all of Michigan, and each team in the top three had at least 13 wins this season. The co-champions played twice this season, splitting the series 1-1. The home team lost both contests, and since postseason tournaments are played at a neutral site, outside variables will be at a minimum if they meet again.

Mercy head coach Gary Morris said they have a rocky road ahead of them.

“We’ve scheduled a really tough non-league schedule, and obviously we get tested a lot in our league,” Morris said. “Hopefully that’s going to make us ready to make a good run in March.”