Source: Farmington Press

Author: Mike Moore

DETROIT — The journey has been so different, with a revamped roster and renewed sense of urgency.

The results, though, those remain the same.

For the third time in a row, and fifth time in the past six years, the Farmington Hills Mercy basketball team captured a Class A district title.

The Marlins added 2015 to the count on Friday night, beating Detroit Mumford 60-43 in a final played at Detroit Renaissance.

“I’m very proud of this group,” coach Gary Morris said afterward, noting how much talent the team graduated from last year, and the serious injuries this year’s group has had to deal with. “This is something they’ve earned through a lot of hard work.”

There was nothing easy Friday night, either.

After jumping out to a 16-7 advantage after the first quarter, Mercy watched as Mumford (15-4) clawed back into the game, eventually seeing the Marlins lead shrink to just 32-28 by halftime.

Then Mercy took over.

The Marlins outscored Mumford 20-15 in the third, and then didn’t allow a point in the entire fourth.

“We just came out with a lot of energy,” Morris said of the second half. “We did a real nice job. We scored a few points to get it from four to at least 13. We got some good traps and forced some turnovers.”

Taylor Jones led the Marlins (19-4) with 19 points in the win, while Jackie Bauer added 14 and Zora Pullen scored 13.

Mercy moves on to the Southfield High regional and will face either Livonia Stevenson (9-12) Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Lathrup Village Southfield-Lathrup (21-1) takes on defending Class A champ Birmingham Marian (21-1) at 5:30 p.m. in the other side of the bracket.

Marian, the top-ranked team, beat Mercy in the state semifinals in 2014.