Source: MI Prep Zone

Author: Matthew Mowery

FARMINGTON HILLS — The thing about defense is — yes, it can win championships — but it has a hard time winning basketball games single-handedly.

You still have to put the ball in the bucket occasionally to do that.

Farmington Hills Mercy did that with just a touch more frequency in Tuesday’s Catholic League defensive grudge match against rival Birmingham Marian, winning essentially on the strength of three made 3-pointers, 33-30.

“I loved our fight and our will. … Just a hard-fought game. I thought both teams had a lot of will,” Mercy coach Gary Morris said. “I think both teams would’ve liked to have played better offensively, maybe taken better care of the ball at times. …

“But real proud of how our kids competed.”

The win gives Mercy (8-2, 6-1 Catholic League Central) a regular-season sweep over Marian (7-3, 5-2), and a leg up on winning the divisional crown.

“Well, we just said that whoever wins tonight basically is in the driver’s seat for the Central, although it’s not easy, as proven. Our only division loss is to Divine Child, and that’s their only division win. And it was here. Really, that’s how the league is. There are no gimmies, and if you’re not ready on a given night, somebody can get you,” Morris said. “Yeah, so while we’re happy to be 6-1, we know there’s still a long way to go.”

It hasn’t been that long since Mercy beat Marian twice in a season — the two teams split 2-2 three years ago, when Marian won the first of back-to-back state titles, with each program winning one postseason game — but twice in a regular season?

“Yeah, I can’t recall,” Morris admitted.

For the Mustangs, there was plenty to be happy about defensively, but the Marian offense went through dreadful lulls in the game, keeping them from being able to capitalize on what their full-court pressure was providing.

“You saw it: We can’t score. We can’t make layups, we can’t make putbacks. We’re in an offensive slump. Then did you see how stagnant the whole thing became, with all the girls like, ‘Oh, my god, I can’t score!’ Oh, well,” Marian coach Mary Cicerone said. “I thought my defensive end was — we should’ve won the game with that effort. We should’ve.”

Marian’s 1-2-2 pressure gave Mercy fits at times, but the Mustangs didn’t really turn those turnovers into points.

“We were ready for it, and at times I thought we did a good job against it. That’s kind of their M.O.,” Morris said. “I thought at times we did pretty good against it, but other times we weren’t. But we’ll keep working on it, because I know if we happen to see them again, we’re going to see it again, and we’ll have to do better.”

While it was a back-and-forth game, freshman Jess Mruzik hit a pair of free throws late in the third quarter to put Mercy back in front for good. Jenna Schluter hit a pair of free throws to make it a four-point lead midway through the fourth, and Jackie Bauer put back her own miss with 2:48 left, making it a 33-27 lead.

Then, it was just a matter of holding on. Marian got it back to one possession, but could’t get the final 3-pointer to tie it up.

While Olivia Moore had 12 to lead Marian, Chloe Godbold led all scorers with 15 points. She has finally come into her own after seeing limited time her first two years at Mercy, following a transfer from Southfield Christian.

“Toward a little better than the halfway point last year, she kinda got it, started working really hard at practice, got rewarded with game minutes, took advantage of them,” Morris said. “She really worked hard on her game from the end of last season, to the beginning of this, and definitely she hit some big shots for us tonight.”