Saturday, February 26, 2000
Second half lifts Mercy
Bobcats battle from halftime tie for 51-33 win
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
Senior guard Nicole Barnes said Mercy has been a second-half team lately. The Bobcats certainly looked it Friday.
Mercy took control at both ends of the floor in the second half, making a halftime tie a distant memory on the way to a 51-33 victory over Lakota West in the Division I upper bracket sectional title game at Milford High School.
It's the third straight sectional title for Mercy (20-2), which advances to meet the Trotwood Madison-Sidney winner in a district final at 7 p.m. on March 4 at Wilmington College.
“We knew the first half we didn't step up like we needed to,” said Barnes. “When we came out, I don't think our minds were there, but the second half, we buckled down and played.”
The game was tied 20-20 with five minutes left in the third quarter before Mercy began to take control. Senior forward Steph Woody scored all of her seven points in the first six minutes of the quarter to get Mercy started, then Barnes hit a 3-pointer and two perimeter jumpers to key a 13-6 Mercy run.
Mercy made six of its final seven shots in the quarter, taking a 35-26 lead.
“As the quarter wore on, we had trouble getting around their screens,” Lakota West coach Andy Fishman said. “It wasn't that the effort wasn't there, but we just got wore down a little bit.”
West had shot 54 percent in the first half, led by Lisa Hutzelman's 3-of-4 3-point shooting, but shot just 26 percent in the second half.
“I thought we really picked it up defensively,” Mercy coach Mary Jo Huismann said of her team's second-half upswing.
The Bobcats have ended their last two seasons with district losses in Wilmington.
“I think they're pretty determined to go up there and play better,” Huismann said.
“We want to go up there and show them how we can play,” said Barnes. “The last two years, we haven't played our game.”
MERCY (51) — Zinser 1 0 3, Miller 0 2 2, Stern 1 0 2, Zeuch 5 1 11, Barnes 6 0 14, Wolf 0 1 1, Heintz 1 0 2, Clavier 1 2 4, Winwright 0 2 2, Jones 0 3 3, Woody 3 1 7. Totals: 18 11 51.
LAKOTA WEST (33) — Wilson 1 0 2, Hemsworth 1 0 2, Nowicki 0 1 1, Swift 1 0 2, Hutzelman 5 0 13, Wright 3 4 10, Carlberg 1 0 2, Eifert 0 1 1. Totals: 12 6 33.
Mercy ....... 8 10 17 16-51
Lakota West ....... 10 8 8 7—33
3-pointers: M - Zinser, Barnes 2; LW - Hutzelman 3. Records: M 20-2, LW 11-12.
Sports Stories
Chiefs no longer interested in Dillon
Bengals eye Virginia's Jones at RB
Stadium manager: Deadline can be met
Boone settled at third
Time for pitchers to get serious
Astros still have look of a contender
Bearcats still playing for top NCAA seed
Price focused on game, not pain
