Stay Connected with YourSeason
Pirates take Round 1
Updated: May 9, 2012 10:06AM
MERRILLVILLE — One down, two to go. At least that’s how many times the players and coaches of the Merrillville and Michigan City girls basketball teams assume they will meet.
Twice in Duneland Conference play and again in a tough sectional.
Why shouldn’t they assume that? Both teams were undefeated after about a month of the campaign. Both were ranked in the state coaches poll — Merrillville at No. 7 and MC at No. 10. Both were at the top of local media polls.
And Round 1 went to the Pirates as they used a 13-0 second-quarter run to build a double-digit lead and hold off every Wolves comeback attempt for a 76-71 victory.
“It’s just Round 1 to them,” MC coach Mike Megyese said. “Hopefully we’ll play better the next time.”
Actually, it wasn’t necessarily that his defending conference champs didn’t play well.
There were some lapses for the Wolves (6-1, 4-1 DAC) — some foul trouble in the first half, missed free throws in the second half — but the Pirates were just the better team on Tuesday night.
Megyese admitted it and the Merrillville (8-0, 5-0) players wanted to prove it.
“We were pumped because the newspapers had them No. 1 and they were undefeated,” said Pirates senior guard Raveen Murray, who led all scorers with 22 points. “We wanted to prove we’re the best in the area.”
So far, so good.
And Murray was the catalyst, not just because of her scoring. She had three assists, including a couple nice dishes to freshman Victoria Gaines underneath for easy layups, and she made 5 of 6 free throws in the second half to help prevent a Michigan City comeback.
“She’s a senior and she needs to step up,” Merrillville coach Amy Govert said. “When we needed a big basket, the ball needs to be in her hands.”
Other big shots came from fellow senior Jasmyne Miller, who had 12 points, six of them on three fourth-quarter baskets. It seemed whenever MC would hit a big shot in an attempt to steal away momentum — such as the three 3-pointers by Michal Miller and Jameka Collins in the final quarter — Miller was there for a layup or short bunny to quiet the home crowd.
“We’re resilient — that’s what I like about this team,” Govert said. “I told them they needed to keep their composure. They did a good job of not getting their heads down.”
Gaines added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Merrillville. Miller and Toni Murphy led MC with 18 points each, while Keshyana Cooper added 11 points and 13 rebounds.
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment