Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Watersmeet's Bethany Baldwin shoots during Wednesday's game at Mercer. She ended up with 39 points.
MERCER, Wis. - Watersmeet held off Mercer's furious comeback attempt for a 73-66 non-conference victory Wednesday night.
Watersmeet freshman Bethany Baldwin scored 39 points, including some big shots down the stretch.
"We played last night and played really hard and we just wanted to be confident and get another win," Baldwin said.
It was the first loss of the season for the Tigers, who are looking to contend for a conference championship this season.
"We just got outplayed tonight," Mercer coach Shannon Hiller said. "The girls have to figure out mentally how to make good decisions in tight games and then we'll be a good team. It's another step in our learning process."
Watersmeet opened up a 57-37 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers roared back by scoring the next 16 points unanswered to pull within 57-53.
Watersmeet's Breanna Stevens broke the long drought with a basket, but Mercer's Lexi Engler followed with back-to-back buckets to make it a one-possession game at 59-57.
Baldwin drained a triple and made a layup on the break after a steal by Frannie Zelinski to give Watersmeet some breathing room at 64-57.
Mercer later got it down to four points, 65-61, on a putback by Engler.
But there was Baldwin again, knocking down another 3 to put Watersmeet up 68-61 with about a minute left. That felt like the dagger at the time and it turned out to be.
"She's very offensive-minded and she's going to go shoot it," Ellenberger said. "I honestly believe she doesn't care about the clock, she's going to get her shot."
Baldwin made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Zelinski was 6 of 8 at the free throw line.
"She's becoming more of a team player and I'm being able to count on her more," said Zelinski, who scored 20 points as the Nimrods' point guard. "I count on Jessica (Barajas) and Bethany to be on the 3-point line if I drive and I need to pass it out to them. They're our shooters and we need them."
Zelinski played most of the fourth quarter with four fouls. She fouled out in the final seconds and Watersmeet finished the game with four players on the floor as Rebecca Caron had already fouled out.
Ellenberger told Zelinski not to get her fifth foul and she didn't until the game was all but over.
"If you've got to worry about Frannie, you're wasting your breath," he said. "She's smart."
Engler scored 33 points herself, including 20 in the fourth quarter.
Watersmeet picked up a big win the night before over Bessemer and may have tired out some in the fourth quarter. Plus, the Tigers never quit.
"We're a little prone in ballgames that we're ahead on to get goofy," Ellenberger said. "I know we had to be a little tired, but we played it out. I'm really proud of what we were able to come up with on the back end of a doubleheader."
Watersmeet (4-2) goes to Crystal Falls Forest Park Friday. Mercer (4-1) plays in the Best With the Least Tournament at Butternut on Dec. 29-30.
Watersmeet - Bethany Baldwin 39, Frannie Zelinski 20, Rebecca Caron 2, Jessica Barajas 2, Sierra Griffin 8, Breanna Stevens 2. FTs: 16-20. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Zelinski, Caron. 3-pointers: Baldwin 5, Zelinski 2.
Mercer - Lexi Engler 33, Shania St. Germaine 10, Caitlyn Hiller 7, Sydney Thompson 10, Taylor Wolfe 6. FTs: 13-21. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Wolfe. 3-pointers: St. Germaine 1.
Watersmeet 15 30 50 73
Mercer 14 24 33 66
