Cardinals remain unbeaten after surviving Tiger test

WAKEFIELD - Wakefield-Marenisco's undefeated record hasn't been attained easily.

The Cardinals completed its first trip through the tough Indianhead Conference East Division unscathed with a 46-40 win over Mercer Monday night.

The Cardinals are a game up on Hurley in the loss column and are now two ahead of the Tigers. W-M beat both the first time through the schedule and is 5-0 in the division and 7-0 overall.

"Mercer and Hurley, if you're going to compete for the East, you have to beat those teams. There's a lot of basketball left. We have to go to Mercer, we have to go to Hurley," W-M coach Pete Yon said. "For being just juniors and sophomores, we have a lot of experience and I think that's starting to show now. They're feeling confident and they trust each other."

Mercer fell to 5-5 overall with its third straight loss.

"I told the girls, that put a big damper of us even thinking about the conference, but right now the way we're playing, it's not a thought that I have. We have to work as a team to get better," Mercer coach Shannon Hiller said. "We're not playing very good basketball right now. As a coach, I've got a lot of things to work on. Our turnovers killed us. They made their shots, they were on fire."

Monday's game was tight throughout. In fact, W-M's six-point margin of victory matched either team's largest lead in the game. The Cardinals made outside shots in the fourth quarter.

"Kassidee (Yon) and Darienne (Korpi) were just stealing it and they were hitting their shots," coach Yon said. "It makes it a lot easier when your shots go in. If a shot goes in, you've got more pep on defense.

"Our defense stepped it up in the last five minutes of the game. We got a few steals. We held them to one shot. They do a good job of boxing out; they outrebounded us offensively."

Mercer worked the ball inside all game and Lexi Engler's basket pulled Mercer within 42-40 in the last couple of minutes. The Cardinals responded on the other end with a basket by Hallee Yon, who received the kickout from Lauren Grace's drive to the hoop.

With under a minute left, it looked like Engler would be able to score again at the basket, but Grace came from behind and blocked the shot.

"That was huge," coach Yon said. "I think it was a big turnaround play because there wasn't a lot of time left. They do a great job down low, getting it in to Lexi. Lexi's a five-year starter now, she's just a phenominal basketball player."

After a Mercer timeout, W-M sealed it completely when Hallee Yon went in for a quick layup to make it 46-40. Mercer missed a pair of shots and just ran out of time from there.

"Wakefield, they're very disciplined, they wait for their opportunity and they take advantage of it," Hiller said.

Grace and Kassidee Yon both had 12 points to lead W-M. Hallee Yon scored 10.

"For us, it's a great team effort," coach Yon said. "I thought Hallee Yon played a great game running our offense, controlling tempo for us, held it back, pushed it up."

Engler led all scorers with 15 points. Gwen Allen had 10.

W-M (7-0, 5-0) goes to Mellen tonight. Mercer (5-5, 2-2) goes to Drummond Jan. 20.

Mercer - Lexi Engler 15, Shania St. Germaine 7, Gwen Allen 10, Caitlyn Hiller 2, Sydney Thompson 4, Taylor Wolfe 2. FTs: 8-14. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: None.

W-M - Darienne Korpi 6, Lauren Grace 12, Hallee Yon 10, Heather Hemming 6, Kassidee Yon 12. FTs: 6-9. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: None.

Mercer 9 21 32 40

W-M 12 18 34 46