Tigers stonewall Cardinals

MERCER, Wis. - Hurley may be Mercer's biggest rival, but the Tigers did the Midgettes a big favor with Tuesday night's 61-52 victory over Wakefield-Marenisco.

The Midgettes clinched at least a share of the Indianhead Conference East Division title with W-M's loss. W-M will tie Hurley for the division title if it wins Thursday against Washburn and Friday against Ironwood.

Mercer was already eliminated from contention for the top spot in the division, but it protected its home court by winning every division game in Mercer.

"It's bittersweet, helping our rivals, but it's a good win for us," Mercer senior Lexi Engler said.

Mercer is equal to W-M and Hurley in division games, but its loss at Bayfield of the West Division cost it a chance for a division championship.

"We wanted to win the ballgame, it's about pride for us," Mercer coach Shannon Hiller said. "We still feel we have a share of the division. Even though we lost to Bayfield, we played 10 other games and have the same record as the other two teams."

The Tigers won Tuesday with defense.

"Our defense has improved a lot from the beginning of the season and since we played them last," Mercer sophomore Caitlyn Hiller said.

"We were hard on Wakefield," coach Hiller said. "They were not able to score like the first time we met them. I think that was the difference, our defensive intensity."

"I don't know that we really felt the pressure as much as this was their last home game, it was senior night," W-M coach Pete Yon said. "They wanted this one. They earned it. They played a better game tonight. They eliminated turnovers. They eliminated mistakes. They made their shots.

"We're still in good shape. There's a couple of conference games left. We can still finish in first place. That was their goal from the beginning of the season."

Still, the Cardinals wanted to win it outright.

"This is our last year in the conference and it would have been great to bring it back to Michigan," Yon said.

The Tigers led from early in the second quarter on. W-M never got closer than seven points in the second half.

Mercer outscored W-M 21-15 in the third quarter. Mercer's Sydney Thompson scored 12 of those points herself, taking advantage of her opportunities on the block. She ended up with 16 points.

"They ran a 1-3-1 and those two girls trapped Shania (St. Germaine), and then the whole court was ours," Thompson said. "We just started running the ball up."

Coach Hiller said she was big.

"She got in exactly the possession we needed.," he said. "We worked on our press breaker and she went right to where she needed to and the girls did the job to get it there and she found them.

"And she made them. She doesn't always make the ones right under the basket. I was happy to see she put them in tonight."

The Cardinals made a late charge, getting the deficit down to seven points, 57-50, with about a minute left.

But Shania St. Germaine, who led Mercer with 25 points, made two free throws after that and W-M ran out of time.

Lauren Grace led W-M with 20 points.

W-M (13-3, 11-3) hosts Washburn for a Thursday makeup game. Mercer (14-7, 11-4) goes to Bessemer to complete the regular season Friday.

Mercer - Lexi Engler 8, Shania St. Germaine 25, Caitlyn Hiller 8, Sydney Thompson 16, Taylor Wolfe 1, Solveig Vik 3. FTs: 10-19. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: St. Germaine 3.

W-M - Darienne Korpi 9, Saundra Libertoski 4, Lauren Grace 20, Hallee Yon 8, Heather Hemming 7, Kassidee Yon 4. FTs: 12-25. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: None.

W-M 11 15 30 52

Mercer 9 24 45 61