Midgettes win battle of Iron County

HURLEY - Mercer used its slower pace of play to slow Hurley and it kept them in the game for awhile. But Hurley pulled away for a 53-29 Indianhead Conference win Friday night.

The Midgettes led 29-18 at the half and Bailey Thompson hit a 3 to make it an eight-point game right away in the second half. But Hurley responded with a 16-2 run to push the lead to 22, 45-23.

"They slowed it down on us a little bit, they ran their offense methodically and got it to their big girls underneath in the first half," Hurley coach Jim Kivisto said. "We still went into the half with an 11-point lead, so I was happy with that. We still scored 29 points, I'll take that anytime for a half."

Mercer coach Thomas Tollakson said the Tigers try to play to their strengths.

"We just try to play to our strengths, pound it inside, taking care of the ball on the perimeter," he said. "If we can get into the low block or the high post, we like our chances, whether it's finishing at the low block or with that backdoor cutter."

But the Midgettes outscored Mercer 24-11 in the second half. Hurley was able to run a bit more during the big run. Ally Rye started it by completing a transition play. Olivia France got a putback after a Hurley steal, then stole it herself and laid it in for a 15-point Hurley lead.

"We went to the diamond press and went to our 1-3-1 zone, I think that worked great," Kivisto said. "A couple halftime adjustments and they only had 11 points in the second half, we'll take that anytime.

"We just wanted to put a little more pressure on them and get them out of there. They kept posting our girls up and with a 1-3-1, they couldn't do it. They really don't have a lot of outside shooters. I was happy with how the girls played."

It was the first time Hurley used its diamond press.

"We got some easy buckets off of that," Kivisto said.

Hurley had three in double figures, led by France with 15 points. Rye scored 12 and Hailey Edyvean had 11.

After France hit three first-half 3s, Mercer focused its defense on her, but Hurley was too deep.

"I thought definitely we did a nice job when we switched to a box-and-one on France," Tollakson said. "She's a heck of a player, she was lighting it up against us. We just tried to deny her and force someone else to beat us. They're a well-rounded basketball team, they're quick, they're deep and they exposed us pretty good and played hard. They're relentless. We're at eight girls tonight total. So it wore us down, but I think they're a good ballclub. Just continue to battle and continue to work hard, I'm proud of the effort from our girls for sure."

Kivisto knew the rest of the team could pick it up.

"They went to the box-and-one on Olivia there in the first half, I really didn't mind it because we were still getting shots with the other four girls and we still got some shots out of transition," Kivisto said. "We didn't run the transition as good as I thought we could have. We played last night, maybe a little tired, I don't know."

Ella Torkelson led Mercer with 13 points.

"Mercer fights," Kivisto said. "I knew they were going to come here and give us a battle because they work, they're not going to quit and their coach is not going to let them quit. I knew they we were going to be in for a battle."

Hurley (8-2, 4-1) goes to Solon Springs Tuesday night.

"They're a .500 team, but they play everybody hard and we have to play them at their place," Kivisto said.

Mercer (1-8, 1-6) hosts Phelps Tuesday night.

Mercer - Ella Torkelson 13, Molly Hohner 4, Bailey Thompson 5, Zoe Botes 3, Aubrey Schoeneman 4. FTs: 7-14.Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Torkelson 1.

Hurley - Nicole DiGiorgio 3, Kylee Hewitt 4, Ally Rye 12, Hailey Edyvean 11, Cayden Corullo 2, Olivia France 15, Mahra Wick 4, Darian Bender 2. FTs: 11-17. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: France 3, Rye 2, Edyvean 1.

Mercer 18 29

Hurley 29 53