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McDonough and Mercy rally to take regular season finale

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Libby McDonough finished with a season-high 29 points to lead Our Lady of Mercy past East High, 72-64.

By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Libby McDonough thought she was off the mark.

Despite connecting eight times previously in Saturday’s contest, the junior guard didn’t like how the ball felt leaving her hand.

Luckily for the Our Lady of Mercy faithful, their leading perimeter scorer was wrong.

In a fourth quarter that saw five lead changes and three ties, McDonough provided the go-ahead basket with her third 3-pointer of the game, and Mercy went on to defeat East High, 72-64.

“I was like I have to shoot; my shot is on,” McDonough said. “I might as well just take it. We needed it.”

McDonough’s triple capped a rally which saw the Monarchs (9-3) erase an 11-point second-half deficit and close the regular season with their fifth win in six games.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Mercy coach Kara Ingalls. “They’re a great team. We knew they were going to bring their A-game. They’re a physical team, a great rebounding team. The effort is there.”

McDonough finished with a game and season-high 29 points. The effort proved timely as Mercy’s leading scorer, Katie Whitaker, was slowed by foul trouble and an opportunistic East defense looking to deny post entry passes to the 6-foot-5 Furman University commit.

“We know if they wanted to beat us, they have to take away our big girl,” Ingalls explained. “I was telling my guards to use that as an advantage. You got to make them play you. When you dribble into the middle, if there are extra defenders on her, someone’s open. Let’s get the ball to the open teammate and Katie can get the offensive rebound.”

The loss was the second straight for East (7-4) which fell to four-time Class AA champ Bishop Kearney last time out.

“We were right there,” East coach Tim Jackson said. “But I’m proud. These last two games that we played against those schools? That’s what it is. We just had too many breakdowns at crucial spots.”

Shariona Blocker scored 25 to pace East. Diamond Pickett added 21.

Blocker scored the last five points of the first half including a three just before the horn to give East a 38-32 lead at the break. The senior duo sparked an 11-6 run to open the third.

Pickett set up Jaylen Giles on a give-and-go. Pickett followed with a rebound and putback. Imani Oliver hit a three to give East its largest lead of the game at 49-38.

“We needed to come out energized,” McDonough said. “We had to make sure Blocker was marked because she is really good.”

McDonough closed the third quarter with a trey to cut the deficit to three at 53-50.

Holly Bagley fed Whitaker for her first basket since the first quarter, and Bagley gave Mercy its first lead of the second half at 54-53 when she converted on an inbound pass.

Blocker scored on a steal and layup to tie the score at 63 with less than two minutes remaining in the game. It was East’s last field goal of the game.

McDonough connected from the right wing to break a 64-all tie.

“Honestly, I thought it was going over,” the 5-foot-6 guard said. “I thought it was long.”

“I have all my faith in Libby,” Ingalls said. “When she’s got the shot, she’s got to take it. I think everyone in Section V knows she going to shoot it. They come out on her, and then she kills them when she makes it. It’s always fun to see. It gets the girls energized on the bench.”

Mercy opened the game scoring the first points on its way to a 13-5 lead with 3:47 to go in the first quarter. Blocker scored seven straight to give east its first lead of the game at 16-15.

“I feel good about sectionals,” Jackson said of the tournament that starts on Monday. “We got a good team.”

As of today, East is the No. 4 seed in the Class A tournament and would host the quarter-finals. In response to COVID-19 precautions, the 2021 Section V basketball tournament is a closed format with the top eight seeds only qualifying for the post-season.

Whitaker finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Mercy.

Mercy has the four-seed in Class AA.

Scoring totals:

Mercy: Holly Bagley (9), Audrey Hintz (6), Mia Valvo (4), Maddie Fitzgerald (3), Mary Grace McCann (3) and Anna Lynch (2).

East: Imani Oliver (9), Jaylen Giles (4), D’niah Johnson (3) and Gabriella Brown-Sturdviant (2).

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