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By Mike Buchanan
Both teams walked away
winners on Sunday.
That doesn’t always happen,
of course, but when it does, it really makes high school sports an enjoyable
thing to watch.
The No. 1 Seton Keough
Varsity and the No. 6 Mercy Varsity and dozens of other Varsity teams in the
metro area took to the court last week. Many get coverage and attention and articles,
as they should. But … there are dozens of Junior Varsity basketball teams out
there, as well.
Prior to the big
Keough/Mercy Varsity game on Sunday, the JV squads from those two schools took
to the court.
To Mercy Captains Hannah
Heirstetter and Megan Oakey, and their parents and coaches and teammates, THEIR
game was The Game of the Week ... just as it was for Morgan Loverde and Shabria
Paige and their contingent on the Keough side.
The players on those JV
teams practice just as hard as their Varsity counterparts. The coaches put as much
thought into preparation and the parents and grandparents and other supporters
cheer just as hard.
On Sunday, Seton Keough’s JV
tacked another “W” in the win column with a 50-40 victory over Mercy. Keough is
now 7-1 in the IAAM A-Conference and 8-4 overall, while Mercy dropped to 0-8 in
the league and 2-10 overall.
In their first meeting back
in early December, Keough romped to an easy 65-20 win at Mercy. There was only
one winner that day. Few players, or coaches, can find much of a positive nature
to take away from a 45-point loss.
This time was different,
however. Keough got a win on the scoreboard, while Mercy got a win on the
“improvement meter.” The Magic went from losing by 45 to losing by just 10
points. A 10-point game usually is – and this one was - a truly close game. A
couple of baskets or free throws, made or missed, on either side could have meant
a one-point game or even overtime.
Mercy trailed by just three
at the half, and Oakey hit one of two free throws with five seconds left in
the third quarter to bring her team to within one point, as Keough took a slim 31-30
edge into the final quarter.
The Gators went on a short
run in the beginning of the fourth quarter and extended the lead up to 12 points
at 45-33 with four minutes to go. Mercy was still in it, down 47-37 with two
minutes left, but could not make a dent in the deficit and Keough was able to
use the clock and protect the lead.
Loverde and Camilla Hines finished
with 10 points apiece to lead the Gators. Paige was right behind with nine,
giving Head Coach Dave Bowyer very balanced scoring. Brianna Moreland scored a
game-high 15 points to lead Mercy, and Raven Puryear added nine.
Bowyer is not your average JV coach. He coached the SK Varsity softball team to
the A-Conference championship last spring, he’s also coached JV soccer and served
as Assistant Coach on Varsity soccer, and has been the Gator JV basketball Head
Coach for seven years, while being an Assistant with the Varsity after the JV
games during that same time.
“Rosie (Young) and Shabria (Paige),
two of our Captains, get the girls going and really lead; they are two of our
four returning players. Shabria really makes things happen at the point-guard
position,” said Bowyer.
“We always have good games
against Mercy,” Bowyer added. “When Tierra Ellis (current guard on Varsity) was
a freshman, we were undefeated, and the next year our only loss was to Mercy.
They were really tough last year. The first time this year we played at their
place and won pretty easily. But their coach does a good job and we knew they’d
be improved. We got fortunate with our defense today, and we got a couple of
big three-pointers at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth. That gave
us a little breathing room.”
What’s it like to go from
coaching a 21-1 team last season to coaching a team that lost by 45 points
early in this season? Just ask third-year Mercy JV Coach Rich Naldrett. “My
attitude towards this group is the same as with any team I’ve coached. We set a
goal and try to reach it. When we reach it, we move the bar higher. This group
is as satisfying to work with as any I’ve had in the past with respect to
meeting and exceeding goals.”
Mercy has five returnees and
eight new freshmen on the team. Sophomores Ava Trageser, Carissa Shropshire,
Lindsey Sheve and Caitlin Herman all moved up to Varsity from last year’s 21-1
team.
As for the building blocks
behind Mercy’s recent improvement this season, Naldrett rattled off numerous
names. “Megan (Oakey), one of our Captains, went from hardly playing as a
freshman to being our number one point-guard. She has reduced the turnovers
significantly and is a true leader. Brianna (Moreland) went from a backup
forward to the leading scorer on our team; she has nice post moves and leads in
three-pointers, too. Jess Votta continues to take on the other team’s biggest
player and is getting good at defending them. Hannah (Heirstetter) is another
good leader who takes the time to draw out the plays for the younger players
who may not be grasping it when I show them; she’s like having another coach.
And Raven (Puryear) can, and has, played all five positions for us in her two
years on the team. Her nine points on Sunday against Keough was a career-high.”
Sunday’s game showed a lot
about both teams. On the home side, it showed how strong and steady and
consistent the winning Gators are as a team. They did not get rattled in a
close game, and kept their composure down the stretch. On the visitor side, it
showed how far the Magic has progressed as a team. After losing to Keough by 45
points in that first meeting, Mercy came close the second time, was in the game
right up to the final two minutes, and lost by only 10 – a 35-point improvement
for those who struggle with math.
“The improvement has been
steady,” added Naldrett, “but it was getting difficult to get the girls to
believe that they were getting better. My Assistant, Stephanie Adams, and I
were able to convince them by breaking down their successes into quarters or
even specific plays. The final quarter of the NDP game, where we played the
entire eight minutes with just freshmen, pushed their confidence way up. We won
that quarter, 12-4. Our practices since then have been very intense. And the
sophomores really lead by continuing to assist in teaching the younger ones
without getting jealous about playing time. That really helps team chemistry.”
Naldrett has realistic hopes
for the remainder of the season. “The rest of our season begins today as we
prepare for the
Mercy Co-Captain Oakey did
not appear down after Sunday’s loss. “I’m really proud of my girls and the way
we played,” she said , sounding as much or more like a coach than as a
player. “We were in it until the end, and that’s after losing by 45 to them the
first time. We’re working hard and getting better.”
And steady improvement –
whether on the Varsity level or the JV level – will make almost any coach
happy. Sometimes it is a better barometer of success than wins or losses. Just
ask Naldrett, Oakey and rest of the Magic.
Seton Keough JV 50, Mercy JV 40
M – Heirstetter
4, Oakey 2, Storck 2, McKay 2, Palntholt 4, Moreland 15, Puryear 9, Sellers 2.
SK – Clampi 2, Mendez 3, Loverde10, Paige 9, Hines
10, Vana 7, Widlake 4, Poehlman 3, Craner 2.
Half: SK, 24-21.
