What’s a greater display of a team’s bond than being able to poke fun at its own coach?
Tom McDonough has been Our Lady of Mercy’s varsity basketball coach long enough for his players to understand his style. A vest and reading glasses are his common threads. At practice the day before the Monarchs’ biggest game in nearly a decade, Mercy’s players decided to mimic their coach’s attire.
Now they all share a championship brick. Mercy proved too strong in its Section V Class A final against Honeoye Falls-Lima, picking up a 54-35 win and the team’s first title in nine years.
“These kids are great,” McDonough said. “We really bonded over the last three weeks. It was a team effort. They bought into the process and we got a brick out of it.”
Largely thanks to a suffocating defense and some timely shots. Mercy capped the first quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Angelina Borrelli, then scored at the third quarter horn on Emerson Wandtke’s layup.
Intent on shutting down HFL scorer Shaye Angelo, Mercy allowed only nine points in the first half.
“I’ve never seen them play defense like that,” McDonough said. “Our defense won the game.”
“They have one really good player, so we wanted to face guard her and let their offense go through other players,” Mercy senior Robin Jones said. “We just kept saying, this is a defensive game, let defense fuel our offense.”
Class A all-tournament team: Emerson Wandtke, Our Lady of Mercy (MVP); Shaye Angelo, Honeoye Falls-Lima; Robin Jones, Our Lady of Mercy; Laura Kosten, Our Lady of Merch; Karina Natale, Newark; Sarah Smith, Honeoye Falls-Lima.
Mercy’s late season push
With 11 wins and nine losses entering the postseason, Mercy’s record was solid but unspectacular. And when defeats pile up, regardless of the difficulty of opponents, continued engagement can be difficult.
That wasn’t an issue with the Monarchs.
“We had a process all year,” McDonough said. “If you look at our schedule, I think out of 20 games, half of the teams were either in a section final, won sectionals, or were in the semifinals.”
The proof is in the pudding. Mercy’s schedule included two games against Aquinas (Class AAA champion), Webster Schroeder (Class AA-1 champion), Canandaigua (Class AA-2 champion), Waterloo (Class B-1 champion) and Keshequa (Class C-2 champion). Three others were against event finalists Fairport, Pittsford Sutherland and Honeoye Falls-Lima.
The latter against the Cougars, on the eve of sectionals, was an eye-opener. McDonough said the circumstances were unique, as it was a rescheduled game that took place during school break, but ultimately served a purpose.
“We didn’t play well. We watched film on it the other day and I said, ‘Girls, we couldn’t have played any worse and we were in it until the very end,'” McDonough said.
Mercy’s late season charge was also emblematic of one of its seniors. Jones, a senior, suffered an ACL injury last year and didn’t return to the court until January. Re-finding the comfort zone came gradually.
“We’ve gone through so many ups and downs all season long, me personally coming back from an injury. It’s really been a journey,” Jones said. “Having all of our hard work pay off, it feels so good.”
Quote of the game
“It’s so amazing, and I’m glad we could do it for our school and our community in general. It’s been a long time since Mercy basketball won a brick. It feels good to bring it home and bring it back for Mercy athletics.” — Monarchs senior Robin Jones.
By the numbers
16 — Second half points for Mercy freshman Emerson Wandtke. The Monarchs’ tall presence inside finished with 20 points and was named tournament MVP.
11 — Section titles for Mercy. This is the Monarchs’ first win since 2017. Only four schools have more titles: Pittsford Mendon (17), Elba (17), Bloomfield (14) and Batavia Notre Dame (13).
27 — Points for HFL’s Shaye Angelo. The Cougars’ senior, who’ll play women’s lacrosse at Duke University next year, was named to the all-tournament team.
Up next
Section V owns an at-large bid for the NYSPHSAA Class A tournament, so both teams advanced to sub-regionals regardless of Saturday’s result.
Our Lady of Mercy will face Section VI’s representative Wednesday at Gates Chili High School, while Honeoye Falls-Lima travels to Union-Endicott to play a team from Section IV.
Here is how the game unfolded:
Honeoye Falls-Lima vs Our Lady of Mercy: Game start
Mercy wins the opening tip and starts with the ball.
Our Lady of Mercy 13, Honeoye Falls-Lima 5: End of the first quarter
Mercy’s Angelina Borrelli hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Looked like Emerson Wandtke punched out an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive.
Our Lady of Mercy 22, Honeoye Falls-Lima 9: Halftime
Mercy continues to make life difficult on defense, holding the Cougars to single digits in the first half. That’s without Emerson Wandtke, the Monarchs’ big presence in the middle, for much of the second quarter.
Our Lady of Mercy 54, Honeoye Falls-Lima 35: Final
Mercy finishes it off for its first title in nine years.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Mercy tops Honeoye Falls-Lima for first section title in nine years
Reporting by Justin Ritzel, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
