Mt. Mercy upsets Sacred Heart in MMA final
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sacred Heart's Elizabeth Subjeck, right, tries to get off a shot past the reach of Mt. Mercy's Mary Kubera during the Monsignor Martin Association finals held Sunday at Canisius College's Koessler Athletic Center. Mercy won 42-38. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase photos at www.BeeNews.com

Mt. Mercy played the underdog to perfection in this year's Monsignor Martin Association girls basketball tournament.

Seeded fourth, the Magic (14-10) knocked off top-seed Nardin, 52-45, on Thursday then came back to beat second-seed Sacred Heart, 42-38, in Sunday's final played before an estimated crowd of 900 at Canisius College's Koessler Athletic Center.

"I think we're the only ones who didn't think we were underdogs," said Mt. Mercy guard Melissa Graham. "We knew we could do it. We had some rough stretches in the season but turned it around."

"All during the year these players were so hard on themselves to the point where they would get down," said Mt. Mercy coach Joe Haslinger. "I said it's a four quarter game. It's a long season. You have to play all the way through it and keep your heads up."

Nobody was harder on herself than Graham. Not feeling she had been playing her best, she skipped a father-daughter dance on Saturday so she could practice her shooting at the Y. The practice paid off as Graham scored the Magic's last six points, beginning with a layup on an inbounds pass from Colleen Flynn with 2:27 remaining in regulation. On Mercy's next possession, she followed her own missed layup for a basket then sank two free throws with under 10 seconds left to seal the victory.

"She said she couldn't go to a father-daughter dance because she was practicing her shooting at the Y," said Haslinger. "You don't have any more of an intense player than Melissa Graham."

Sacred Heart (23-2), who led by as many as 12, 24-12, in the second quarter, were its own worst enemy in the second half, missing a bunch of easy layups which if made, would have put the game out of reach for Mercy. Sacred Heart shot 5 for 22 from the floor in the second half.

"We missed a lot of layups," said Sacred Heart coach Sr. Maria Pares. "Even though there was a lot of contact, we still missed them. You got to make your inside shots and we didn't. They wanted it more. They were the better team."

Mercy's physical man to man defense, especially in the second half, combined with Sacred Heart missed shots, led to the Magic outscoring the Sharks, 26-14, in the second half. Caitlin Kubera's layup from a Graham pass gave Mt. Mercy its first lead of the game, 36-35, with 2:54 remaining. Kubera finished with 12 points.

"They caused some stuff down the stretch but it doesn't matter," said Pares. "If that's happening, you have to overcome that and we didn't."

Katie Keller led Sacred Heart with 11 points. Krystal Watson added nine points and 11 rebounds. Liz Subjeck scored seven points and hauled in 12 rebounds. Gina Ricotta had seven points, five rebounds and three steals. Natalie Coppola dished out four assists.

Coach Haslinger lauded the rebounding work of Meg Recktenwald, who scored six points.

It's Mt. Mercy's first MMA title since 2002. Sacred Heart beat Nardin in last year's final. Two years ago, Haslinger's daughter, Kelly, helped Nardin beat Sacred Heart for the title.

Both teams' seasons are not over as both, along with Nardin will play in the New York State Catholic semifinals at Daemen College on Saturday. Mercy will face St. Peter's in Class A while Sacred Heart and Nardin will meet Notre Dame (Staten Island) and Preston Academy in Class B and C, respectively. Sacred Heart plays at 3:30 p.m. Nardin beat Nichols, 69-53, in Sunday's consolation game.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com