Sunday, January 07, 2001
Louisville Mercy 85, Bishop Brossart 68
Brossart falls in Classic championship game
By Ray Schaefer
Enquirer contributor
ALEXANDRIA — The numbers never lie, and the Bishop Brossart girls basketball team don't like the story they tell.
Louisville Mercy grabbed an 85-68 victory in Saturday's finals of the Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic, at Brossart's Seither Center. The reasons are in the figures: 25 points by Mercy senior guard Becca Vierling; 21 by senior Kelly Berding; the Jaguars' 37-29 edge in rebounding; the mixture of defenses that befuddled Brossart into 25-of-58 shooting from the field.
“We just got beat by a better team,” Brossart coach Ray Kues said. “I think we ran out of steam. I'm not using that as an excuse. We were very tired.”
Brossart's Katie Schwegmann, who led the game in scoring with 31 points, hit a 71-foot shot to close the first quarter.
“I looked at the clock, there were two seconds left,” said Schwegmann. “It was like a baseball throw. I didn't even believe it went in. The whole crowd erupted, it was cool.”
Mercy coach Mark Evans said he challenged his team to play better defense when the Jaguars were on a four-game losing streak.
“We decided to step up,” Vierling said. “It's our last year.”
Schwegmann scored seven points and junior Jessica Lloyd's steal and layup closed Mercy's lead to 10-9 with 2:44 left in the first.
Problem was, Brossart didn't score enough.
Mercy's 10-5 run over the final 2:36 gave the Jaguars a 20-14 lead after eight minutes.
Brossart turned that around in the second quarter. Senior guard Carrie Clift's 3-pointer with six seconds left, and after a Mercy turnover, Schwegmann hit a 10-footer at the buzzer to cut Mercy's lead to 37-36.
“I told the girls we did a lot of good things,” Kues said. “We'll learn from (the loss).”
LOUISVILLE MERCY (85): Berding 10 1 21, Vierling 11 2 25, Kupper 2 4 8, L. Ulanowski 3 1 7, Napier 6-1 13, Parrish 1 2 4, McDonald 1 0 2, Hardy 1 1 3, Mingus 1 0 2. Totals: 36 12 85.
BISHOP BROSSART (68): Schwegmann 11 6 31, Clift 3 0 8, Schultz 3 1 7, Clark 5 3 13, Lloyd 3 0 6, Geiman 0 3 3. Totals: 25-13 68.
Lou. Mercy ....... 20 17 28 20-85
Bishop Brossart ....... 14 22 16 16-68
Three-point goals: LM-Vierling.; BB-Schwegmann 3, Clift 2. Records: LM 10-4, BB 7-5.
All-tournament team: Summer Jones (Shelby Valley); Sam Napier (Louisville Mercy); Stephanie Clark (Bishop Brossart); Becca Vierling (Louisville Mercy); Carrie Clift (Bishop Brossart); Katie Schwegmann (Bishop Brossart); Liz Ulanowski (Louisville Mercy); Ashley Mills (Newport); Erica Hallman (Holmes); Marquise Hanser (Notre Dame); Kelli Hayward (Joondalup Jets); Christina Jones (Newport); Ashley Damron (Shelby Valley); Lisa Wilkinson (Joondalup Jets); Tara Boothe (Highlands); Amy Meyers (Newport Central Catholic); Stephanie Ripberger (Highlands); Molly Hall (Holy Cross); Laura VonHandorf (Conner); Nicole Chiodi (Newport Central Catholic).
MVP: Kelly Berding (Louisville Mercy)
Northern Kentucky Classic Scholar-athlete Award: Katie Schwegmann (Bishop Brossart) and Lori Brinkman (Holmes).
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Louisville Mercy 85, Bishop Brossart 68
