Marlins take advantage of shorthanded Marian to pull ahead early, roll to district win
FARMINGTON HILLS — Nobody’s going to cut you any slack if you’re not at your best in the postseason, especially not your rival.
So when Bloomfield Hills Marian came into the postseason with a spate of illnesses hitting at the absolute worst time — piling on top of the Mustangs’ injuries — the last team that was going to feel bad about exploiting that was rival Farmington Hills Mercy.
The Marlins jumped out to a big lead on the short-handed Mustangs in Wednesday’s Division 1 district semifinal, using runs of 15-0 and 13-0 in the first half, rolling to a 56-39 win on their home floor.
“Obviously, Michelle (Lindsey, the Marian coach) is shorthanded, that’s what she kind of said. It’s combination, I think, of injuries and illness. It’s the playoffs, and you’re gonna try to take advantage of whatever — you’ve gotta play what’s out there,” said Mercy coach Gary Morris. “And yeah, I thought we got off to a great start, obviously shooting the ball well. … I really liked that, because we sometimes can be slow starters. And I thought we were really ready to play. So that’s nice to see from our group.”
The Marlins (12-11) advance to Friday’s 6 p.m. district final, facing No. 1-ranked West Bloomfield. Last year’s D1 runner-up, the Lakers (21-1) were a 66-7 winner over North Farmington (12-12) in Wednesday’s first district semifinal game, the 11th straight district game they’ve won on the court, as they make a run at their third straight district title, and fifth in six seasons.
“I mean, yeah, we’re definitely the underdogs on Friday — no doubt about it. I think that will help us all go in, just relax, have fun. Like, give it your all, win or go home. Just play really hard. If we come out like we did tonight, I mean, I think we could have a chance,” said Mercy junior Aizlyn Albanese, who scored 10 of her game-high 26 points in that early burst by the Marlins. “And I know a lot of players on that team so it will definitely be fun.”
Beating a rival like Marian is definitely fun, too, especially since the Marlins had split the regular-season meetings with the Mustangs — winning 70-63 on the road before losing 68-66 in overtime at home — then beating them again in the Catholic League postseason, 62-39.
“I think the flu went around. I had five varsity kids for Friday’s game. We just happened to get sick on the wrong week here. But I’m proud with the kid that kids who stepped up, I went young, I went with the kids who I felt could give the most energy and defensively help us and I was proud of how they came in and handled the situation. I mean, Liv Rotter and CeCe Murray starting in a rivalry game against Mercy in the district semis is pretty hard to do as freshmen …but you know what? They’re the future and this is it,” said Lindsey. “You go back and forth with shoulda ,woulda, couldas, but it’s just the flu kind of took over, and I had to do what was right, basically, and who was there who was working hard, who knew our game plan and that’s what I went with.”
The Marlins took full advantage of the opportunity.
After a trade of initial buckets left Marian up 3-2, the Marlins ran off the next 15 points to lead 17-3, then answered Marian’s next bucket with five more points to close out the first quarter up 22-5, extending that run eight more points in the second quarter to go up 30-5.
Mercy ended the first half up 35-12, but when the Mustangs got it back within 17 points in the third, the Marlins went back to Albanese, who buried a 3-pointer shortly thereafter to push the lead back over 20 points.
That’s nothing new for the young Marlins, who’ve relied on Albanese and fellow junior Emily Walker — both captains — to shoulder both the scoring and leadership loads this year, with no seniors on the roster. Walker added 18 points to Albanese’s 26 in Wednesday’s win.
“(Albanese has) done a good job of leading as, as Emily Walker — no seniors, those two juniors have really stepped up. And, you know, we got a lot of puppies out there, so they helped them,” Morris said.“Ava Lorraine, who was a good player for us, but her season ended in the district final with an injury, she missed her whole freshman year. … Probably in the front or back of her mind, she was worried about getting hurt. We were looking her to be our leader — she may have been the only senior but she would have been a great leader. And so now it fell on them. And they’ve really embraced it. They’ve been vocal when they need to be.”
It’s one of the next steps in the evolution for Albanese, in particular, who went from being primarily a spot-up shooter as a freshman, to being one of the Marlins leading scorers a year ago, to this year becoming an all-around player who’s getting Division I offers.
“I definitely think that freshman year, I was just more of a role player. I got the ball and I was open, I knew I was supposed to shoot it. … During freshman year, I got more and more confident, I kind of started to do some more things, but still, like just kind of playing my role. And then sophomore year, I really had to step up. And it was me and Maya White who led in scoring and like, so I really had to do a lot sophomore year. Then this year, I really had to step up with Emily. And so me and Emily really have to take control out there and like be the leaders on the floor. So I think that like my shot’s developed and I’m shooting deeper, I’m able to create more of a drive,” said Albanese, who had a handful of assists on the break in Wednesday’s win.
“I love giving a good pass, an assist for somebody to score — it always brings me joy. So I’m always looking up the floor for my teammates. I don’t think you should play selfish on the basketball court. You’re gonna lose that way.”
But Morris noted that the junior is always willing to make the changes to facilitate the next step in her evolution as a player.
“What’s good about Aizlyn is, whenever the season ends, and we have our end-of-the-season meeting, we’ll say, ‘All right, here are areas for you to get better,’ she’ll work and getting better in those areas,” he said. “Just a very coachable kid.”
Junior Molly McLeod led Marian with 13 points, while freshman Mckenley Reid had nine, and the Mustangs’ lone senior — Butler signee Mckenzie Swanson — closed out her prep career with eight points.