Source: Hometown Life
Author: Brad Emons
Chloe Godbold measures only 5 feet, 4 inches, but the Farmington Hills Mercy senior guard loomed large Friday night in the Marlins' 43-30 girls basketball win over host Livonia Ladywood.
Godbold connected on four straight third quarter shots, including a pair from three-point range, as Mercy stretched a 28-16 halftime lead to as many as 22 points (on a basket by Katie Coe) to key the Catholic League Central Division victory.
With the win, the Marlins improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the division.
"Second half we were in the locker room and we just said we were going to come out and just put them away basically, come out and win the third quarter, and that's what we did," said Godbold, who scored a game-high 17 points making 6-of-11 shots from the floor and 3-of-4 free throws. "We just talked about cutting harder and getting ball screens and opening up shooters."
The Marlins went 6-of-10 from the field in the third, but Ladywood (1-8, 0-5) battled back to pull within 40-28 with 1:07 left on a steal and layup by Amy Babon.
But the Blazers went 0-of-8 in the final quarter and only got two points on a pair of free throws by Babon with just under a minute left.
Mercy, ironically, did not score in the fourth.
"We kind of started slowly and finished slowly, but in between we were pretty good," Mercy coach Gary Morris said. "We had a 12-point lead at the half and we said, 'Let's get it to 15.' We thought the first few minutes would be big. We didn't want to let them back in the game, so obviously she (Godbold) hit those back-to-back 'threes.' She's been shooting the ball better and certainly she's capable of doing that for sure."
Senior guard Jackie Bauer chipped in with nine points as did senior forward Morgan Brietzke.
"We got a nice lift off the bench when Brietzke hit those three 'threes,'" Morris said. "That's nice and she's kind of that player that's a spot-up shooter and has a nice shot, and it was going in tonight."
The Marlins were 16-of-39 from the floor (41 percent), but committed 18 turnovers.
"A little disappointed in that number," Morris said. "There was a stretch in the second half where we had some. I don't know if any of them are good, but those especially were not good turnovers."
Abbey Reppen puts up a shot as Ladywood hosts Mercy High on Jan. 6. (Photo: JOHN HEIDER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Ladywood, meanwhile, shot 11-of-42 from the floor (26.1 percent) and had 21 turnovers.
"They shot the ball really well," Ladywood first-year coach Sam Lamb said of the Marlins. "They were 6-of-20 from the three-point line and we were 2-of-16. There's a big difference when shots go down. We had a point where we made a run and cut it to 12, and we turned the ball over and they hit a 'three' on the other end. And it kind of broke our back a little, took the wind out of sails. They just made shots when they needed to and they're a good team. They get a ton of credit. They're a very fundamental basketball team."
Junior guard Abbey Reppen had a team-best 12 points for the Blazers, but the next highest scorer was senior guard Maggie Shirk, who added five.
"I'm unbelievably proud of their effort, especially a couple of times where we could have folded and our girls played with a lot of energy tonight," Lamb said.
Ladywood High's coach Sam Lamb calls out a defensive play to his team on Jan. 6. (Photo: JOHN HEIDER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Morris also admired the Blazers' scrappy style of play.
"They're won-loss record isn't that great, but they really played hard, hard to the final buzzer," the Mercy coach said. "That's a credit to them."