Marian Battles Against Divine Child For a 41-32 Victory

It looked as if the Marian girls basketball team was going to be run right out of their home gym.

But the Mustangs' dominance on the glass and inability to quit ended up being more than Divine Child could handle in the late-game battle, defeating the visiting Falcons 41-32 Tuesday night at Marian High School.

"I wasn't disappointed in my offense at all. I would love them to finish better but we had good looks, whether they were in the zone or man," Marian Coach Mary Cicerone said. "We got what we wanted but we didn't knock it down or make free throws in the first half."

Marian is now 6-4 overall.

Marian's Michelle Perkovic led all scorers with 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to record a double-double. Her teammate Mackenzie Fleischer added seven points and five rebounds.

Divine Child (8-2 overall) entered the fourth quarter trailing just three points. However, the Falcons scored just one field goal on one-of-six shooting—a three-pointer from Alicia Morrone—and failed to contain Perkovic in the fourth quarter, who piled in five of her 16 points.

"I was working hard and anytime I missed a layup, the rest of us would pick each other up," Perkovic said. "We continually hustled. Being down 11-1 was an awakening, but that's how our team works, being down and coming back."

The Falcons went scoreless in the final 5:30.

Divine Child's coach Mary Laney said Perkovic's stellar performance Tuesday night was nothing that surprised her or the team wasn't prepared to see.

"We were ready for her," she said. "We just didn't keep her off the boards. And players like that are going to get their points. We had to contain them (Perkovich and senior Mara Mulroy) but we only contained one."

The Mustangs also out-rebounded Divine Child 43-22 in the game.

"We didn't box out—that was a big weakness," Laney said. "We knew we'd have to. We shut Mulroy down, which was one of our goals, but it doesn't matter when you shut one down when you don't box out. They played with more intensity."

Guard Cara Miller led Divine Child offensively, however all of her eight points came in the first half. The junior snagged seven rebounds as well.

One of Marian's biggest leaders, Sara Zawacki, scored eights points, including the game's final two free throws to lock it up for her squad.

Zawacki said all of the Mustangs' games have been nail biters and they thrive off them.

"We're used to being down by 10 or so," she said. "But what coach said at halftime and at the end of the game was that we never give up. It's all hard work. We may not have as much talent, the outside shooters, but ... we just run on pure hustle."

Cicerone said it eases a coach's mind to win a big game without her leading scorer, Mulroy, having a good night offensively."

"That's huge," she said. "And I have two starters out. My subs that came in, they played within what they're capable of doing and they played great defense for us. I was tickled pink."

Cicerone and Zawacki both commented on the bench play of sophomore Kilyn Bulluck who recorded 11 rebounds down low for the Mustangs.

The first five minutes of Tuesday's game were a different story, with the Falcons jumping out to a crowd-quieting 11-1 run.

Cicerone's early timeout calmed her squad down as they knotted the score, 16-16, with 3:25 to play in the second quarter. Marian out-rebounded their opponent 21-5 in the second quarter.

Rebounds led to easy baskets for the Mustangs and they never looked back after securing the lead on a Fleischer three-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer.

Despite being physical in the paint, Marian committed just one shooting foul on the evening—both free throws Divine Child having missed. The Mustangs shot eight-for-16 from the line.

"Our shooting is a little weak but that's what we work on all day," Perkovic said. "Little things like that. We're a fast team but we just need to fill in the rest. It's coming."

Marian next heads to Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Jan. 21.