The Mercer Lady Cardinals grabbed an early lead, and never let up on the intensity level until late in the second half, taking down the Worth County Lady Tigers in the Class 1, District 14 championship game on Saturday night, 59-23.
In a contest from Eagleville broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3, Bailey Owens led a balanced Mercer attack with 18 points, while Lindsay Wyatt added 17. Emily Sample’s three-point shooting was on target early, as the starting wing hit four shots from “beyond the arc” for 12 points, while Nicole Kost added eight points, while harassing the Worth County guards with her pressure defense throughout the contest.
Worth County, a program filled with freshmen and trending upward as they head into the off-season, had nine points from Regan Allee and six from Payton Adwell, finishing the year with a mark of 14 wins and 12 losses.
Mercer, the top-ranked team in the state in Class 1, now is 27-1 on the season, will play the Lady Wildcats of Southwest Livingston on Tuesday afternoon from the St. Joseph Civic Arena. The game is a rematch of a regular season contest won by Mercer (49-43) on January 3rd, but one that the Lady Cardinals had to rally for in the final quarter, after trailing for most of the night. Southwest Livingston, the District 13 champions, went through #1 seed Orrick, on the Bearcats home floor, winning 62-51, to move to 18-8 on the season on Friday night.
Tuesday afternoon’s game will be one of four sectionals to be played at the Civic Arena in St. Joseph. Tip-time between Mercer and Southwest is scheduled for 4:45, with coverage on KTTN FM 92.3, KTTNSports.com, and KTTN on the Tune-In Radio app. The winner advances to play either Jefferson or King City on the Class 1 quarterfinals on Friday night, also at Civic Arena.
