A smile consumed St. Mary’s senior Baily Walden’s face when she whipped the basketball out of a Mercy player’s hands and held it.
She couldn’t have devised a better night herself. Somehow, her 1,000-point milestone — something that was far from guaranteed considering she lost a normal freshman year to the pandemic — had lined up with the foreplaned celebration of her beloved former head coach, Chuck Miller.
But she couldn’t keep the victory moment to herself as two Magic players charged her. Walden passed it to senior Maya Morahan under the net. A second later, she joined the group hug wrapped around the senior, whose buzzer-beater basket closed out the 54-47 comeback victory. The Saints turned heel and mobbed Miller.
“I thought it was so cool I could share this night with coach Miller,” Walden said. “I’ve been playing with him since I was in seventh grade. It was really special. As soon as I hit that shot, I felt like everything I’d been working for was complete.”
Walden entered Friday’s game just three points shy of 1,000, but with the defense Mercy met St. Mary’s with, it didn’t come easily. About five minutes in, up just one, the Saints (12-5) lost half their shot clock whipping passes to one another under heavy pressure. Finally, sophomore Alexandra Vandiver found Walden in open space on the perimeter.
She had only seconds before her teammates rushed her in celebration, pointer fingers in the air.
“Once Bailey [Harris] and A-Love [Vandiver] came on, this was a different team and it flowed better. Being on the team with them brought up my game,” Walden said. “I have to give some of the credit to them because they gave me opportunities I wouldn’t have had.”
Save for Walden’s achievement, the first half was one the Saints (12-5) would’ve liked to forget. Coach Leo Latonick worried his team was too distracted and maybe a bit too self-confident. He knew his players had viewed Mercy’s recent history — heavy losses to A Conference teams — as too good of a sign.
Except for Mercy star Milan Brown (18 points), the Saints claimed the edge on the boards, but the right shots were not landing. And Brown was not stopping.
The Magic flowed through her. She charged with blistering pace, feeding the 3-pointer and taking the free throw that knotted the score at 9.
St. Mary’s defense proved more effective than its offense, but could not fend off the Magic for good. Brown, submerged in Saints, couldn’t nail the go-ahead shot at the first-quarter buzzer, but her teammate, Payton Jones, flushed in for the 11-9 lead.
Turnovers decreased in second quarter, but the Saints ran into another issue: fouls giving Mercy free throw attempts. And while Saints like Vandiver (15 points) battered most of Brown’s attempts down with a fury, other Magic unlocked their scoring and maintained a lead.
Harris (22 points) gripped the chain of the anchor when no one else could. Her pair of triples and free throws were all the Saints could muster in the second quarter as they trailed 29-17 at the half.
“I think we were all playing a little selfish, including me,” Harris said. “When I can find my teammates, and they can find me, it works way better.”
Only when the Saints returned to their identity — carnage in the paint to bully in layups and fearless calm when settling longer shots — could the hosts chip away at a Mercy team that kept scoring.
Harris embodied that renaissance, near-flawless in her tries with nine points inside and out in the third quarter. But each Saint was stepping back into her confidence. Walden (11 points) nailed her second 3-pointer and added some free throws. Then, Vandiver hit the trey that flipped the lead, 39-36. She hit another on the other side of the quarter break, part of a 17-0 St. Mary’s streak that continued into the fourth quarter.
“That was something special,” Walden said.
Losing control of the lead was not actually Mercy’s biggest concern. Partway through the third quarter, Brown suffered her fourth foul. The Magic had no choice but to pull her, but the effect was immediate: the offense unraveled.
Come fourth quarter, Mercy risked it; it needed Brown. And Brown made the gamble worthwhile, steering her Magic within two points of drawing back even.
But the cause of Brown’s turmoil didn’t give up — Anna Ervin. The junior guarded Brown all night, drawing her into fouls and stopping her up. Ervin took a charge; in that moment, Harris knew they would win. Then, Brown fouled out.
“The other girls know what Anna can do. They appreciate what she does for us,” Latonick said.
