Playoff basketball in January? Mercy's upset over Bullitt East was one for the books

Postseason play in Kentucky high school basketball doesn’t start for another month, but Mercy’s home game Thursday against a veteran-laden Bullitt East squad certainly had the feel of a tournament game.

And thanks to huge performances by a couple of freshmen, the host Jaguars showed they could be the ones headed to Rupp Arena.

Alyssa Murphy scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half, and Leah Macy finished with 19 points and 19 rebounds to lead Mercy to a 64-50 win over the Chargers, the two-time defending Sixth Region champions.

Emma Egan led the Chargers with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Here are three takeaways from the Sixth Region showdown:

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Game of runs

Mercy (12-5) put the game away with a 25-3 second-half run that was sparked by a Murphy 3-pointer with just more than two minutes left in the third quarter.

By the time Emma Barnett ended it with a trey of her own, the Jaguars had transformed a 43-35 deficit into a 60-46 lead.

Murphy, a 5-5 guard who entered the game scoring 13.5 points a game, had 14 points during the decisive run.

“I just had to continue to be aggressive,” said Murphy, who finished shooting 8-of-20 for the game. “I missed some shots in the first half, but I didn’t let that affect how I played in the second.”

She continued to make some big plays after the run, including getting a steal off the Chargers inbounds pass after she made two free throws in the final minute.

Mercy needed that run because Bullitt East made one themselves in the third quarter. The Chargers (16-3) went on a 13-2 run after Macy drew her third foul a minute into the second half. Bullitt East used that to take a 39-33 lead midway through the period.

The way the Jaguars responded to that Bullitt East run was huge, coach Nick Cann said.

“Tonight, we kind of put it all together,” he said. “It was great to see. When they hit us with that round in the third quarter, we needed to show that we could respond to that and come back and finish the game the way we did. So that was huge for us. That’s how postseason games are, that was a postseason atmosphere, for sure.”

The Jaguars left the court through a tunnel of loud cheerleaders and raucous fellow students. They gave Cann a Gatorade shower as he walked into the locker room.

Macy stands tall, with some help

At 6-2, Macy gave up four inches on Bullitt East senior center Gracie Merkle. She didn’t give up much else on Thursday.

Thanks to a collapsing zone, Macy and her teammates held the Bellarmine signee scoreless in the first half. Meanwhile, she finished the first half with 15 to help the Jaguars take a 31-26 lead at the break.

It wasn’t until Macy drew that third foul that Merkle was able to get going, but she still only finished with seven points and six rebounds on the night.

Cann noted that Macy got some help from her teammates in containing Merkle and limiting Bullitt East to just 20-of-59 shooting (33.9%). One key contributor was sophomore Peyton Arnold.

“When she came in and got in the game, it was different,” he said of his 5-9 forward. “All of a sudden, we’re not getting bullied.”

Bullitt East coach Chris Stallings credited Mercy with shutting his team down.

“We just weren’t able all night it seemed like offensively to sustain anything,” he said. “I thought they did a great job rebounding the ball on our misses. They shot it well, and they just finished the game stronger we did.”

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Merkle did leave the game early in the fourth quarter after falling and apparently injuring her left knee. She re-entered the game a couple minutes later, but she had an ice pack on the knee after the game.

Stallings said it was a good sign that she was able to get back into the game, but they will likely reassess the knee on Friday.

Expecting round two… or more

After losing to the likes of Clark County and Notre Dame in recent weeks, the Jaguars felt they were on the verge of a breakthrough, and that’s what they got Thursday.

“We were ready to get one against a ranked team,” Macy said.

Thursday likely won’t be the last time these two squads meet. They’ve met in the 24th District final every year since 2012, and it’s quite possible they could square off again in next week’s Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament or the Sixth Region final should both make it that far.

Macy and Murphy said they’re expecting to face the Chargers again, and they know it’ll be an even tougher test.

“We can’t just stay here,” Macy said. “We’ve got to get better. Keep playing defense. They’re going to have a game plan next game. So, we just got to get better at what we do.”

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA: Takeaways from Mercy girls basketball vs. Bullitt East upset