Wolves, Pirates on a collision course at Portage girls basketball sectional

PORTAGE | Two favorites earned first-round victories Wednesday in the Portage Sectional. One had to work a little bit, the other barely broke a sweat.

Michigan City overcame an early 3-point shooting barrage by Hobart on its way to a hard-fought 57-49 victory. Times No. 1 Merrillville, ranked fourth in both state polls, overwhelmed Valparaiso, 59-36, in the nightcap.

The Wolves (16-6) will face the Pirates (21-0) in Friday's second semifinal, following the opener between Crown Point and LaPorte. Merrillville won both earlier meetings, 76-71, at Michigan City in December and 74-57 on Jan. 27.

"The first one was a track meet; not much defense by either team," Merrillville coach Amy Govert said. "We're pretty similar, both very athletic teams. It's going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes."

In the opener, the Wolves' biggest mistake was leaving Hobart shooters open early in the game.

The Brickies made four 3-pointers in the first three minutes to jump out to a 12-5 advantage. Sophomore guard Autumn Beal started the game by banking in a 3-pointer, junior Daley Law hit two and sophomore Grayce Roach hit another, all leaving M.C. coach Mike Megyese shaking his head.

"We did not anticipate them shooting the lights out," Megyese said. "They lived and died by the 3 for the most part, and eventually that caught up with them."

Hobart (11-12) did cool off, and finished the game 7-of-19 from beyond the arc. But the Brickies were in it the whole way, leading 15-14 after one quarter and trailing just 26-24 at the break.

Morgan Flaharty nailed a 3-pointer at the start of the third quarter to give the Brickies a brief 29-28 lead. But M.C. junior Dejania Evans had three offensive putbacks in the quarter, the last with 1:12 remaining for a 39-34 lead.

Evans would finish with eight points and nine rebounds for the Wolves. Toni Murphy scored a game-high 19 points, while freshman guard Michal Miller added 16 points and four assists.

"Evans was by far our player of the game," Megyese said. "That is a huge effort for us."

Hobart got within 50-47 on a Roach free throw with 2:28 remaining. But the Wolves made five of six free throws in the final 41 seconds to secure the victory.

"It's nice to have a win," Megyese said. "I thought we kept our composure for the most part and did what we had to do."

For Hobart, Roach scored 13 points while Caitlin Leath had five points and 11 rebounds.

In the second game, Valparaiso (5-16) was simply overwhelmed by the Pirates' speed and athleticism. The Vikings committed 23 turnovers, with 14 coming on Merrillville steals.

Merrillville led 13-5 after one quarter and 28-10 at the half. The Vikings failed to make a field goal in the second quarter, and didn't connect from the floor until Katherine Berning broke the dry spell at 6:03 of the third quarter.

"We came out with great defensive pressure," Govert said. "That's been our key all year. As long as we bring that type of pressure, we'll be in every ballgame."

The Pirates led 44-19 after three quarters and the lead reached 30 with 2:39 remaining and the substitutes in the game. Govert was able to rest her starters much of the second half.

"That's what we wanted," Govert said. "We may possibly play three games in four nights, so you want to have your players rested."

Victoria Gaines led Merrillville with 14 points, while Dariyan Morris added 10 points, four steals and three assists. Clarisse Fletcher scored 14 points to lead Valpo.