If you are fan of Middletown sports you know that the very impressive girls' basketball team, the Mercy Tigers, lost in the SCC finals on Tuesday night. Everyone, including myself, thought that they would take down Hillhouse and put the cherry on top of their almost perfect season. But Mercy fans watched as their one point lead at the half could not carry them through the second half and lost on a couple of foul shots.
To be honest, girls basketball isn't something I enjoy watching. Coming from a former basketball player I know that sounds strange but I find the boys games more entertaining and fast paced. But I went to watch the Mercy girls play at the beginning of the season and I have to say I enjoyed watching them. I had only been in Middletown a couple of weeks prior to the Mercy game I went to when they played Lauralton Hall in the Mercy Christmas Classic. I saw the Tigers take the court and I saw that none of them were over six feet tall and none had a lot of girth to them. I didn't think these girls looked like your typical female basketball players.
The game commenced and boy was I wrong. Sadie Edwards is one of the best guards I have seen in quite a long time including my high school years of playing. I couldn't believe that although Amber Bepko is about 5'8" or 5'9" she played like she was 6'2". Bepko scored 29 points that night. I found myself actually enjoying a girls basketball game. Maybe because the Tigers defy the rules of what typical basketball players should look like or the fact that most of the girls are sophomores, minus Amber Bepko being the only senior on the team. Although Bepko will be gone for the 2012 season, the Mercy Tigers should remain a threat for the years coming due to all of the underclassmen that are making strides on the court.
I was not able to attend the Quinnipiac finals but when the news came in that Mercy had lost, I was shocked to say the least. Maybe my hometown biased got the best of me but I couldn't imagine another team being better than the Tigers.
Even though Mercy has lost the SCC finals, they have a bigger title that they could possibly win: The state title. Mercy being ranked no. 2 (Trumbull is ranked no. 1) has a bye week and start the state tournament on March 4 at home in Middletown. I think Mercy has an excellent shot to redeem themselves and take home the biggest title of them all. Although these girls have not won anything yet, I believe what this town already knows, Mercy is the best girls basketball team in the state.