After all, the two teams had met twice during the regular season, each winning by nine points on the visitor’s floor.
Mercy built an 11-8 lead on the strength of triples by a pair of sophomore sharpshooters, one by Sam Bauer and two by Allie Gorcyca.

Then Divine Child got over its “beginning jitters,” said Coach Mary Laney, and put together an 8-2 run in the closing two minutes of the first quarter, and continued with a 16-8 second quarter for a 34-22 halftime lead.

In that stretch, four different players hit triples in six attempts, including two by Rosanna Reynolds, who scored a dozen of her game-high 20 points in the first half, and a couple by a zoned-in Morgan Blair, who scored all of her 14 points in the first half.

“I felt confident about our defense,” said Laney, “but I was leery about our offense. When they started hitting their shots (the team was 12 for 18 in the first half), it felt good.”

Mercy’s coach Gary Morris was hoping for a quick start that lasted a lot longer than it did. “We were a half-step slow, not getting our hands up, digging a hole for ourselves. They shot well.”

The Marlins were forced to play perimeter ball. “Their size inside and the zone made a difference, too” Morris said.

Essential to Divine Child’s defense was “taking out” Mercy’s two top scorers, senior Candice Leatherwood (limited to nine points, all in the first half) and Gorcyca, a team-high 10.

The Falcons went on a 14-0 run from midway through the third quarter into about half of the last quarter to build 53-28 bulge. The CHSL championship is the fifth in Divine Child’s history, the first since 1999.

Divine Child is the defending Class B champion. “I don’t want to talk about that (the upcoming state tournament),” Laney said, “but we are definitely playing good basketball.”

The Falcons host their district beginning Feb. 27 against Melvindale. The winner will play Allen Park Cabrini two nights later.