Mercer Girls Fight Back, But Still Fall

Cardinals Erase Deficit, But Can’t Finish Comeback
The Mercer High School girls basketball team dug quite a hole for itself in the opening quarter of Saturday’s Class 1 state quarterfinal game in St. Joseph. Entering the fourth quarter, however, the Cardinals were back, right in the mix of things.
Ultimately, Mercer would not complete the comeback, falling 39-33 to Platte Valley. The loss ended another fantastic year for the Mercer program, but the comeback to give the Cardinals a chance over the final eight minutes proved representative of a team that finished the year with a 28-2 overall record.
A flat start proved costly, though as Mercer trailed Platte Valley 11-3 one quarter into the game. Mercer’s leading scorer, Tori Meinecke, was limited to a single point in the initial eight-minute stretch.
In the second quarter, though, Meinecke got going and so did the Cardinals. Meinecke scored nine of Mercer’s 11 points in the second quarter as the Cardinals trimmed the lead to five points. After the third quarter, Mercer was within two.
The final frame tipped back in Platte Valley’s favor though as the South Nodaway-Jefferson cooperative connected on 8-of-13 fourth-quarter free-throw attempts to fend off Mercer’s comeback bid.
Meinecke finished with a game-high 18 points to lead Mercer and also tallied 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Rainey Michael checked in with seven points and four steals in the loss. Mercer also got six points from Maddi Fisher and two points from Emma Shipley rounded out the Cardinals’ scoring.
Platte Valley had just three different players score in the contest, but 16 each from Maggie Collins and Jaclyn Pappert required little help from anyone else. Seven points from Brylie Angle rounded out the Platte Valley total and pushed the squad over the top and into the Class 1 Show-Me Showdown.
Platte Valley heads to Springfield as the defending Class 1 state champions.
Mercer was seeking its first bid to the Show-Me Showdown since 2017 when the Cardinals won their lone state championship and third final four overall.
The loss ended Meinecke’s career at Mercer, but not her basketball playing career. She is committed to North Central Missouri College, adding another weapon to a program that already expects to return the bulk of its current roster, which is national-tournament bound after region and district championships.