third most in school history
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Second-seeded Rochester Mayo rallied from a a six-point deficit in the final four minutes to pull out a 47-42 win over the Tigers in a Section 1AAAA quarterfinal game Tuesday night in Rochester.
The loss moved the Spartans into the section semifinals against crosstown rival Rochester Century and closed the books on seventh-seeded Farmington's (6-20) season.
"We gave Mayo a game they weren’t expecting," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "Our team defense was a big factor. Our guards applied backcourt pressure, causing a number of turnovers and forcing them into rushed passes and our interior game packed it into the lane and held their bigs to only six points in that first half."
The upstart Tigers led 25-21 at intermission thanks to the defense and the scoring of senior Taylor Meyer who tallied 12 of her game total of 14 points before the break.
The contest remained close through most of the second half before things began to unravel late for the visitors.
"We were up by six with four minutes left and then for about a 90-second stretch we seemed to lose our focus," Chadwick said. "Taylor (Meyer) fouled out and that's when Ulsh (Mayo center Lauren) went to work.
"A couple of untimely fouls and turnovers and all of a sudden we were down by two. We hit a couple of three's down the stretch but Mayo was able to close it out with free throws."
Ulsh scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, most of them coming with Meyer on the bench with foul trouble.
Meyer led Farmington in scoring with 14 points and in rebounding with seven. Isis Alexander netted 11 and Sofia Chadwick finished with nine points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Mariah Mincke, who hit two late three-pointers, added eight points.
"Allie Rice, Desi Loftus, Dava White and Abby Gallus also gave us some quality minutes," Chadwick said. "All of them played solid defense.
"It was a great game and I'm proud of how we executed our game plan. This team has come a long way and it showed tonight."
Note: Meyer, who missed the first 10 games of her senior season after summer knee surgery, finished her four-year career with 1301 points, the third highest total by a girls' player in school history. Julie Bauer (1988) tops the list with 1438; Lisa Sowieja (1993) ranks second with 1317.
