Dilosa delivers for Pirates
Senior guard scores 23 as Merrillville remains unbeaten in DAC
Cailynn Dilosa’s bookends provided the support Merrillville needed in a Duneland Athletic Conference win at Michigan City on Tuesday.
The senior guard scored 23 points, including nine in both the first and fourth quarters, as the Pirates topped the Wolves 65-52.
Dilosa converted two 3-point plays in the fourth quarter as Merrillville (7-3, 4-0) sealed the game late against Michigan City (8-3, 2-1).
“When we get and-ones, we cheer each other on,” Dilosa said. “It makes us more hyped. It’s a bond thing.”
Michigan City committed 32 turnovers. Merrillville coach Amy Govert praised Dilosa and senior guard Torri Miller, the program’s career leader in steals, for spearheading the pressure.
“Our best offense is our defense. We're tough to guard when we play together,” Govert said. “We cause problems with our quickness.
“Dilosa and Miller are the quickest two guards this half of the state. If we can harness in and take some of the mistakes away, we’ll get to that level. They play so hard. That’s why we love them.”
Michigan City coach Mike Megyese offered a different perspective.
“We didn’t have a great game turnover-wise,” Megyese said. “But some of our passes, that has nothing to do with their pressure. That’s just us making bad passes. We knew they put pressure on — it’s in the scouting report — and they do a nice job of that. But we really were our own worst enemy.”
Merrillville has won seven straight games after an 0-3 start. But Govert said there’s room for improvement.
“We challenged them at halftime,” she said. “We’re a seniorheavy team. We had more unforced turnovers in the first half than we’ve had the last few games combined — and from our solid guards. They got in their heads instead of just calming down. In the fourth quarter, we told them to take a breath and calm yourselves.
“We’re better than that, and they know that. That’s why we’re a little fired up right now.”
Merrillville led 25-14 on SaMya Miller’s 3-point play with 5:45 left in the second quarter.
But Michigan City tied the score at 33-33 on Katelyn Halfacre’s layup with 5:28 left in the third and took a 37-36 lead on Jaden Smallwood’s basket with 3:55 left.
Halfacre’s 3-point play made it 41-36 with 3:20 left in the third, but Merrillville reclaimed the lead at 42-41 with 34 seconds left on Mya-Lee Jackson’s basket. Merrillville extended its advantage to 58-45 on Dilosa’s steal and layup with less than four minutes left in the game.
“We’re still trying to get our legs back. … We played a heck of a lot better than we did against Lake Station and Highland (in losses last week),” Megyese said. “We probably win both of those games if we played the way we did (Tuesday) up until a point.
“We were in position to take control of this game, and we gave it away. Once they seized control, they were able to hit some shots and use their quickness. Once our legs got a little bit tired it really showed up in the fourth quarter. … But Merrillville’s a good team, and they deserved to win.”
SaMya Miller had 12 points, and Jackson added 11 for Merrillville. Halfacre had 15 points to pace Michigan City, which has lost three of four games after starting 7-0. Trinity Thompson had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Smallwood scored 10 points before fouling out with 6:10 left.
Thompson, a Northern Kentucky recruit, scored a season low but still impressed Govert.
“We wanted to get it out of her hands and make the rest of the team try to beat us,” Govert said. “She’s such a great player.”