The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Mercy romps in Class LL tourney quarterfinal
DeVille scores 18 points, Santoro 16 for Mercy
MIDDLETOWN — Bella Santoro and Meghan DeVille have a very special bond, created by the sport of basketball.
Since they were both in second grade, and started playing the game together, the Mercy seniors have been joined together as friends, teammates and dreamers.
On Monday night, playing on their home court for the final time, the two made sure Mercy got one step closer to its ultimate dream — a state championship season — with an easier-thanexpected 55-26 win over Norwalk in a Class LL quarterfinal.
DeVille scored 18 points while Santoro added 16 as the Tigers raced out to a big lead and never looked back.
“We came out with a bang and that’s what we wanted to do from the beginning,” Deville said. “We couldn’t have started any better.”
Looking ahead, second-seeded Mercy now gets third-seeded Trumbull, a 40-33 winner over Newtown, in the semifinals.
It was a 2-2 game when Deville scored in the low post to make it a 4-2 Mercy advantage.
When the 6-footer popped out to drain a 3-pointer from the top of the key, it capped a 14-0 Mercy run that moved the score to 16-2.
It was 20-8 after the first quarter and 36-10 by halftime as Mercy just buried the Bears.
“I thought we played great defense the whole first half,” Mercy coach Tim Kohs said. “We ran some good offenses, took some good shots and made them. That was the focus: To start the game well.”
The Tigers quashed any hopes of a Norwalk comeback by almost shutting the Bears out in the second quarter.
They used five Norwalk turnovers to rip off a 16-2 to put the game away by intermission.
Lexi Leon added 10 points to the winning effort, as the Tigers improved to 25-1.
Norwalk finished 19-5.
ONE THOUSAND TIMES TWO
Late in the third quarter, Deville grabbed her own offensive rebound, scored on the put back and was fouled.
She sank the foul shot for a conventional 3point play that put the center over the 1,000point mark for her car e e r.
The milestone matched a feat Santoro reached back on Feb. 12 in a win over Hamden.
“It’s amazing to have in the back of your pocket and in the back of your mind for some confidence,” Deville said. “But with the state tournament here, it doesn’t really matter. We want the state championship.”
NO-SHOW NORWALK
Norwalk coach Ricky Fuller found himself in an emotional tug-of-war postgame.
While he knew his team, which only had