High School Basketball: Our Lady of Mercy Pulls Away at the End Saturday, February 18, 2006 By Susan Hall SJSports Special Correspondent For three full quarters, both the Lady Villagers from Our Lady of Mercy Academy and Oakcrest battled each other on the basketball court and neither team was able to open up a large lead. Back and forth these two teams went taking turns at regaining the lead. Oakcrest's Whitney Walker was a problem for OLMA's defense the entire game, but down the stretch the Villagers' offense would be successful at aggressively attacking the basket. Expanding on their one point lead, OLMA outscored the Falcons by eight to pick up the 55-46 win at the Ventnor City Shootout girls' basketball tournament. The Lady Falcons would maintain a two point lead after one quarter only to find themselves trailing 28-24 at halftime. Walker's dominance inside drew a lot of attention by the Villagers' defense, but she would still find a way to convert on her shot attempts. Trailing by a single point at the start of the fourth quarter, Oakcrest would score the first basket of the quarter to regain their lead. But from that point on, Jamie Roller (15 points), Lauren Dandrea (12 points) and Jennifer Evans (10 points) led the Villagers on a run that opened up a double digit lead that they would be able to maintain. Whitney Walker (21 points) and Autumn Foreman (10 points) would lead Oakcrest in scoring. Photos by Mark Fletcher