'The Game' Won By Mercy

By: Keith Mills

Bola Jacqueline Banjo, "B.J." for short, stood at the foul line with nearly 4,000 fans screaming in her ear. At stake wasn't a berth in the NCAA Tournament or a high school state championship, but a victory in what is known is simply as "The Game."

Banjo made the shot and three other free throws down the stretch and scored 26 points as Mercy beat the Institute of Notre Dame in the 2002 version of "The Game." Three years later Chandrea Jones drove through, around and sometimes over the Mercy defense as the Indians won.

Jones went on to help Odessa College win last year's Junior College National Championship and is now a junior at Syracuse. Banjo went on to East Tennessee State, where she led the Bucaneers in scoring in 2005 and was named to the All-Atlantic Sun Conference first team.

Both are two of the notable alumnae of “The Game,” which celebrated its 42nd anniversary last Friday night before 3,500 fans at the Towson Center. And it is clearly more than just a game. Students from both schools dress in IND blue and Mercy red, carrying signs and screaming virtually the entire game while alumnae come back to celebrate what is one of the highlights of the high school basketball season.

Mercy coach Mary Ella Marion is a member of the Loyola College Hall of Fame. She played in this game back in the mid-'70s and now so has her daughter. Sophomore Maggie Marion hit the first shot of the game last Friday and helped the Magic win, 44-28, and raise their record to 15-3.

Issue 3.5: January 31, 2008