Second in a series of occasional articles on the area's top high school rivalries.
When the Institute of Notre Dame and Mercy hit the basketball court tonight, the noise will be so deafening that coaches will have to resort to signs or hand signals, and the players will struggle to calm butterflies the size of turkeys.
The 42nd annual meeting between the schools at the Towson Center at 7:30 is expected to sell out for the 16th time in 17 years, with more than 4,300 fans creating a boisterous, pulsating sea of blue on IND's side and of red on Mercy's.
No girls state or league championship can match the intensity of the annual IND-Mercy game, and the outcome of the contest can make or break a season.
And it all happened by accident.
In the mid-1960s, Mercy's main rival was Seton (which closed its North Charles Street campus in 1988 and merged with Archbishop Keough). They played for three years at the Civic Center (now 1st Mariner Arena) before Baltimore Bullets games. In 1966, however, administrators for both schools decided the rivalry was getting a bit too intense, so they opted for new opponents.
Sister Mary Anne Smith, Mercy's alumnae director who has been at the school for 40 years, explained that it was a different world, especially for girls sports, back then.
"All I remember hearing was that the behavior of the fans on both sides was beginning to get a little out of hand. But remember, this is the '60s. What was considered undesirable then would be mild today," Smith said.
Kathleen (Feinour) Shannon, who played for Mercy in the final Seton game and the first IND game, agreed that nothing really happened.
"I think in those days, the game was becoming larger than they thought it should become. Now, the bigger, the better," Shannon said.
In 1967, a new rivalry took off when Mercy began playing IND before Bullets games. The game steadily grew in intensity and attendance, but the Civic Center was just too big, so it was moved to Loyola High School and Mount St. Joseph before landing at UMBC in 1975.
In 1985, it moved to Loyola, closer to the two schools, but it outgrew Reitz Arena and moved to the Towson Center (4,352 capacity) in 1997.
Now known as "The Game," it has sold out all but once since 1992. In 1997, snow forced the game to move from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, cutting down the gate.
Over the years, The Game has become the focal point for weeklong spirit campaigns at the schools. Each has daily events that build to pep rallies and a crescendo of school spirit at the game, which includes a long halftime show featuring cheerleaders from both schools and Mercy's dance team.
"It builds an enormous sense of school spirit and it pulls people together," said Linda King, former IND athletic director. "All the alumnae that show up for this game - it means a lot to a lot of people."
Players, coaches and administrators - past and present - give many reasons why this game developed into such a big-ticket event: love for their schools, many local alumnae, hard work by coaches and athletic directors and the growth of girls sports in general.
"Mercy and IND didn't have any kind of distinction between the two of them to be rivals," said Karen (Darowski) Gephardt, captain of the IND team in the first Mercy game. "We don't necessarily vie for the same kids who come to the schools. It just became this basketball rivalry. It's like Calvert Hall and Loyola have the big Thanksgiving [football] game and Poly and City used to have a big game. This became the big game for girls."
Now, it's tradition.
"I don't think other schools around us realize how big it is and how passionate we are about The Game, " IND junior Caitlin Bopp said.
Both schools also take pride in the fact that the rivalry is intense, but not mean-spirited.
"Even though it is a very intense rivalry between the schools, I think we [both] really set a great standard for the sportsmanship that's displayed in the game," said Mary Ella (Franz) Marion, who played for Mercy and has coached the Magic for 24 years.
When it comes to The Game, rankings and records often mean nothing. There have been several upsets in the series that Mercy, which won last year after four straight losses, leads, 25-16.
Having played together in the Catholic League and now the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference, the teams meet twice a season, but only one of the games is designated as The Game.
"The biggest challenge as far as coaching," IND coach Tully Sullivan said, "is getting them in focus. It's a new experience, that whole emotional adrenaline charge."
Most of the players realize how unique The Game is.
"I know I will probably never play in another game like this ever," Mercy senior Khadija Mitchell said. "You see the whole entire school cheering for you. You feel good because everyone appreciates you no matter if you're winning or losing."
Even for the girls who go on to good Division I schools, many will never play in such a charged atmosphere again.
Chandrea Jones, an IND graduate now starting for Syracuse, is an exception. Last week's game against No. 1 Connecticut set an attendance record for women's basketball at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse with 4,221.
"When we played against UConn, it was the same kind of atmosphere," Jones said. "It does help [to play in the Mercy game], because with all the fans, it's overwhelming and it prepares you for what you might see in college."
For some players, there is a family connection to their school and to the game, but it's stronger than most for Marion's daughter, Maggie, a Mercy junior.
"It's like a dream for me to play in it," Maggie Marion said. "I remember sitting on the end of the bench and I would wave down to my mom with my pom-poms and I was dressed in my red turtleneck."
While seeing her daughter on the court adds another dimension of emotion to the game for Mary Ella Marion, she can't wait for the game every year.
"It never gets old. For me as a coach, it's the most exciting thing I'll ever be involved with. Of course playing for a championship is great, but those are few and far between. I can always count on this game being very, very special every single year."
katherine.dunn@baltsun.com
When the Institute of Notre Dame and Mercy hit the basketball court tonight, the noise will be so deafening that coaches will have to resort to signs or hand signals, and the players will struggle to calm butterflies the size of turkeys.
The 42nd annual meeting between the schools at the Towson Center at 7:30 is expected to sell out for the 16th time in 17 years, with more than 4,300 fans creating a boisterous, pulsating sea of blue on IND's side and of red on Mercy's.
No girls state or league championship can match the intensity of the annual IND-Mercy game, and the outcome of the contest can make or break a season.
And it all happened by accident.
In the mid-1960s, Mercy's main rival was Seton (which closed its North Charles Street campus in 1988 and merged with Archbishop Keough). They played for three years at the Civic Center (now 1st Mariner Arena) before Baltimore Bullets games. In 1966, however, administrators for both schools decided the rivalry was getting a bit too intense, so they opted for new opponents.
Sister Mary Anne Smith, Mercy's alumnae director who has been at the school for 40 years, explained that it was a different world, especially for girls sports, back then.
"All I remember hearing was that the behavior of the fans on both sides was beginning to get a little out of hand. But remember, this is the '60s. What was considered undesirable then would be mild today," Smith said.
Kathleen (Feinour) Shannon, who played for Mercy in the final Seton game and the first IND game, agreed that nothing really happened.
"I think in those days, the game was becoming larger than they thought it should become. Now, the bigger, the better," Shannon said.
In 1967, a new rivalry took off when Mercy began playing IND before Bullets games. The game steadily grew in intensity and attendance, but the Civic Center was just too big, so it was moved to Loyola High School and Mount St. Joseph before landing at UMBC in 1975.
In 1985, it moved to Loyola, closer to the two schools, but it outgrew Reitz Arena and moved to the Towson Center (4,352 capacity) in 1997.
Now known as "The Game," it has sold out all but once since 1992. In 1997, snow forced the game to move from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, cutting down the gate.
Over the years, The Game has become the focal point for weeklong spirit campaigns at the schools. Each has daily events that build to pep rallies and a crescendo of school spirit at the game, which includes a long halftime show featuring cheerleaders from both schools and Mercy's dance team.
"It builds an enormous sense of school spirit and it pulls people together," said Linda King, former IND athletic director. "All the alumnae that show up for this game - it means a lot to a lot of people."
Players, coaches and administrators - past and present - give many reasons why this game developed into such a big-ticket event: love for their schools, many local alumnae, hard work by coaches and athletic directors and the growth of girls sports in general.
"Mercy and IND didn't have any kind of distinction between the two of them to be rivals," said Karen (Darowski) Gephardt, captain of the IND team in the first Mercy game. "We don't necessarily vie for the same kids who come to the schools. It just became this basketball rivalry. It's like Calvert Hall and Loyola have the big Thanksgiving [football] game and Poly and City used to have a big game. This became the big game for girls."
Now, it's tradition.
"I don't think other schools around us realize how big it is and how passionate we are about The Game, " IND junior Caitlin Bopp said.
Both schools also take pride in the fact that the rivalry is intense, but not mean-spirited.
"Even though it is a very intense rivalry between the schools, I think we [both] really set a great standard for the sportsmanship that's displayed in the game," said Mary Ella (Franz) Marion, who played for Mercy and has coached the Magic for 24 years.
When it comes to The Game, rankings and records often mean nothing. There have been several upsets in the series that Mercy, which won last year after four straight losses, leads, 25-16.
Having played together in the Catholic League and now the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference, the teams meet twice a season, but only one of the games is designated as The Game.
"The biggest challenge as far as coaching," IND coach Tully Sullivan said, "is getting them in focus. It's a new experience, that whole emotional adrenaline charge."
Most of the players realize how unique The Game is.
"I know I will probably never play in another game like this ever," Mercy senior Khadija Mitchell said. "You see the whole entire school cheering for you. You feel good because everyone appreciates you no matter if you're winning or losing."
Even for the girls who go on to good Division I schools, many will never play in such a charged atmosphere again.
Chandrea Jones, an IND graduate now starting for Syracuse, is an exception. Last week's game against No. 1 Connecticut set an attendance record for women's basketball at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse with 4,221.
"When we played against UConn, it was the same kind of atmosphere," Jones said. "It does help [to play in the Mercy game], because with all the fans, it's overwhelming and it prepares you for what you might see in college."
For some players, there is a family connection to their school and to the game, but it's stronger than most for Marion's daughter, Maggie, a Mercy junior.
"It's like a dream for me to play in it," Maggie Marion said. "I remember sitting on the end of the bench and I would wave down to my mom with my pom-poms and I was dressed in my red turtleneck."
While seeing her daughter on the court adds another dimension of emotion to the game for Mary Ella Marion, she can't wait for the game every year.
"It never gets old. For me as a coach, it's the most exciting thing I'll ever be involved with. Of course playing for a championship is great, but those are few and far between. I can always count on this game being very, very special every single year."
katherine.dunn@baltsun.com