Lady Vikings Rout Sanford, 44 - 25

Gilbert Takes First-Ever iPOW Award

December 22, 2007

by Jim Charles

The story of the ballgame.  Milana Gilbert's sensational defense of Jasmine Gibson.

When asked what she likes most about basketball, Milana Gilbert will tell you, "Having fun.  Just having fun."  Well, Gilbert must've had a lot of fun Friday night as St. Elizabeth's defeated Sanford in a battle between the defending State Champs and a defending Final Four team.

Oh, the score was competitive enough until halftime - Sanford only being down five points at the break.  But, like we've seen so many times before, the Lady Vikings own the third quarter.  Especially at home.  In that period alone, the Elizabethians put together a 19 - 6 run, posting an actual score of 36 - 18 going into the fourth.

So, what happened?  Sanford showed the pain of being without a point guard of the caliber of Paris Waterman, who graduated this past Spring.  Sophomore, Alexa Webb, while on the team last season, is nevertheless in her first year as a steady starter.  She is joined in the backcourt by another first year starter, freshman, Naiesha Brown.  While both girls show flashes of brilliance, their youth an inexperience at this level bubble up from time to time.  The only cure for this will be playing night in and night out.  By the end of the season, we'll all be talking about how good these two have become.

More than the guard play, however, it was the containment of Sanford's go-to girl, senior, Jasmine Gibson, that sealed the Lady Warriors' fate.  Gibson, normally a dominating presence underneath, just couldn't get anything going.  Blame this mostly on the brilliant defense of Milana Gilbert who drew Gibson as her personal defensive assignment most of the time that the two were playing.  Gilbert played an aggressive, fronting defense that effectively deterred Sanford ball carriers from even attempting to pass to Gibson.  It was physical all night between the pair, culminating in a late-in-the-fourth-quarter frustration forearm throw-down of Gilbert by Gibson.  The obvious foul went seen, but not whistled.  While it wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome of the game itself, every game should be called straight up by the officials.  Gilbert was hand checking like crazy, but did nothing to deserve being knocked to the floor on purpose.

Bright spot for Sanford had to be the steady, keep-your-chin-up play of senior forward, Jamie Milliski (pictured at left).  Milliski played mature, determined, and most of all, intelligent every quarter - no matter the score.  If she's not already, she should be a team captain.  Allison Kenney seemed to take her cue from Milliski, trying to blend her own game with her teammate's.  Otherwise, there wasn't a whole lot to say about Sanford.

For St. E's, offense came from Joy Rutland (13 pts.), Alex Massado (9 pts.), Amanda Craig (7 pts.), and Symone Woody (5 pts.).

Joy Rutland (#4, left) was deservingly honored in a pre-game ceremony for scoring her 1000th point in the team's prior game.  And, in a move reminiscent of a celebrity talk show walk-on, none other than Khadijah Rushdan herself appeared in the gym sometime during the game.  It's nice to see that she still checks in with her old team!

More Milana

On how she got her start:

I first started playing at 7 or 8 at the Western YMCA.  It was a developmental league where you get used to the rules and how to play.  Later, I played at the Boys & Girls Club, and then, I just branched out from there.

 

Her biggest influence:

My parents because they really pushed me to do what's right and to work hard at what you want.

 

On how much she loves the sport:

I like watching basketball.  It doesn't matter who's playing.  I watch NBA, WNBA, college - I even watch my brother play.

 

On what YOU should know about St. E's:

We are a building team.  We're working together.  Since Khadijah went onto college, it's more on us now.  You know, it's gonna take five of us to accomplish what we did last year.

 

The keys to defeating Sanford:

Defense.  Shutting down Jasmine , trying to finish easy shots and free throws.  We made a lot of our free throws tonight.  (Lady Vikes made 14 out of 20 from the foul line.)

 

Her goal for this season:

Another State Title.

 

For all of her effort on this night, Milana Gilbert was awarded the very first-ever DGB.com iPOW Award.  For more on this, please go to the iPOW Award Section.

 

More images from the Game

Senior, Jamie Milliski, who led her team with 9 points.

St. E's senior & team co-captain, Amanda Craig enjoys a down moment with soph, Alexis Swarter.

Sanford guards, Alexa Webb (8 points) and Megan Brown prepare to defend.

Who said, "You can never go home"?!?  Khadijah Rushdan drops by the St. E's Center.

One of THE greatest players to ever put on a Sanford uniform,

assistant coach, Courtney Kendall (left).

St. E's head coach, Tom Ferrier.

Jim Charles