Rams-Lightning Warm-Up
April 19 & 20, 2008
Delaware Lady Sharpshooters, 15U
April 23, 2008
by Jim Charles
The Delaware Lady Sharpshooters 15U team is one that I've had on my "to do" list since Ursuline finished cutting down the nets at The Bob. Ably coached by John Armstrong and Kirsten Patton, I knew to expect a certain level of quality and competitiveness. Coach Armstrong was the last coach to lead Padua Academy to a State Title, and Coach Patton was a star player for the same school.
I was treated to three of the team's games this weekend. And yet, after 96 minutes of basketball, I'm hardly any closer to truly understanding this team. And that's a compliment. I can't figure out where to focus my attention. All of the girls play well, but no one girl stands out as being any demonstrably better than her teammates. Even when talking to Coach Patton, I asked just who to keep an eye on. I was then given a list of half a dozen girls! But that's just how this team is.
Of course, any review of a team is going to begin at the point. Most of the 1-guard minutes go to Christiana frosh standout, Cari Calloway. While understandably a little rough around the edges, given her youth, Cari has a fantastic attitude and goes all-out at both ends of the court. She's a good floor general who will only improve with experience.
Jade Wharton is a player who can put points on the board. She threw down 18 over the two games on Sunday, including a team high of 12 in a tough loss to the Tri-State Tarheels.
A recap of the weekend shows mixed results:
A 64 - 50 loss to the New Jersey Lady Blue Devils
A 45 - 38 win against South Jersey Girls & Boys Club
A 41 - 28 loss to the Capitol Chaos
A 35 - 29 loss to the Tar Heels
As I headed back to Delaware on Sunday night, I knew that I required seeing more of this team to give them their proper due. I hope to catch up with them before too long and check out their progress.
Tourney Pics
Point guard Cari Calloway
Nikki Lyles on defense.
Jade Wharton is a hard-nosed player who knows how to put the ball in the hoop.
Ashley Smith
Zakiya Garland takes it up hard to the hoop.
Coach Kirsten Patton imparting knowledge to her point guard.
Other Delaware Teams:
*** The purpose of this page, like the rest of this site, is to promote girls basketball in the State of Delaware. This is hard to do if individual players cannot be singled out.
However, I will honor all requests by players or parents to remove their/their daughters' names and/or images from this review. I will also gladly correct any misspelled names, or add names where now I list only a player uniform number. Just email me. *** DelGirlsHoops@aol.comJim Charles