2008 Girls High School Summer League

Final Four Coverage

 

Consolation Division

St. George's 26, Archmere 24 (OT)

A.I. DuPont 33, Padua JV 21

 

Championship Division

Delcastle 46, Hodgson 35

Glasgow 44, Padua 30

 

Above, a full house takes in the Delcastle/Hodgson semi-final.

 

Final Four Night at the Hockessin PAL Building provided one and all with some good quality, enjoyable basketball.  There was the thrilling overtime game between St. George's and Archmere -- a game that gave us a glimpse of how good the Hawks are going to be this winter.  It also left Archmere fans with a lot of "What ifs."  Such as, what if Archmere had their starting point guard, Jenna DiNardo?  What if they had Hillary Fitz?  What if they were led that night by head coach Sheila DiNardo?  All 3 (and more) were not able to participate due to scheduling conflicts.  The evening was capped off on a high note.  Delcastle and Hodgson delivered 40 minutes of great basketball.  There were more people in attendance for this game than any other all year at the PAL Building.  Even Khadijah Rushdan was there!

 

In the so-called Consolation Bracket (I don't really like the name they've given it), A.I. Dupont took care of Padua JV rather handily by a 33 - 21 score.  Padua, a junior varsity squad composed of mainly freshmen, just could not work the ball inside against the Tigers.  The predictable result was that the Pandas were reduced to putting up Hail Marys from the 3-point arc.  Otherwise, Padua's own defense wasn't all that bad.  Top scorers for Padua included Victoria Boyd with 7, Jenn Pierce with 5 and Kasey Kirker with 4.  After the game Padua coach, Dennis Leizear had nothing but praise for his team.  "Almost all my players are freshmen.  To go to Final Four in a 12-team division with just one other JV team is a pretty good accomplishment.  I look forward to the winter season."

 

A.I. DuPont was a study in team play.  While they have players like Aimée Bouie, who can take over and dominate a game, against Padua, they chose to spread out the glory.  Bouie had 7 points, as did Maddie Morgan and Jamie Crawford.  Natalie Hyatt and Myesha Jones chipped in 4 each.  In all, 7 Tigers tallied points.  A.I. will face St. George's in the Final.

 

Speaking of the already alluded to St. George's / Archmere game, this was a real exciting contest.  St. George's plays a slam-bang, loosely structured game that fuels itself on determination, aggressiveness and speed.  There are no Elena Delle Donnes on this team.  No one star player that makes newspaper headlines.  What there is is a group of players that are like a swarm of mosquitoes.  They keep coming at you and coming at you no matter how much you try to swat them away.  I'm really impressed with the play of Haley and Casey Thomas, who have both come so far since I first saw them a couple of years ago in AAU.  Judy Ramirez has gotten attention on this site before, and she's getting more now.  Judy's funny.  I don't know that she means to be, but she is.  She is also good at basketball.  When she played for me as a 6th grader, I once asked her if she wanted to play high school ball.  She answered, "I don't know if I'll still be good then."  Well, Judy Ramirez has nothing to worry about.  Lastly, there's Keywanna Smalls, who also goes by "Kee."  Kee knows how to put the ball in the basket.  Her 13 points were exactly half of her entire team's offensive output!  Haley Thomas and Carly Mustarpha had 4 each.

 

As for Archmere, yes, they were missing key components of their machine.  Still, they soldiered on as best they could, and even had to stage a second half come-from-behind rally to send the game into OT.  Coming up big for the Auks were Ashlee Hale with 7 points and Caroline Kirkwood with 6.  DGB.com's reigning JV Player of the Year, Kelly Gimlett, who turned in a strong summer league season, struggled offensively with 4 points.

 

Switching over to the Championship Bracket, Glasgow jumped out to a 9 - 0 lead against Padua, and really never looked back.  One of our DGB.com Message Board users referred to the Lady Dragons as "dangerous", and who am I to argue?  Telisha Turner might be the best point guard in the State right now.  Whether looking to create for her teammates, or jamming it in herself, TT is simply explosive.  Maybe her initials should be TNT.  When she decides to dribble-drive to the hoop, nobody can stay with her.  And what a shot she has!  Anyway, she paced the Glasgowians with a dozen points.  Hot on her heels were Jazzlyn Grimes (11 points) and Carlise Brown (10 points).

 

Glasgow is Glasgow, and I give them their due.  However, Padua could have turned in a better game.  One player who could not have been better was Kristen Marbury, who rose to the challenge of having to replace injured point guard Kelly Johnson by turning in a 16-point effort.  This represented 53% of the Panda offense!  In fact, she was high scorer of the game -- even outpacing the illustrious Telisha Turner!  Marbury is making a strong case to Coach McCafferty to land Opening Day starting duties this winter.  Katie Jezyk had 8 and Brittany Newcomer put in 4 for Padua.

 

The Main Attraction of the night was, without a doubt, the much anticipated matchup between Delcastle and Hodgson.  Call it a Final within a Semi-Final.  And, perhaps, call it a sneak peek at the next DIAA State Championship Game.  No less than that.

 

When all the smoke cleared, Delcastle was on top, 46 - 35.  A strong 11-point margin of victory separated them from the Silver Eagles.  So, what happened?  Karena Puckham and her game-high 19 points happened.  Jaquetta May and her 16 points happened.  Those two Cougars alone amassed exactly as many points as Hodgson did!  Face it, everybody.  Delcastle has arrived.  They will be a major contender for the title this winter. 

 

Hodgson gave Delcastle a good game, and maybe on another night, they'd have won the thing.  But on this night, they got outperformed in most categories.  No one is a bigger fan of Hodgson point guard, Sironda Chambers, than me.  And, she did lead her team in scoring with 9 points.  But she's going to have to get up in the 15-point range in big games like this.  So is Ericka Furrowh.  She came away with 7 points, but should easily knock down twice as many.  Tiffany Anderson contributed 8 to the cause.  One item that put Hodgson in the hole right at the start was not being able to use injured player, Asha Jones.  Jones (a former iPOW winner) usually shares guard duty with Chambers, and she is a legitimate offensive threat in her own right, able to knock down 15 to 20 points on any given night.  Did her absence play a role in the outcome of the game?  We'll never know.

 

So, there it all is!  The summer league concludes Thursday night with two final games:  St. Georges vs. A.I. DuPont and Delcastle vs. Glasgow.  An all-star game is supposed to take place after the finals.  Should be fun!

 

A.I.'s Natalie Stanek looks to pass.

 

A.I.'s Jamie Crawford (in white, facing camera) passes over Padua JV players Shelby Henderson and Sara Weiss to teammate Sam Cilia (#5).

 

Maddie Morgan indicates with her fist just what offensive scheme the Lady Tigers will be running.

 

Kee Smalls brings it in for a layup and DGB.com was there!  Kee led all scorers with 13 points for the game.

 

I like Judy Ramirez!  Then again, I like falling off of subway platforms.  Actually, Judy is a great kid, funny kid, and a heck of a basketball talent.  St. George's is fortunate to have her.

 

If ever a basketball and a player were one, it's  Telisha Turner and whatever ball she's dribbling, passing, or shooting.

 

Glasgow's Telisha Turner puts it up from 12 feet out.  Contesting the shot with arms outstretched is Padua's Katie Jezyk (former iPOW winner).

 

This, I'm told, is Carlise Brown.  DGB.com is impressed with this young lady who seems to know her way around a basketball court.

 

Is she a guard?  Is she a forward?  Perhaps a center?  If it's Alyssa Cuomo, makes no difference where you put her.  She'll deliver.

Hodgson's Ericka Furrowh (#32) and Sironda Chambers (yellow shorts) try in vain to defend Delcastle's Jaquetta May.

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