2009 Title Game is Set:
Delcastle vs. Middletown
Final Four Review
by Jim Charles & Tom Dunn
March 13, 2009
Delcastle 55, Caesar Rodney, 46
“It was my goal for this season to come out and win the State Championship. We knew we had a strong team and that it was possible to reach this goal.” That, according to Delcastle starter, Ashley Robbins, pretty much describes the mindset of her and her teammates.
Caesar Rodney’s Girls Varsity has been a cause celeb of the downstate fan all year. And certainly, the Riders rode into The Bob Carpenter Center high off a strong 23 – 3 season that featured a lot to crow about. Not the least of which was Cortney Baynard scoring her 1,000th point and the team setting a new State Tournament single game scoring record of 95 points. And just the fact that they made it to the Final Four was a feat in itself considering how few Kent and Sussex Counties teams have traditionally survived that deep into the tourney. But on Wednesday night at The Bob, the Riders would run up against a Delcastle team that simply wouldn’t be denied. This night, there would be no 95 points. The Riders wouldn’t even amass half that many points. No C.R. player would even cobble together as many as 12.
The Lady Cougars, however, would live up to their billing, and key players would deliver as advertised. Senior phenom, Jaquetta May, would put together an historic performance scoring 25 points, pulling down 21 rebounds and blocking 5 shots. Big players come up big in big games. Supporting her monster effort were teammates Bianca Parker and Ashley Robbins. Robbins recorded 14 points, 6 boards, and led her team with 3 steals. She was, arguably, the best Delcastlian on defense. As for Parker, her 8 points and 12 rebounds were solid contributions to the Cougar gameplan.
For the Riders, point-guard, Baynard, would lead the way with 11 points, joined by Shalaya Nieves right behind her with 10, and Kelci Roberts with 8.
Was the game a blowout? Not at all. In fact, the entire first quarter saw both teams trading basket for basket and had the two squads deadlocked at 13, all, at the start of the 2nd. The pivotal minutes where the fate of the game turned were the 2nd and 3rd frames. In those 16 minutes, Delcastle would slap a 26 – 16 deficit on the Riders. And while Rodneyites would carry the 4th quarter, 17 – 16, they could not overcome the gap.
Over the course of the season, both teams established a track record of high-octane offenses where outputs in the 60s and 70s were not at all uncommon. Yet, in this Semi-Final, the score would be that of what one would expect from two average teams. But this is deceiving. C.R. shot just 23.9% from the field all game – a poor 16-for-67. And much of that can be laid at the doorstep of the tremendous Delcastle defense. When players like Parker, Robbins and May are hounding you, you tend to not take your best shot – to rush shots and to shoot from places on the court that wouldn’t be your first choice. When you hold a standout player like a Cortney Baynard to an average of just one basket from the field per quarter, you’re doing something right. And so, we go back to the words of Ashley Robbins, “It’s hard to stop us. We play good defense.” And when we asked her how she and the Cougars would approach the Finals Friday night, she kept it simple and to the point. “Just come in focused, play great defense, and hopefully, everything will come to us offensively.” Refreshing, in this day and age, to see a young hoops star putting defense first. Yet, it is just that very part of the game that may propel this team to the very top of the heap of girls’ ball in the First State.
So, Delcastle advances to the Finals. Next, we’ll tell the story of who will be there to meet them, the Middletown Cavaliers.
Middletown 54, Ursuline 49
What an interesting game this was. One team used 10 players before the night was out. The other stayed with the starting five all night long without a substitution. One team was in the Semi-Finals because their record and their roster dictated as much. The other was a team not expected to do much this season. In fact, over their first 8 games, it looked like they would fulfill most of the prophecies, going 3 – 5 over that timeframe. The surprise team – the team that really had two very different seasons this year – is Ursuline Academy. And the other team – the one that did what they were supposed to and did not fail to get to The Bob – is Middletown High School.
Over the course of the first two quarters, the game was a tight as could be, tied at 9 – 9 after the 1st, and with M’town up 21 – 20 going into the break. Even the two lineups’ go-to girls, UA’s Kelley Doogan and Middletown’s Chelsea Davis, were putting up very similar numbers.
Coming out of the locker rooms, though, it looked like UA might have benefited from an adjustment or two. They were better by three in the 3rd frame, thereby taking a two-point lead into the last quarter. Neither team, seemingly, could put any real space between them and their opponents. Everything would be on the line in the 4th quarter.
What separates a very good player from a great one? I would argue two things: Consistency and the ability to come up big in pressure, big game situations. The 4th quarter of a tight Final Four game at the premier venue for basketball in the State of Delaware would provide all the requisite pressure. And Middletown’s Chelsea Davis would be the player who responded. Accruing an amazing 15 of her game leading 31 points in the last 8 minutes, Davis added her good natured “So there!” to the earlier great performance by Delcastle’s Jaquetta May. This singular effort carried the Lady Cavs to a 54 – 49 victory and ended the Cinderella story for the Raiders.
All of this sets up a May vs. Davis confrontation with nothing less than the State Title up for grabs Friday night.
Outstanding efforts for the Ursulinians included Kelley Doogan (16 points, 12 rebounds), Kelsey Miller (10 points, 8 rebounds), Mary Kate Williams (8 points, 5 steals), and Briana Collins, (8 points, 5 rebounds). Coach Noonan would ensure appearances in this game by every non-freshman on his roster (less Laura McHugh), giving all a look at the future of his program.
For Middletown: Chelsea Davis (31 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks), Ashleigh Bond (12 points, 5 steals), Britney Agostini (6 points, 4 steals, 4 rebounds).
On a personal note, this game marked the final high school game in the career of Ursuline’s Kelley Doogan, a player I helped coach in AAU for two years, and who today, I can truly call “a friend.” No matter what was going on in her life, Kelley was always there with a warm smile and friendly greeting every time I saw her. Kelley made it easy to root for Ursuline. Going to UA games in the future will, for me, never be the same. Good luck at St. Francis, Kelley!
Pics from the Semi-Finals
Kelci Roberts is being defended nicely by Maria Talarowski.
And while we're on defense, CR's Jazmine Reeves is seen here with a tough assignment: Jaquetta May.
Delcastle's Tom Quann shouts out instructions.
Former iPOW winner and 1,000 point scorer, Cortney Baynard (with ball) is being shadowed by perhaps the best defender in the Final Four, Ashley Robbins.
Delcastle's Jaquetta May about to make a sling pass.
CR coach, Bill Victory.
Kelci Roberts with a shot.
Lady Cougar, Lindsay Hsu, protects the ball from the eager Monique Miller.
Ashley Robbins didn't give us long answers when we interviewed her, preferring to let her minutes on the court do the talking.
When teammate and starting point-guard, Morgan Taylor, suffered a season-ending injury earlier this year, Chelsea Davis often was called upon to bring the ball up (along with her many other duties). Mary Kate Williams is shown in pursuit.
Ashleigh Bond's scoring output (12 points) was a key supporting effort to Davis' 31 that put Middletown over the top. UA's Austin Noonan is to the left. In her 14 minutes of game time, she would come up with 5 points (2 on an impossible angle prayer), a steal and a rebound.
The story of the night, of course, was Chelsea Davis. Here, she introduces herself to Ursuline's Kelsey Miller.
Briana Collins had a tough time with her shot from the floor (just 3-for-17, overall), but with a three thrown in and a good performance from the line, she contributed 8 points to the Raiders' cause.
Tiana Cuttino (#12) has her layup attempt batted away by Kelley Doogan.
Chelsea has what everyone else wants. By Saturday morning, she may have a State Title as well.
Sophomore, Audra Cranston, was a superb fill-in player for the Raiders all year long. She'll vie for a starting role next November.
Davis and Miller battle for the rock.
Just a soph, the 5' 10" Mary Kate Williams logged 31 out of a possible 32 minutes in the semis.
Kelley Doogan hitting her last high school layup.
*** We will gladly correct any mis-IDs or mis-spellings. ***