Vikings Take the State, 2007

March 5, 2007

The Khadijah Rushdan Era at St. Elizabeth High School has now come to a close after half a decade of thrills, chills and excitement. And, most importantly, it has come to an end amidst a team accomplishment – winning the State Title. Congratulations are very much in order to the Lady Vikings for finally unseating their arch-nemesis, Ursuline Academy.

For their part, Ursuline’s performance posed many questions with few answers. Elena Delle Donne clearly did not bring her A game. Senior Viking, Morgan McGill, deserves a truckload of credit for holding Delle Donne to just 15 points as the teams entered the 4th quarter. No Raider, aside from Delle Donne, would finish the game with double-digit points. This, of course, added up to an Ursuline offense that just couldn’t get going. Add to that St. E’s systematic ball protection and drawn-out possessions, and you have the recipe for a relatively easy Viking win.

I have no idea what head coach, Fran Burbidge, told his team during halftime, but at that very point, I myself was questioning Ursuline’s desire. They simply looked like a team guilty of aiding and abetting St. Elizabeth on their road to victory. The dominant, all-world Elena Delle Donne of 2006 simply could not conjure up the magic of last year’s Title Game performance. Nor could her teammates pick up the slack for her.

Winning titles is difficult. Repeating as champions is even more so. Ursuline’s basketball history is filled with both – so, in the end, they have nothing to be ashamed of. St. E’s earned the title – no two ways about it. And Morgan McGill should be Championship Game MVP.

End of an Era

No more Elena / Khadijah matchups. What will Delaware do? The upside of all the media frenzy over this superstar rivalry has been to inspire many, many local area girls to take up basketball, thereby creating more potential Elenas and Khadijahs among us. The downside is that the public, crazed as they were for tickets to any St. E’s/Ursuline game over the last 4 years, couldn’t care less about the rest of girls high school ball in the State. As proof, the News Journal even featured a recent article about spectator apathy at most girls games. Why is this bad? Well, for one thing, so many girls at so many schools work their tails off to be the best players they can be and to help their own teams achieve greatness. Their effort is no less than Khadijah’s or Elena’s, but nobody seems to care. Then again, it’s much the same way with women’s ball in the NCAA (once you go deeper than the top 5 or 10 teams in the nation) and the WNBA. Matchups between the worst teams in the NBA will often times sellout, yet, WNBA playoffs are often marked by empty seats in the arena. This is due to a society that has never taken women’s athletics seriously. Progress has been made over the last 30 years or so, but there’s still so far to go. Anyway, my point is, Delaware – next year, get up off your butts and go to a Padua game, or a Charter game, or a Glasgow game, or an Archmere game, or any other of the 50 or so high schools in the State.. There are athletes worthy of your support playing on all these teams. Go out and root for them!

DelGirlsHoops@aol.com

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Caravel Goes to The Bob

Bucs 45, Spartans 42

March 1, 2007

In November, I came out with my own pre-season Top Ten (archived on this website). After last night’s game results, I am proud to say that I seemed to have gone four-for-four. Anyone can pick St. E’s and Ursuline, but to get Sanford and Caravel correctly – back in November – is pretty good guessing if I say so myself!

The game that propelled the Caravelians to the Final Four was the best game I’ve seen all year, and among the very best I’ve seen in the last three or four years. They had to get through a strong, overachieving St. Mark’s squad in order to punch their ticket, but they accomplished the feat, not without a few scares along the way.

The game itself was a play in four acts – each of the four quarters. In the first quarter, St. Mark’s came out attacking the basket, but could get few shots to fall. Caravel, not as aggressive with their shot, nevertheless made up for things with their accuracy. They took a 9 – 5 advantage going into Act II.

In the second frame, the wheels came off the cart for the Lady Spartans. Caravel went on a 14 – 4 tear, taking a 23 – 9 lead going into halftime. By this point in the game, no less than six Lady Bucs had scored points, showing that this wasn’t going to be a one or two-girl show.

St. Mark’s has shown, time and time again, that they are a very tough, resilient third quarter team. This instance would be no different. The green and gold came out on fire after the break. Caravel watched helplessly as their seven bucket lead completely evaporated when St. Mark’s took a one-point lead on Jeanne Knowles’ (4 points on the night) ten-foot jumper with about forty seconds to go in the frame. Caravel answered with a deuce of their own, sending the game to the 4th quarter with the slimmest of leads, 31 – 30.

The final eight minutes were a study in intense, exciting, nerve-wracking basketball. Lots of credit to both teams for the all-out effort displayed. Coaches often say, "Play every game like it’s your last." Well, for St. Mark’s seniors, Christina Rivituso (7 points) and Jessica Calderone (13 points), it was. Both girls turned in solid performances and played it tough at both ends from tip-off to the final buzzer. In the end, Caravel prevailed, due largely to a very effective man-to-man defense and an almost error free offensive execution. Final score: Caravel 45, St. Mark’s 42.

It was plain to see the considerable improvement that Caravel has undergone since the opening bell in late November. Senior, Brittani Shells (16 points), credits head coach, Kristin Caldwell, for much of the change. "She [Caldwell] said, ‘Let’s take advantage of our [lack of] size. Because we’re small, we’re going to run.’" At the forefront of Caravel’s speed demons is sophomore, Dara Taylor (8 points). This player just gets better and better every time I see her. Along with the growth in her physical skills is a very noticeable positive development in her mental maturity on the court.

"We were prepared for this since the beginning of the season. We lost Charnelle Bacon due to health reasons, then everybody turned against us. They said, ‘They’re small. Don’t pay attention to Caravel.’ Everyone underestimated us. We were considered an underdog. It’s a very exciting win tonight. It doesn’t matter if you’re big or small."

On the team’s prospects at The Bob this coming weekend: "If we stay strong, if we have each others’ backs and battle every possession, any team is beatable, and that’s how we’re gonna look at it."

For Shells, the Xs and Os of the game are one thing, but there’s a factor even more important. "It’s heart. That’s what brought us through tonight."