By Chris Stevens, Editor
After a nip-and-tuck first half that saw his A.I. duPont Tiger girls shaking off a bit of game rust, head coach Robert “Lucky” Price had a simple explanation for his team’s reversal of fortune.
“We just started playing basketball,” Price said after a 25-23 halftime lead turned into a comfortable 58-39 win over No. 12 seed Seaford Friday night, helping the Tigers advance to the quarterfinals of the state tournament for the third consecutive year. “We were off for six days and that rust hurt us a little bit.”
“We learned how to play together today,” added senior guard Sydney Hilliard, who shared team leading scorer honors with Ny’Aijah Jackson with 14 points. “We’re excited and preparing for the next round.”
The Blue Jays (15-7) entered Greenville with an 11-game winning streak in tow and thanks to the play of juniors Amira Tingle and Kimyra Cornish-Baine early, they looked poised to make it 12. Cornish-Baine scored 9 first half points and Tingle added eight, including a floater that gave Seaford a 19-15 early in the second quarter.
The Tigers responded with a 10-4 burst to close the first half, keyed by a Jourdyn Henderson layup to give them the lead at halftime.
A.I. turned the pressure on the third quarter, outscoring Seaford 18-11 and were never seriously challenged the rest of the way. The Tigers now turn their attention to the quarters and Flight B rival Howard who shocked Padua 49-47 to advance to the quarterfinals.
“We’re going to play together and talk on defense,” said Jackson. “If we do that, that will help us out a lot.”
