By Chris Stevens, Editor
The girls’ final four is upon us, with one very exciting rematch and a worthwhile matchup on the other side of the bracket. Let’s preview tonight’s games.
Both games start at 6:30 pm, check each school’s Websites4Sports page for streaming info.
No. 1 St. Elizabeth (13-0) vs. No. 4 Caravel (10-5)
How they got here: St. Elizabeth defeated Hodgson 73-35 in Round 2, Caesar Rodney 72-39 in Round 3 and Mount Pleasant 67-34 in quarterfinals. Caravel defeated Red Lion 61-16 in Round 2, Wilmington Friends 47-33 in Round 3 and Ursuline 42-41 in quarterfinals.
Key players: St. Elizabeth – Naia Pulliam, Olivia Lynch, Rory Cizskowski, Farrah White. Caravel – India Johnston, Jasiyah Crawford, Anaya Price, Taylor Wilkins.
Outlook: St. E’s 59-58 overtime win at Caravel February 11 is the leader for Game of the year by far. Can these two teams replicate that same excitement? They certainly have the talent to do so as no less than three Player of the year candidates (St. E’s Pulliam and Lynch, Caravel’s Johnston) will be on the floor tonight.
The supporting cast will be big for both teams. The Vikings can count on three-point bombs from Rory Cizskowski and a mix of outside shooting and drives to the bucket from Farrah White. The same applies for Caravel with Jasiyah Crawford and Anaya Price. The difference in this matchup could be the Bucs have their best defender Taylor Wilkins in the starting lineup for this go-round.
Should be another exciting matchup, especially with so much on the line.
No. 3 Sanford (15-1) vs. No. 10 Woodbridge (14-3)
How they got here: Sanford defeated Wilmington Christian 71-19 in Round 2, Tatnall 60-35 in Round 3 and Archmere 64-25 in the quarterfinals. Woodbridge defeated Lake Forest 67-15 in Round 2, Cape Henlopen 47-41 in Round 3 and Delmarva Christian 70-64 in the quarterfinals.
Key players: Sanford – Dallas Pierce, Zy Kilgoe, Amiya Carroll, Abby Meredith. Woodbridge – Janeira Scott, Cha’Kya Johnson, Sierra Smith, De’Asya Jones, Reghan Robinson.
Outlook: The Blue Raiders’ have taken care of business in advancing to the first final four in school history, but business picks up tonight in Hockessin. The Warriors may be young, but their talent level and coaching, to the surprise of no one, has them one step away from the state championship game.
Guard play will rule the day as Janeira Scott runs the show and her outside shooters (Smith/Robinson/Jones) will need to be on to clear the post for Cha’Kya Johnson, likely the best pure post player Sanford will face this season.
The Bridge will have to slow Dallas Pierce and Zy Kilgoe, no easy task as this tournament’s games have shown. Everything else has gone right for Woodbridge in this tournament, how they respond to a Sanford run will determine their chances as the game progresses.
