By Chris Stevens, Editor
The last two teams standing in the DIAA girls’ basketball tournament are arguably the best. And they’ll look to settle it once and for all tonight in the state championship game at Dover High at 6 pm.
Top seeded St. Elizabeth comes in with a record of 14-0, including a 62-57 win over No. 3 Sanford January 21st, a loss the Warriors look to avenge in picking up what would be their sixth state title. A win for the Vikings would also be their sixth state championship. Let’s set the scene for tonight’s big matchup.
No. 1 St. Elizabeth (14-0) vs. No. 3 Sanford (16-1)
How they got here: St. Elizabeth defeated Hodgson 73-35 in Round 2, Caesar Rodney 72-39 in Round 3, Mount Pleasant 67-34 in the quarterfinals and Caravel 56-35 in the semifinals. Sanford defeated Wilmington Christian 71-19 in Round 2, Tatnall 60-35 in Round 3, Archmere 65-24 in the quarterfinals and Woodbridge 64-39 in the semifinals.
Key players: St. Elizabeth – Naia Pulliam, Olivia Lynch, Rory Ciszkowski, Farrah White. Sanford – Dallas Pierce, Zy Kilgoe, Amiya Carroll, Abby Meredith.
Outlook: Tonight could be a championship game to remember. Two very talented, well-coached teams with similar styles will mix it up for a state championship. Sanford’s inexperienced showed through turnovers and defensive lapses in their January loss to St. E, but they haven’t lost a game since.
Marcus Thompson entrusts sophomore guards Dallas Pierce and Zy Kilgoe to set up the offense, either for junior Amiya Carroll on the wing, junior Abby Meredith from three-point range, or eighth-grader Jada Snow in the paint. Pierce and Kilgoe are also tough on the defensive end – Kilgoe is a quick, pickpocket defender who can turn steal into two points easily while Pierce is also a good perimeter defender and has shown the willingness to aid Snow and Carroll in crashing the boards.
Dan Cooney counters with good ol’ fashioned senior leadership, most notably Naia Pulliam at forward and Olivia Lynch at point guard. It’s a pick-your-poison situation with the Vikings’ dynamic duo – Pulliam can handle the ball on the perimeter and shoot from out there but can get to the line as well with post moves. Lynch is the spark for St. E, an aggressive defender and a confident, heady point guard who finds her teammates quite well, but has no problem creating offense for herself either.
The Vikings’ team defense was a marvel against Caravel Wednesday night and they’ll need more of the same tonight against a Sanford team where all five starters are capable of double figure scoring.
Neither team will rely much on their bench, so foul trouble could eventually sway the game to either side. St. Elizabeth gets a boost with the return of first year forward Ericka Huggins, who came up big in the semifinals, while Sanford has lone senior Audrey Holoveck for backcourt depth and sophomore Emma Martino at the forward spot.
Finally, there’s the fact these two could have met in the state championship game last season, but we’ll never know thanks to the pandemic. This year, there will be a resolution – two of the state’s storied and power programs will meet for the state championship. Should be a great one.
