Bits and Pieces 25 

   There will be an all Catholic Conference girl's basketball championship on Monday night at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark. St. Marks will take on Ursuline at 7 p.m.
   The number one ranked team in the state, both here and at the News Journal, the Caravel Buccaneers fell to the Spartans 36-28. The Raiders of Ursuline topped Caesar Rodney 64-48.
   Ursuline actually trailed Caesar Rodney at one point early in the game 2-0. That was the score for about three minutes of the first quarter. The Riders also held a two point edge later in the quarter, but they were no match for the 17-8 Raiders. 
   Freshman forward Kate Mills scored 20 points on 9-15 shooting from the field combining with Alexis Henderson, who had 20 points, for 40 by themselves. Those two forwards and Eileen Webster provided the defense and rebounding that the Riders prior victims in the tournament just didn't have to deal effectively with Rider 6'1" center Erika Woods. Woods still managed to score 20 points to lead all Riders in scoring.
  The first half was played much tighter by both teams but perhaps there was some apprehension on the court. In Caesar Rodney's case, the girls basketball team was trying to make it to the finals for the first time in school history. That was pressure enough for them. The Raiders held the Riders to 5-25 shooting from the floor while they poured in 11 out of 26 to take a 24-13 half-time lead.
  Both teams opened up their games a little in the second half, but again it was Ursuline who scored a higher percentage of their shots helping them cruise towards the finish line.
  The Raiders were last in the finals just two years ago when they lost to Padua. Their last championship banner was won in 1995 against Sussex Central under then-head coach Joe Pennell who was also present at the Carpenter Center in a semifinal game this evening.
   Pennell's Bucs scored just two points in the first quarter against St. Marks who brought their double A defense with them. But the Bucs are also a solid defensive team and the Spartans only entered the second quarter with six of their own points. 
   Michelle Albanese, the Spartan point guard and player of the year last year in Delaware, had a shadow on her for most of the game. The shadow had a name and it was Davineia Payne. Watching both those players handle the ball and try to out maneuver each other was fun. They did essentially cancel each other out; Albanese scored 14 points and Payne 10. 
  The real key for the Spartans was putting a blanket over the Bucs Tiara Malcom, and it was done effectively by John Fiorelli's gang. Coupled with the decision not to get into a track meet with Caravel, the Spartans only allowed Caravel to take 36 shots in the game and they only got off three 3-pointers, and that included the last 2-3 minutes when the Bucs needed to shoot a whole bunch of them in order to win. Malcom was held to 10 points and only shot 3-9 from the field. 
   With the lack of scoring, because of the tight defense, a 15-second period of time near the end of the third quarter sealed this game up for St. Marks. The Spartans took advantage of a Caravel point guard change and Albanese came up with a steal, one of five in the game, and a breakaway layup. Lindsay Hageman did the exact same thing on the next rush down court by the Bucs giving St. Marks a ten-point margin going into the fourth quarter that all those in Camera Row at the Bob agreed was going to be insurmountable. 
   This wasn't the same St. Marks team that most schools had seen lose a few games in the front part of their schedule. Earlier in the year they were down a key forward and the lack of height cost them a few games in the conference. Kristen Sullivan was the guard who was out for a while with back trouble, but when she returned to the lineup, the 5'10" junior gave them the body they needed underneath. She was key defensively in this game as well. 
   Also playing a big defensive role for St. Marks was sophomore Christine Armstrong. She had a couple of steals, a blocked shot and seven rebounds while doing most of the defending on Malcom. 
   The half-time score was only 15-11. Not only did both teams not take many shots, they didn't make many either. St. Marks shot 13-44 for 29% and Caravel was only 11-36 for 30%. 
   St. Marks looks to repeat as Delaware State Girls Basketball Champion on Monday against Ursuline. If the Spartans win, it would give Coach Fiorelli his fifth title. The Spartans were also the last team to repeat as champion when they won in 96 and 97. In that 96 game, the Spartans opponent was the Raiders with Joe Pennell as the head coach. 
  Ursuline bounces back from a second-round elimination last year. The play of Kate Mills and Eileen Webster to compliment Alexis Henderson was the difference. Sarah Boltz is scrappy and a good ball-handler in the same type of mold as Albanese but she doesn't score as much. 
  Monday night will be the fourth time this year that these two teams meet. Ursuline won the first game on January 4. St. Marks won the rematch ten days later and then again February 8. 

Marshal Manlove