Royals girls’ basketball wins ESIAC title
The third time was definitely the charm for the Delmarva Christian girls’ basketball team, as the Royals defeated Sts. Peter & Paul 53-42 to win the Eastern Shore Independent Athletic Conference championship Feb. 17. They lost to the Sabres 33-31 Dec. 20, but got revenge Jan. 23 with a reversed 33-31 score. The rubber match proved to be a classic.
Both teams started out strong, with the Sabres toughing out a three-point first-quarter lead 12-9. The Royals got their range in the second stanza, hitting for a 15-9 quarter to take a 24-21 lead into the halftime break. The Royals showed their grit, using high-pressure defense and on-target shooting to run away with the lead and hold on to garner their second consecutive ESIAC title.
Royals senior Bella Marinelli led the Royals with 20 points and three assists.
“I think we knew their game plan,” said Marinelli. “We worked on our man plays in practice, and it helped. We have so many threats offensively that we just had to step up our defense when we got in foul trouble.”
Eve Bohinski played big in the paint, covering ESIAC Player of the Year Avery McCall and holding the prolific scorer to just 13 points. The Royals junior tallied 10 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
Senior Layni Dukes played most of the game in foul trouble, but still managed 11 points and five steals.
“We were down seven in the fourth quarter the last time we played them, and came back and won,” said Dukes. “We just took the energy and the chip on our shoulder from that win and started this game with that energy and carried it through the game.”
Freshman Avery McCoy came off the bench to record nine points, two assists and a steal.
“Everybody contributed to this win,” said McCoy. “I feel a lot of hard work and God has always helped me push through the hard times, and I put it all on the court. I tried to step up a little more and play harder defense when Layni got her fouls.”
“I think we took what we learned from the first two games and utilized it in this game,” said senior Taylor Lowe. “We had a lot more energy tonight and we got ahead and kept it going.”
“We had a few good practices leading up to this game,” said Royals head coach Frank Roach. “We always had a tough mindset, but this week we really drilled it into them that it’s going to be tough and make sure [they were] ready for a real battle. Hitting our shots, a great attitude and great defense got us this win.”
Junior Lucy Rankin led the Sabres with 14 points.
