Caravel Girls Just Too Much for St. George’s

Caravel senior guard Dara Taylor (#2) goes in for a lay-up in Thursday night's opening round victory against St. Georges Tech. Taylor led all scorers with 22 points. (Photo by Rob Tornoe)

Caravel's Janell Dunham sinks a jump shot during Thursday night's action. Dunham finished with 6 points.(Photo by Rob Tornoe)

In opening round action of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association’s girls basketball tournament, the #9 seed Caravel Buccaneers (13-10) swept aside the visiting #24 seed St. George’s Tech Hawks (12-11) by a score of 68-27.

And it wasn’t even that close.

Led by standout senior guard (and McDonald’s High School All-American) Dara Taylor’s frenetic and tenacious play on both offense and defense, St. George’s simply had no ability to cope with Caravel’s attack.

Jumping out to a 26-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Buccaneers never looked back. St. George’s did not reach double-figures in scoring until there were 26 seconds remaining in the first half, and if the game was technically still in doubt at the end of the first quarter, that was erased by Caravel’s commanding 40-10 halftime lead.

Caravel’s lead was constructed by virtue of a refrain that would become all too familiar to St. George’s, as on offense, Taylor (who led all scorers with 22 points) would penetrate off of the dribble, alternately opting to lay the ball up or to execute a dazzling no-look pass to her teammates—usually to either junior center Courtney Migliocco (8 points) or junior forward Liz Wise (9 points).

When not creating for her teammates on offense, Caravel’s Taylor was simply dominant defensively. She was not just the quickest player—everyone else on the court seemed to move in slow-motion in comparison—she also coupled that quickness with an obvious intelligence, whether it was stealing the ball as a Hawks player went to raise it above her head, or feigning a double-team in order to lull her opponent into an unwise pass, which was quickly stolen and converted into a fast-break lay-up.

One of these events would be the highlight of the game for most players, but Taylor made plays so routinely that for most of the game St. George’s was fortunate if they were able to attempt a shot.

With the game well in hand in the second half, and many of the Buccaneers’ starters on the bench, St. George’s made a valiant effort, playing hard to the very end. In this commendable effort the Hawks were led by sophomore guard Keywanna Smalls (10 points), junior forward Aysha King (8 points), and junior guard Haley Thomas (9 points).

The #9 seeded Buccaneers advance to the second round of the DIAA tournament, playing at #8 seed Saint Marks (15-7) on Saturday, March 7. Tip-off is at 6:00 pm.