Delcastle Girls Top Middletown For State Crown

Delcastle teammates carry Jaquetta May (#03) on their shoulders after defeating Middletown 70-55 to win their first state championship since 1984. (Photo by Rob Tornoe)

The #4 seed Delcastle Lady Cougars (23-4) wore down the #3 seed Middletown Cavaliers (21-5) en route to a 70-55 victory, capturing the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls State High School Basketball Championship. The win marks Delcastle’s second state girls basketball championship, and their first since 1984.

Leading the way for the victorious Lady Cougars were seniors Jaquetta May (22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals) and Ashley Robbins (23 points, 11 steals). The Cavaliers were paced by senior Chelsea Davis (a game-high 30 points, 11 rebounds).

Middletown led 10-4 in the game’s early going, but Delcastle’s constant pressure and higher tempo led them to take their first lead with 7:18 left in the first half, which ended with a 31-25 advantage for the Lady Cougars. It is a lead that they would not relinquish.

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“Our goal coming in was to push the ball up the court, and then defense-defense-defense,” said Delcastle coach Thom Quann. “This [the Bob Carpenter Center] is a longer court than we’re used to playing on, so they made sure that they were going to leave every bit of themselves out on the floor,” he added.

If the game were still within Middletown’s reach at halftime, Delcastle sophomore Maria Talarowski quickly changed that, burying three three-point shots in the first three minutes of the third quarter en route to a 15-2 run by the Lady Cougars to begin the second half.

For the rest of the game, the Cavaliers were forced to play catch-up against a faster, better-conditioned team. “Our kids ran out of the legs,” said Middletown coach Suzanne Street. “We couldn’t hold on to the ball, and we made bad decisions because we were tired.”

Middletown showed signs of life in the fourth quarter, going on a 10-3 run that cut their deficit to 57-49 with 3:53 remaining in the game. The Lady Cougars responded by simply turning up the pressure once more, keyed by junior Bianca Parker (7 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals). Nothing illustrated the success of Delcastle’s pressure than the total steals for the game—Delcastle 25, Middletown 9.

“We worked so hard, and overcame so many odds just to get here—we lost our point guard in December,” said Street, adding “I’m so proud of them. And our student section, our community was awesome.”

“I take my hat off to Sue Street and Middletown,” said Quann. “I’m just blessed to have players like Jaquetta May, Ashley Robbins, these seniors on our team. It’s a special bunch.”