Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – St. Elizabeth led Charter School of Wilmington, 10-7, after one quarter of their matchup Dec. 28 at the Diamond State Classic. All it took for the Vikings to take their game to another gear was a little mayo.
A little Ber’Nyah Ward-Mayo, that is. The high-scoring sophomore had left the game in the first quarter due to foul trouble, but after she returned to action, her contributions to the Vikings were all positive. St. Elizabeth took control once Ward-Mayo returned, scoring a 58-32 decision in the Delaware Cup.
Ward-Mayo came off the bench for the start of the second quarter and paid dividends immediately, hitting a layup. Charter, however, came back to cut the score to 14-13, thanks to five consecutive points from Nia Anderson on a three-point shot followed by a steal and coast-to-coast layup.
Ward-Mayo answwered quickly with a layup, kickstarting a 10-0 run that would last through the rest of the quarter. She accounted for six of those 10, while Alexis Lee finished off the run with two free throws in the final seconds of the half. Ward-Mayo’s presence on the court forced Charter to pay extra attention to her, leaving other Vikings open consistently.
Charter got as close as seven in the third quarter when Rose Freel drained a 15-foot baseline jumper, but that seven-point deficit ballooned in a hurry. Julie McCarron scored on a follow shot, and Ward-Mayo nailed a three. After a field goal for the Force, Lee added an old-fashioned three-point play. By the end of the third, St. Elizabeth’s advantage had grown to 40-25.
The Vikings continued the pressure into the fourth, scoring seven points in the first two minutes to put the game out of reach. Ward-Mayo deked around a defender on a drive, but fed the ball outside to Lauren Hines, who connected from three. McCarron hit from close range, and Lee went the length of the court after a steal to push the lead to 22.
Final statistics were not available late Thursday night. The Vikings, who improved to 5-0 with the win, will play for the Delaware Cup championship on Saturday night at 6:15 p.m. against Mercy (Md.).
Charter (1-6) will play Delaware Military Academy at the St. E Center on Saturday at 1 p.m.
