Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – With a challenging three-game stretch to close the regular season on the horizon, Ursuline didn’t want to overlook St. Mark’s which visited the Raiders on Feb. 13. From that standpoint, it was mission accomplished, as Ursuline defeated the Spartans, 65-26, on Senior Night.
The top-ranked Raiders had a 10-8 lead midway through the first quarter and took control with a 12-1 run spanning the end of the first and half of the second quarter. The Spartans went without a field goal for about eight minutes until Natalie Alessandrini scored to make it 22-11.
St. Mark’s struggled with the Ursuline press throughout the game, and the Raiders converted many of the turnovers they caused into easy points. Ursuline took advantage of the opportunity to get everybody on the roster significant playing time, and nine players got into the scoring column. A sign of how well things went for Ursuline occurred early in the fourth quarter. Yanni Hendley was tripped while driving to the basket for a layup. She missed, fell to the floor, and got the rebound while sitting under the hoop.
Kailyn Kampert led Ursuline with 17 points. Kryshell Gordy had a strong game, scoring 14. Maggie Connolly contributed 12 points. The Raiders, who improved to 12-5, travel to No. 2 Sanford on Thursday for a 6 p.m. start. Seating capacity and parking at Sanford are limited, so it would be smart to plan to get there early. After that, Ursuline will finish the regular season with a trip to Caravel and a home game vs. undefeated Concord, which is ranked third.
For St. Mark’s, Kayla Wolff had six points, while Kaitlynn Wolff and Kendra Schweizer had five each. Next up for the Spartans (5-12) is Charter School of Wilmington on Thursday at home at 7:15 p.m.
