For The Dialog
WILMINGTON – St. Mark’s girls basketball team played a spirited game but fell to Oxford (Pa.), 45-37, Sunday afternoon in the Diamond State Classic. The Spartans and Hornets are in the New Castle Insurance Cup bracket.
Hornets senior Hannah Bathis got off to a good start with six early points, but Spartans junior Emily Coyle answered with a three-pointer and senior Kaitlynn Wolff scored an old-fashioned three-point play to give St. Mark’s a 12-10 lead. Oxford sophomore Hannah D’Auarno had her own three-point play in the last 10 seconds of the first quarter, and the Hornets had a 13-12 lead after one.
The second quarter included a nine-point run by Hornets freshman Miranda Porretta as Oxford took a 26-18 lead. The lead grew to 29-20 at the half as Bathis hit a three-pointer just before the buzzer.
Both teams struggled on the offensive side in the third quarter, but Wolff had five of the Spartans’ nine points. The Hornets took a 36-29 lead in the fourth, but St. Mark’s turned up the defense and got key back-bo-back baskets by Delaney Carney, the second one tying the game at 36. Porretta then hit a field goal plus a foul shot with 1:35 left. The Spartans’ Angel Lorang cut the deficit to one at 39-38 on a shot with 1:05 to go. Oxford closed out the win by hitting six of eight free throws down the stretch.
The Hornets got 18 from Porretta and 12 from Bathis. They play William Penn on Monday at 4 p.m. in the championship game. The Spartans got 10 from Wolff and seven from Coyle in the loss; they face Friends in the third-place game at 10:45 a.m.
