CLAYMONT — Archmere’s girls basketball team returned home to the Moglia Fieldhouse on Feb. 10, but they avoided a letdown in a sandwich game after a win at the SL24 Memorial Classic over Saint Mark’s and a showdown with Conrad looming on Thursday. The Auks were focused and in control in a 60-13 win over Diamond State Athletic Conference foe First State Military Academy.
Archmere’s starters played limited minutes, but the quintet inflicted substantial damage in the four and a half minutes of the first quarter they were on the floor. The Auks were running from the start, turning several Bulldogs turnovers into points. Lauren Kim had six of those as Archmere opened with a 7-0 run. She scored 11 points in the quarter.
The starters played the first half of the second and third quarters as well, but the big lead allowed coach Dan Pisani to get valuable game experience for all of his reserves. Seven of those 10 players scored, with Emma Gioffre picking up six points and Jill Bale draining the game’s lone three-point shot in the second quarter.
Kim led the way with 15, while Fiona Teaney also reached double figures with 11. Eleven players got on the board. The Auks won their 10th straight to improve to 14-4. They host Conrad on Thursday at 6:15 p.m., with the winner taking the DSAC championship and the automatic berth to the state tournament that goes with it.
Two players accounted for all of First State’s points. Jshane Allen had seven, and Makayla Gregory added six. The Bulldogs (2-15), who are playing just their fourth season, travel to Red Lion on Thursday at 4 p.m. They have played just three home games, but two were in Dover. The other was at Providence Creek Academy, which is located next to First State.
First State Military Academy is located in Clayton, on the site of the former St. Joseph Industrial School. It was opened in 1896 by Josephite priests and brothers to serve African-American youths, and it was closed in 1972.
