GREENVILLE – The Saint Mark’s girls basketball team trailed A.I. duPont after one quarter of their opener on Dec. 4, but the Spartans took care of that in short order and went on to a 65-42 win in the Tiger Tip-Off Tournament.
The Tigers took a 13-10 lead late in the first with a 5-0 run, but Saint Mark’s used balanced scoring to turn the tide in the second. Five players scored for the Spartans in the second quarter, when they outscored A.I., 22-12. A transition basket by Madiella Keefer (Holy Angels Parish) put the Spartans on top for good at 18-17. After that, Maddie Fausnaugh scored and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but Olivia Barlow was there for the rebound and putback, increasing the lead to 22-17.
Natalie VanDzura, who had five points in the first quarter, scored another 10 in the second as Saint Mark’s extended the lead to seven at halftime. She took advantage of an aggressive Spartans offense, going to the hoop over and over for inside field goals.
The Spartans’ defense strengthened in the second half, as they kept A.I. from getting open. The Tigers were limited to two field goals, although they did get to the free throw line 12 times. A.I. made half of those.
Saint Mark’s continued to feed VanDzura inside, and Dana Shanklin came off the bench to add some outside shooting. Those two got help from Keefer, who powered her way inside for six points in the third.
The Spartans put the game out of reach in the fourth with crisp passing to the duo of VanDzura and Fausnaugh. VanDzura (Holy Angels Parish) had five field goals in the fourth quarter, and Fausnaugh added three more.
VanDzura finished with 27 points. Fausnaugh and Keefer both had double-doubles; each scored 11 points, while Fausnaugh had 12 rebounds and Keefer 10. The Spartans (1-0) will play Tatnall on Saturday at A.I. duPont at a time to be announced.
Chloe Lopez had 13 to lead the Tigers, with Na’Dirah Goodman adding 10. A.I. (0-1) will host Polytech on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
