WILMINGTON — Saint Mark’ girls basketball team will ring in 2024 with a winning feeling after closing out the calendar year with a win at the Viking Invitational. The Spartans won their bracket at the St. E Center with a 53-39 victory over Wilmington Charter, their second victory over the Force this season.
The Spartans took a 12-5 lead early, stating the afternoon with a three-pointer from Lauren McDonald. That triple notwithstanding, Saint Mark’s did much of its damage inside during the first. Sophia Baffone scored down low, as did Sophia Karch, who converted her first field goal into a conventional three-point play.
The Spartans played their usual aggressive defense, and it resulted in overall turnovers on the Force, but it also put Charter into the bonus early. They made nine trips to the free throw line in the quarter, but made just three, and Saint Mark’s led, 18-9, after one.
The Force’s Kelsey Shahan banked in a shot to open the scoring in the second, but that would the team’s lone field goal before halftime. The Spartans scored in a variety of ways. On one, Karch kept possession for Saint Mark’s by throwing the ball off the foot of a Force player out of bounds, then getting a bucket on the inbounds play. Leah DePaul drained a three following a turnover. The Spartans led by 14 at the break.
DePaul had the first two field goals of the second half, only to see Catie Cole and Danielle Kanse answer for Charter. The Spartans called a timeout, and the next score was a triple for McDonald, helping the Spartans to pull away. They increased the lead to 25 in the middle of the fourth quarter before Cole got hot, helping Charter cut the final margin to 14.
McDonald had a double-double with19 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Spartans, with Karch joining her in double-figure scoring at 14. Saint Mark’s (6-1) will host Tower Hill on Jan. 5 at 7:15 p.m.
For Charter, Cole finished with 17, and Kanse had 11. Charter fell to 4-3 and returns to action on Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. at Delaware Military.
Photos by Mike Lang.
