HOCKESSIN — GG Banks pulled up in front of her schoolmates from Ursuline Academy who had traveled to Sanford to see the Raiders battle the Warriors in a much-anticipated girls basketball matchup. The freshman drained a three-point shot to give Ursuline a 66-52 lead with 4:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Sanford would reel off the next 16 points, however, and the Warriors would outlast the Raiders, taking the win, 81-76, in double overtime in front of a capacity crowd inside Sanford’s cozy fieldhouse. Ursuline entered the game ranked second in the state by Delaware Live Sports, and the Warriors were third.
It was a back-and-forth game early on, with Sanford taking a 27-24 lead on a three-pointer by Tyler Edwards, but Taylor Brown got that back in a hurry, then added another field goal after a steal to put the Raiders back on top. They added five more before the break, and Banks scored the first five of the second half to extend the run to 15-0, putting Ursuline up by 12.
The Raiders were controlling the rebounds and playing their normal tough defense, holding off any Sanford comeback. But the Warriors got hot late in the third. They cut the deficit to five, and UA led by seven heading into the fourth.
Led by Brown and Banks, the Raiders kept coming, eventually getting the lead to 14, but the Warriors fought back. Naomi Allen got the hosts started with a put back of a teammate’s miss. Jada Snow scored on an old-fashioned three-point play, and Allen hit from the mid-range, prompting an Ursuline timeout with 2:29 to go.
Sanford pulled to within a point with a minute and a half to go, and the Warriors got the ball back with 39.5 seconds left. Snow extended the run to 16 points and gave Sanford a 68-66 lead with a three-pointer with about 30 seconds to go. Brown tied the score quickly, driving the lane for a layup. Banks nearly won it at the buzzer with a mid-range jumper, but the ball bounced high off the rim, and the game headed to overtime.
Sanford’s Asia Adams opened the scoring with a transition layup, but Banks answered with a triple. The teams played evenly, and the Warriors had the ball and a chance to win at the end. With .9 seconds on the clock, Adams caught an inbounds pass near the foul line and put up a shot, but it bounced off the rim as time expired.
The Warriors took control in the second extra session, taking advantage of a few Raiders turnovers, and grabbing rebounds on both ends. Edwards put the Warriors on top with a free throw, followed by Sanford’s only field goal of the second overtime, a layup from Snow. The final four points came from the free throw line.
Edwards had 27 to lead the Warriors, and Snow contributed 25. Adams and Allen also reached double figures with 12 and 10, respectively. Sanford (12-5) hosts Caravel in a potential postseason matchup on Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m.
For the Raiders, Banks finished with 32, and Brown had 23. Ursuline (12-5) will host Saint Mark’s on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
