WILMINGTON — Howard played St. Elizabeth evenly into the fourth quarter of the teams’ DIAA boys basketball quarterfinal on March 2, but the Vikings flipped a switch in the last six minutes or so to earn a 63-53 win and a trip to the Bob Carpenter Center on March 7.
The Vikings, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, will meet fourth-seeded Salesianum that evening in one semifinal matchup. The time has not yet been announced.
The Wildcats and Vikings were both well-represented among the sellout crowd inside a raucous St. E Center, and the play was as even as the fan split. Howard played very well on offense, consistently finding players open underneath for easy field goals, and they did not turn the ball over much at all. They also hit four three-pointers in the first half.
Defensively, the Wildcats frustrated the Vikings with intense man-to-man coverage and excellent rebounding. Still, St. Elizabeth never trailed by more than four points in the first half. Kenny Hunter Jr. had seven first-half points in the first quarter, including a three at the buzzer that gave the Vikings a 13-12 lead.
Hunter scored on a baseline floater to open the second, but the Wildcats responded, scoring the next five points. Aiden Tobiason then hit a corner three for the Vikings, but that lead was temporary. Back and forth they went until Wildcats senior R.J. Matthews put Howard on top, 31-29, with a three with 50 seconds left in the half. Steven Nixon Jr. sent the teams into the locker room tied at 31.
The even play continued into the second half, that trip to the Bob hanging in the balance. Howard had a three-point lead, but that disappeared. The fouls started to pile up on the Wildcats, and the Vikings made 10 trips to the free throw line, making seven of those. It was tied, 44-44, as the clock wound down when Tobias Reese scored his first points of the night on a three-pointer with three seconds remaining.
St. Elizabeth began to control the rebounding, and Howard’s red-hot shooting cooled a bit as the final quarter unfolded. Kaden Brown scored off an offensive rebound to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to one, but the Vikings’ supporters roared when Tobiason answered with a triple.
An offensive foul on Howard negated a Wildcats field goal, and Reese took advantage with a driving layup in traffic that pushed the lead to six. St. E’s cranked up the defense and built on their lead. They made five of six free throws down the stretch to make sure there would be no upset.
Tobiason led the Vikings with 17 points. Joining him in double figures were Julius Wright (15) and Hunter (14). St. Elizabeth improved to 21-1.
Jamal Johnson had 15 for Howard, which finished the season 15-8.
Photos by Mike Lang.
