WILMINGTON — St. Elizabeth’s boys basketball team played its final regular-season game on Feb. 20, and the Vikings put the state on notice that they will not be an easy out in the upcoming state tournament. St. Elizabeth took Caravel, ranked ninth in the state by Delaware Live Sports, to overtime before falling, 55-49, at the St. E Center.
The visiting Buccaneers took a 36-31 lead into the fourth quarter, and for the first three minutes and 40 seconds, neither team could add to its point total. The teams moved up and down the court, but thanks to either turnovers or missed shots, the score remained the same until Aiden Tobiason hit a corner three-point shot. After a Caravel turnover, Shaun Chandler made two free throws, leveling the score at 36-36. It was just the second tie of the night.
Chandler turned a Vikings rebound into the team’s first lead of the night with 2:10 to go when he made a twisting reverse layup, and he added two more free throws 20 seconds later to extend the lead to four and St. E’s run to 9-0. Miles White scored the Bucs’ first points of the fourth on a pair of free throws with 1:44 to go, and after a Vikings turnover, Trevor Webster tied the game with a field goal.
Caravel had a few chances to go ahead late in regulation but could not get a shot to fall, and the Vikings’ last-ditch chance from half court banged off the glass.
For all the lack of scoring in the fourth, the Buccaneers and Vikings had no problem putting points on the board in overtime. Mekhi Carmon went first, hitting a pair of free throws. Chandler was St. Elizabeth’s primary offensive weapon in the extra frame. He scored their first seven points in OT, consistently taking the ball down low and challenging the Bucs’ bigs. The Vikings fell behind by 6 with 42.5 seconds to go, but a Chandler free throw and a nice give-and-go off an inbounds pass by Jayden Lawrence cut that deficit in half. Caravel hit three of four free throws in the final seconds to leave with the victory.
The Buccaneers jumped out to a 7-0 lead and had an eight-point advantage on three occasions, the last at 21-13 in the middle of the second. Each time the Vikings would get close, Caravel would answer until St. Elizabeth put together that fourth-quarter streak.
White led the Buccaneers with 19 point, while John Clemmons and Webster each had 9. Caravel, who played one of the toughest schedules in the state, finished the regular season 14-6.
Chandler had 30 to pace the Vikings. St. Elizabeth (12-8) should be in the state tournament.
The DIAA boys basketball committee meets Friday to determine the postseason field.
All photos by Mike Lang.
