WILMINGTON — Middletown fought off every challenge St. Elizabeth threw its way, rebounding after the Vikings took a brief fourth-quarter lead on the way to a 66-63 boys basketball win on Feb. 17 at the St. E Center.
The St. E Center was filled nearly to capacity and was energetic all night for this matchup between two teams with state title aspirations. It was the penultimate regular-season game for both the Cavaliers and the Vikings.
Middletown used a strong second quarter to take a 31-24 halftime advantage, but St. Elizabeth didn’t need much time to close that gap. The Vikings trailed, 38-33, but they used three straight free throws and a follow shot by Steven Nixon Jr. to knot the score. Jaelen Murphy answered immediately at the other end, and the Cavs picked up a free throw to extend the lead to three. Kenny Hunter Jr. stepped up for St. Elizabeth and sank a three-pointer from the top of the circle to re-tie the score at 41 with 1:40 left in the third.
The Cavs took a 44-41 lead into the final quarter, but Nixon hit a three to tie it again. Middletown retook a two-point lead quickly, but DeShaun Holden scored from distance, and the Vikings led, 47-46, with 5:51 to go.
Murphy turned on the offense after that bucket. He scored the next seven points before Hunter ended the run with three and a half minutes to play. The Cavs’ lead fluctuated between three and six points in the final minutes, with Nixon nailing a triple to make it 60-57 Middletown with 27 seconds left. Two free throws by King Savior and a dunk by Murphy following a steal provided the margin necessary for a Middletown win.
Murphy and Savior each had 17 in the win, while Kaleb Ra’lfa added 14. Middletown (11-8) wraps up the regular season on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. at Seaford.
Hunter scored 28 for the Vikings, including his 1,000th career point. Nixon had 16, and Kiyen Alexander contributed 13. St. Elizabeth fell to 15-4 and will host Caravel at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the regular-season home finale.
Photos by Mike Lang.
