WILMINGTON – St. Elizabeth went on a 15-0 run early in the fourth quarter to pull away from a tenacious for in Our Lady of Mercy Academy (N.J.), 55-44, in the Viking Invitational on Dec. 27 at the St. E Center. The Vikings move on to face West Chester East (Pa.) in the final of the Resilient bracket on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
The Vikings were in control for most of the first half against the Villagers, going on a 10-0 run to end the first quarter on top, 14-8. Six of those points came on a pair of three-pointers by Makayla Sullivan, the first of which put the Vikings in front, 8-7.
Muffin Bethea ended that run with the initial field goal of the second quarter, but the Vikings held on to a small lead. Anissa Harris had a triple early on, and St. Elizabeth got a bump from Taniyah Reese, who made a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays. Her second one increased the Vikings’ lead to 27-17, but Our Lady of Mercy, located in Newfield, N.J., cut that to seven points by halftime.
St. Elizabeth went cold from the field after the break, and the Villagers went to the foul line with regularity to climb back into it. Adrianna Bristow hit a pair from the stripe to cut it to 30-28, and single free throws from Bethea and Alessia Lentini tied the game. Khalia Lewis then hit a follow shot to give Our Lady of Mercy its first lead since it was 7-5. The teams traded points for a few minutes before four late free throws helped the Vikings take a 38-34 lead into the fourth.
That lead, like the ones earlier in the game, wasn’t safe, either. Lewis and Bethea each scored underneath to tie the score at 38, but this time, St. Elizabeth responded with a run that would erase any doubt about the outcome.
It started with two free throws from Tori Richardson. Za’Mylah Seda-Owens then hit a follow shot, and Richardson drove the lane for another field goal. After a Villagers timeout, Seda-Owens scored in transition and then again after a 10-second violation. Richardson connected on a twisting shot to make it 50-38, and Sklyar Bolden wrapped up the run with a three-pointer after another turnover.
Our Lady of Mercy cut the lead to nine points with 3:10 to go, but the Vikings would not let them get too close.
Seda-Owens led the Vikings with 15 points, and Richardson had 10. St. Elizabeth improved to 3-3.
Lewis, with 18, and Bethea, who had 11, finished in double figures for Our Lady of Mercy.
Photos by Mike Lang.
