Home Local Sports St. Elizabeth High School works overtime for girls basketball win over Padua...

St. Elizabeth High School works overtime for girls basketball win over Padua Academy: Photo gallery

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ZaMylah Seda-Owens of St. Eilzabeth looks for a passing option while the Pandas' Sophia Baffone plays defense. Dialog photo/Mike Lang

WILMINGTON – St. Elizabeth and Padua did not light up the scoreboard when they met on Jan. 25, perhaps owing to the 11 a.m. start time. But the teams made the most of the action, with the visiting Vikings prevailing in a tight affair, with a last-second layup from Makayla Sullivan pushing them past the Pandas, 42-41, in overtime.

After a low-scoring first half, the points picked up, but the game remained close. Padua opened up a 22-18 lead on a follow shot by Kai Dwirantwi, and a three-pointer from Sophia Baffone (St. John the Beloved Parish) helped them keep the margin at four, 30-26, at the end of the third.

St. Elizabeth caught up by the middle of the third, taking advantage of several chances from the free throw line. Lili DiMarco (St. John the Beloved Parish) restored a Padua lead with a follow-up shot with 2:54 remaining, but Sullivan hit a corner three-pointer to put the Vikings in front. A Pandas free throw tied the game with just over a minute to go, and that was the final point of regulation.

DiMarco scored after a long possession to give the Pandas the first points of overtime, and she added a three-pointer after a Padua steal. The Vikings, however, got two free throws from Tori Richardson with 1:04 to go, and Sullivan added another free throw.

St. Elizabeth forced a Pandas turnover, and they cut the Pandas’ lead to one after yet another free throw, this one from Taniyah Reese. Padua had the ball with the clock running down, but they had a rebound go off one of their players’ hands and out of bounds, setting up the Vikings for the winning play. With a few seconds to go, a shot rolled over the back of the rim. Sullivan was there to grab the rebound and lay the ball in off the glass.

The Pandas had 1.3 seconds left, but St. Elizabeth deflected the inbounds pass.

Reese led the way with 11 points for St. Elizabeth, eight of those in the first half. Three players finished with seven points each. The Vikings (9-4) visit Caravel in a matchup of top-four teams on Jan. 28 at 6:15 p.m.

For the Pandas, DiMarco had 19, and Abby Grillo (St. John the Beloved Parish) added 11. Padua fell to 10-4 and is off until Jan. 31, when they will meet Saint Mark’s at the SL24 Classic at 6 p.m. at the Chase Fieldhouse.

Photos by Mike Lang.