LIBERTY TOWNSHIP – Twenty-second-seeded Wilmington gave fourth-seeded Princeton all it could handle Tuesday in its 41-36 season-ending loss in a Division I girls sectional tournament matchup at Lakota East High School.
Wilmington (13-10) led for the first 12 minutes of the game. Even after falling in a 32-19 hole following a 9-0 Princeton run to start the second half, the ‘Cane stormed back to within a possession of the Vikings to start the final quarter, 32-19, and with a minute left in the game, 39-36.
“The start of third quarter, we had three turnovers. That’s Princeton. They are explosive. If you don’t take care of the ball, they are going the other way,” Williams said. “They have good athletes. They’re the No. 4 team in this tournament for a reason. They’re solid.”
Princeton (19-4) held off Wilmington in the final minute thanks to free throws and three Hurricane turnovers.
“They all did everything we asked them to do and more. My girls played hard. I’m very proud of them,” WHS head coach Zach Williams said. “Literally in a game like that, a play here, a play there, a call here, a call there … we just came up a little short.”
Princeton’s 6-6 center Kyla Oldacre led all scorers with 14 points.
“We wanted to play behind her, because if we fronted her they would just throw over us,” Williams said. “She doesn’t finish great down there. We tried not to let her get second shot opportunities. I thought we were in position for the most part. But they got those second-chance opportunities that hurt us, especially in the first half.
“We wanted them to beat us from out there and not in the paint. I think they hit just one three.”
Five of Oldacre’s buckets were second-chance opportunities.
Sophie Huffman led the Hurricane with 11 points. Karlie Morgan followed with 10.
SUMMARY
Feb 18, 2020
@Hawks Nest
Lakota East High School
Division I Sectional
Princeton 41 Wilmington 36
W^11^8^10^7^^36
P^8^15^9^9^^41
(36) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Jamiel 1-0-2-4 McCord 1-0-1-3 Moore 0-0-0-0 Huffman 3-1-4-11 Drake 1-0-0-2 Murphy 3-0-0-6 Morgan 4-1-1-10 TOTALS 13-2-8/11-36
(41) PRINCETON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Cash 0-0-0-0 Hill 0-0-0-0 Roshelle 1-0-0-2 Williams 2-0-1-5 White 3-0-1-7 Carter-Hartley 2-0-0-4 Davis 3-1-2-9 Oldacre 7-0-0-14 TOTALS 18-1-4/16-41
