Archmere’s Emma McCann (22), seen here against Conrad, led her team with nine points as the Auks defeated Wilmington Friends 34-26 in the first round of the DIAA girls basketball tournament on Tuesday.
CLAYMONT – Archmere struggled to find any offensive rhythm in the first three quarters of its DIAA first-round matchup against visiting Wilmington Friends on Tuesday.
The ninth-seeded Auks’ defense made up for that as they held the 23rd-seeded Quakers to just 10 field goals, giving the offense time find a rhythm, and the offense woke up in the fourth quarter to help Archmere pull away for a 34-26 victory.
“We put a lot of pride in our defense. Our big thing is how many points are under the away score in our gym, and that’s what we take a lot of pride in. We looked a lot on what they did,” Auks head coach Dan Pisani said. “Early on, we packed it in on them. We did a lot of good helping. Just stuff we work on in practice, holding teams to low numbers. When you miss a lot of layups, you need that.”
Archmere (15-6) bottled up Friends in the first half, allowing just three field goals, and that helped them take a 15-8 lead heading into halftime despite its own offensive struggles.
The Quakers (12-9) outscored the Auks in the third quarter to stay in the game and cut their deficit to 22-16 entering the final quarter.
The Auks responded to having its lead threatened by starting the fourth quarter with an 8-2 spurt to take control of the game, and Amanda Denning started the surge with a field goal, which was followed by a Danaziah Brown 3-pointer to make it 27-16.
After Friends’ Natalie DePaulo made a field goal to make it a nine-point game, Madison Stewart made one of two free throws to push the lead back to double digits, and Emma McCann capped the game-clinching run with a basket to make it a 12-point advantage midway through the final quarter.
“It was really really important. Coach (Pisani) was telling us to be aggressive and go to the basket,” McCann said of the game-deciding stretch. “That little spurt really turned the game around for us.”
The Auks kept the Quakers at bay the rest of the way to hold on to the victory, setting up a second-round matchup with seventh-seeded St. Elizabeth’s Thursday night at 7.