NEW CASTLE – Samantha Pollich retired to Sanford’s bench due to a headache with three minutes to play on Tuesday night.
But that was OK. The freshman had already given William Penn a migraine.
The freshman scored 30 points – including all 20 of the Warriors’ points in the second half – as No. 2 Sanford held off a stubborn effort by sixth-ranked William Penn for a 54-40 road victory.
“I felt like it was pretty intense,” Pollich said. “I felt like I worked very hard. It gave me a headache.”
Colonials coach Neil Webster knew the 5-foot-10 Pollich could pose a problem inside. His team just didn’t have the length to match up with her.
“We never start anybody bigger than 5-foot-7. That’s what we are,” Webster said. “So we have to do things differently, win in different ways. But she did a great job. We worked as hard as we could, but it seemed like she never missed.”
The Warriors (7-3) became predictable on offense in the second half, consistently dumping the ball in deep to Pollich. But it was working, so why stop?
“She’s getting better. We keep getting better together,” freshman point guard Lauren Park said of Pollich. “I’ve just got to keep feeding her and hoping she keeps going forward with her improvement.
“When she scores 30, you’ve got to keep going to her. She was making them, so we just kept feeding her.”
The Colonials (6-2) matched Sanford’s intensity in the first quarter, as Shanira Mitchell drove for two layups and Jah-ni Jackson hit two free throws to keep William Penn within 17-14. The Warriors were coming off a 48-46 loss to Cardinal O’Hara (Pa.) on Sunday night, and they struggled with seven early turnovers.
Sanford’s Samantha Pollich grabs a pass in front of William Penn’s Jessica Behornar in the second half of Sanford’s 54-40 win at William Penn High School.
“It’s kind of difficult. We came off a couple of big games,” Sanford coach Marcus Thompson said. “We played Sunday night against a very good team and lost at the buzzer, and I think we just weren’t really ready to play.”
The Warriors turned up the heat in the second quarter, outscoring the Colonials 17-3 to build a 34-17 lead. Then it was all Pollich in the second half.
“We thought we had a size difference,” Thompson said. “There was going to be a mismatch somewhere. It happened to be one of the freshmen girls [Pollich] today. She came to play.”
Pollich hit six baskets in the third quarter, but William Penn rallied to pull within 46-37.
“Second quarter, we lost our composure,” Webster said. “We played a good first quarter. So I said, ‘OK, let’s make this our ballgame in the second half. Let’s go out and establish that we can play with them.’”
The Colonials did that, but again managed just three points in the fourth quarter. Pollich kept it rolling with four more baskets, and finished 14 of 18 from the field and 2 of 3 from the line. She also led the Warriors with nine rebounds.
“I have some pretty good teammates,” Pollich said. “They’re good at getting the ball in there. [Park] is one of the best ballhandlers I know, and without her I wouldn’t have been able to get that ball in there.”
Mitchell led William Penn with 12 points and eight rebounds. Jackson added 11 points, and Raven Thompkins didn’t score but pulled down eight boards.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ