Ursuline’s Yanni Hendley-Mccalla drives to the basket in the second half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
Ursuline’s Maggie Connolly drives to the basket in the second half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
Ursuline fans celebrate a basket in the first half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
Ursuline’s Sabriya Harris puts up a shot in the first half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
Sanford’s Lauren Park reacts as she’s called for a foul against Ursuline’s Yanni Hendley-Mccalla in the first half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
Ursuline’s Kryshell Gordy puts up a shot in the first half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
Ursuline’s Yanni Hendley Mccalla (right) drives to the basket as Sanford’s Lauren Park defends in the first half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
Ursuline’s Maggie Connolly (left) and Sanford’s Kendra Warren (right) fight for a loose ball in the first half of Ursuline’s 55-44 win over Sanford at the Sanford School on Thursday night.
HOCKESSIN– The entire Ursuline basketball team attended the funeral for retired Wilmington police Chief Harry Manelski – grandfather of senior forward Kailyn Kampert – at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Eight hours later, the Raiders faced their biggest game of the regular season.
Ursuline fell into an early hole at No. 2 Sanford. But the Raiders rallied to tie it by halftime, then showed why they are the No. 1 team in the state by pulling away for an emotional, 55-44 victory.
“We always talk about sports being about life lessons,” Ursuline coach John Noonan said. “What bigger lesson can you get than that?”
Kampert was a huge part of the Raiders’ comeback, nailing three 3-pointers and finishing with 13 points.
“She loves her teammates, she loves playing basketball at Ursuline, and she played really, really well,” Noonan said. “I’m sure her grandfather is smiling down and is so pleased with her effort today.”
The Raiders started the game in a full-court press, which was quickly shredded by the Warriors’ skilled ballhandlers. Sanford (15-4) finished the first quarter on a 13-2 run, breaking the press with ease for four layups, a short jumper by Samantha Polich and a 3-pointer by Olivia Tucker.
“They kept fast breaking on us. We didn’t get back on defense,” Kampert said.
The Warriors hit 8 of 11 from the field (72.7 percent) in the first quarter on the way to a 17-9 lead. So Ursuline (13-5) scrapped the press and went to a half-court man-to-man defense.
“He told us to keep fighting,” Kampert said of Noonan’s message. “We always have it in us to keep going, and we just had to make adjustments that worked for us.”
The switch worked immediately, as Sanford made just three of its 10 shots in the second quarter. The Raiders started forcing turnovers and closed the half with three straight 3-balls – two from Kampert and one from Maggie Connolly off a Kampert assist – to tie it at 24.
“We broke the pressure early,” Warriors coach Marcus Thompson said. “It was a matter of maintaining our composure, and we didn’t do that.”
The Raiders kept rolling with a 14-2 surge in the middle of the third quarter. Alisha Lewis and Connolly hit back-to-back 3s, Kryshell Gordy drove for a layup, Kampert scored two straight buckets and Olivia Mason scored off a missed free throw.
Just like that, Ursuline was up 40-31.
“We made some defensive mistakes,” Thompson said. “Instead of staying to our girls, we went up and tried to double team. You can’t double team Ursuline. We let them stand at the [3-point] line and shoot, and those are foul shots for them.”
Sanford couldn’t regain the momentum. Kampert opened the fourth quarter with a 3, Lewis drove for a layup and Mason dropped a short jumper. Then Lewis – who led Ursuline with 16 points – scored again to push the lead to 51-37 with 3:42 to play.
“She’s super talented. We’re just trying to get her to be more aggressive,” Noonan said of the freshman. “I think tonight, she was that. She played hard. She played tough.”
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Sanford, which started three freshmen. Senior Chrishyanah Alston led the Warriors with 20 points and seven rebounds.
After the hot start, Sanford made just 10 of 31 (32.3 percent) from the field over the final three quarters. But no one would be surprised to see the Warriors get another shot at the Raiders in the upcoming DIAA Girls Basketball Tournament.
“Ursuline was better today,” Thompson said. “They won the game, and hopefully we can get better and get the opportunity to see them again and give them a better contest.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.