NEWARK – India Johnston didn’t have a lot to say as her Caravel teammates cut down the net following the DIAA Girls Basketball Tournament.
She said it all during the game.
Delaware’s reigning Player of the Year hit the tying free throws in the final minute of regulation, then scored Caravel’s last seven points in overtime to clinch the program’s long-awaited first championship with a 53-47 victory over Sanford on Friday night at the Carpenter Center.
“I don’t have any words right now,” said Johnston, who finished with 27 points and seven rebounds. “I’m just overwhelmed with excitement. I’m just glad that I did this with this group of girls right here.”
The Buccaneers (18-6) were the tournament’s top seed, but felt like this title was way overdue. Caravel had reached the championship game five other times in the last 10 years without taking the final step.
No. 2 Sanford (20-3) erased an 11-point deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but was unable to reel in the school’s sixth girls hoops title.
“We had an opportunity to win. We didn’t execute down the stretch,” Warriors coach Marcus Thompson said. “We can all take the blame for that, and it starts with me.”
The game started with hot shooting from the Bucs. Caravel ended the first quarter on a 15-6 run – including three straight 3-pointers from Jasiyah Crawford – to take a 19-10 lead.
“We’ve been here five times before, and it feels like we’re always digging out of a hole,” Caravel coach Kristin Caldwell said. “So I said, ‘Hey, let’s get a couple of stops. Let’s hit a couple of buckets.’
“Jasiyah went unconscious there. … She is so tough, and she wants it.”
The sophomore rattled in one from the top of the key and two from the left wing to fire up her teammates and the Bucs’ fans.
“When I first started shooting, I was thinking, ‘We need this. We’ve got to start off strong so we can end strong,’” Crawford said. “We’ve got to take this lead.”
But the Warriors gradually crept closer, trailing 29-23 at halftime and 35-32 after three quarters.
Playing without injured All-State forward Amiya Carroll, point guard Zy Kilgoe shouldered an extra load for Sanford, often guarding Johnston in addition to taking more shots. The junior sneaked in for a layup, then drove the lane for another score to push the Warriors ahead 39-38 with 5:42 to play.
BOX SCORE: Caravel 53, Sanford 47
“The problem when you miss Amiya, she does so many things,” Thompson said. “Zy had to not only defend one of the best players in the state, but she also had to bring the ball up. She also had to score, rebounded some, assisted.
“Her job was just so, so difficult. That’s a lot of pressure on the young lady, and she did an absolutely fantastic job.”
After Caravel took a 41-39 lead on Giniah Gale’s short jumper, Kilgoe went coast-to-coast for a layup and added two free throws to push the Warriors back on top, 43-41, with 3:28 remaining.
Both teams failed to score after long possessions, and it came down to Johnston needing to hit two foul shots to tie it with 31.9 seconds left.
She calmly made both.
“I work hard for it every single day,” said Johnston, a senior who has signed with Towson. “I knew I just had to do what I had to do. I just trusted myself.”
Kilgoe tried to win it for Sanford on a drive, but couldn’t get the ball above the rim as the buzzer sounded.
The Warriors’ Zoe Kashner started overtime with a huge 15-footer, her only score of the game. But Crawford dropped another 3 from the top of the key to put Caravel back on top, 46-45.
“There was a lot going through my mind,” said Crawford, who finished with 12 points. “I was like, ‘I have to take this. I know I can make it.’”
Johnston took it from there, rattling in a 12-footer and making four straight free throws to push the Bucs’ lead to 52-45 with 50.1 seconds to go.
“What more can you say in a career about India?” Caldwell said.
Kilgoe finished with 16 points and four steals for Sanford. Abby Meredith added 12 points.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
