WILMINGTON — With just one champion crowned at the end of the season, players know that their final game is coming eventually.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be fully prepared when it happens.

Caesar Rodney High’s time came Friday night as the team’s fast start wasn’t quite enough to come away with an upset on the road.
The 16th-seeded Riders controlled the game through the first eight minutes, but top-seeded St. Elizabeth High quickly took over in the second quarter and cruised to a 72-39 victory in the third round of the DIAA girls’ basketball state tournament.

“It’s hard because you know your final game is coming, and you try to prepare yourself the best you can,” CR coach Tameka Williams said. “When you draw the No. 1 seed, you have to play almost perfect to get that win.

“I felt that my kids came out and battled hard … I thought in the first half our game plan was exactly what it needed to be. I told them, ‘just be in the conversation at halftime, and we’ll see what happens.’ It was just a matter of not having enough left in the tank.”

The Vikings, one of the top four remaining teams in last year’s tourney before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, remain unbeaten at 12-0 and will move on to Monday’s quarterfinal round against No. 8 Mount Pleasant High. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

Stacey Deputy led the scoring for the Riders (13-3), putting up 23 points and finishing 9-of-11 from the free throw line.

“Stacey always gives me 100 percent, she really does,” said Williams. “She knew this was going to have to be a phenomenal game from her for us to be in it and I’m just so proud of how hard she worked.”

Senior star Jada McCullough finished her final high school game with 10 points. Though she got into some early foul trouble, picking up a couple of them early in the first quarter, she still helped the Riders put together a quick 7-0 run to begin the game.

The junior Deputy scored 12 of her 23 in those first eight minutes, making plays on the defensive side of the court and getting open looks under the basket.

Senior Olivia Lynch led the Vikings with 23 points, while senior Naia Pulliam added 22 and junior Rory Ciszkowski netted 13 in the win.

With CR ahead 17-12 at the end of the first, the momentum quickly shifted heading into the second. St. Elizabeth’s size and athleticism proved difficult to slow down, leading to a 12-2 run over the first 3:00 of the quarter to give the Vikings the 24-19 edge and force a timeout.

Ciszkowski hit consecutive three-pointers over the span of 28 seconds to tie the game at 17 and then give the Vikings’ their first lead of the game, 20-17, at the 6:17 mark of the quarter.

Just as Williams’ game plan called for, Caesar Rodney was in the conversation at halftime, trailing just 32-24.

Lynch’s 12-point third-quarter performance propelled the Vikings to a 52-32 advantage before they completely shut down the Riders in the fourth for the 33-point victory.

Junior Erin Hirvella (four points) and senior Alexia Jordan (two) were the only other Riders to record points.

“My two seniors (McCullough and Jordan) have worked so hard and I just kept my fingers and my toes crossed that they would get to play this year,” said Williams. “I’m so thankful that we were able to because there were some states that were not. Even with the masks, they took on this adversity and they said, ‘let’s just go play.’

“St. Elizabeth is undefeated for a reason. I thought we gave them our best punch, but they definitely are kids who play well together, the chemistry is obviously there and they’ve got some really good kids. I wish them the best going forward.”