The Smyrna girls are headed to the Bob Carpenter Center.
With a 60-42 home win over 13-seed Archmere on Thursday night, the fourth-seeded Smyrna High girls’ basketball team earned a spot in the DIAA state quarterfinals.
Archmere, who came into Smyrna with a 16-4 record, scored the first five points, but the Eagles established their inside game and led 15-13 at the end of the first quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, the Smyrna girls showed that they could also hit the long-range shots. Jasmine Hilliard and Jackie Jenkins hit back-to-back three-pointers to give Smyrna a 10-point lead.
Betnijah Laney did a lot of damage from the free throw line, hitting 8 of 9 attempts in the first half.
The Auks kept the game close with accurate outside shooting, but the Eagles took a 32-22 edge into the locker room.
Smyrna continued to lead 44-34 after a low scoring third quarter.
Archmere trimmed the Eagles’ lead to nine points early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.
The Eagles iced the game with solid free throw shooting down the stretch.
Laney led the Eagles with 28 points, 16 of which came from the free throw line.
Crystal Ross added 13 points for Smyrna, while Jenkins and Hilliard each finished with six. Alexis Fearrington added five points.
After the game, Smyrna head coach James Kiger was pleased with his team’s resilience.
“We played so-so tonight, but hung in there and played well as a team,” he said. “It was a great win. We’ll take it.”
Smyrna-CR part III at ‘The Bob’
When the Eagles head to the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center on Saturday for a state quarterfinal game, they’ll face a familiar opponent – No. 5 seed Caesar Rodney, who improved to 12-8 after defeating Concord in their second-round tourney game.
Smyrna and Caesar Rodney split a pair of games this season. The Riders won 39-34 on Dec. 18, but the Eagles prevailed 74-72 on Feb. 24.
Now the third game between the two rivals will determine a spot in the state’s final four.
Tip off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 6 at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.
