The Smyrna High girls’ basketball team clinched its first-ever Northern Division championship on Feb. 16 by defeating Dover for the second time of the season.
But even with the division title in hand, the Eagles still had something to prove in their final regular season game when Caesar Rodney came to town on Feb. 23.
Back in December, the Riders handed the Eagles their only conference loss of the season. It was also the Eagles’ sole loss against a team from Delaware.
Last week’s rematch was a chance for Smyrna to avenge that defeat.
The Eagles stormed out to an 18-3 lead by the end of the first quarter, and held a 38-21 lead at halftime.
Smyrna still led 57-42 after a back-and-forth third quarter, but CR mounted a fierce comeback bid late in the game.
The Riders used an eight-point run to chip away at the lead, and eventually trailed by only a single point, 64-63, with less than four minutes to play.
The Eagles took back control with an eight-point burst of their own, highlighted by a Jackie Jenkins three-pointer.
But the Eagles’ 72-63 lead still wasn’t safe from the surging Riders. With 13 seconds to play, CR scored a lay in that knotted the game at 72-72.
Coming back the other way, Smyrna’s Alexis Fearrington drew a foul with seven seconds left on the clock. Despite the pressure, the freshman sank both free throws and gave the Eagles a 74-72 lead.
CR was called for a charge on the other end, and Smyrna held on for a hard-fought victory.
After the game, Fearrington said her only focus was to “get the ball in the basket” when she lined up for the clutch free throw attempts.
“I just focused, kept my head in the game,” she said.
It was an emotional win for the team’s only senior, Quontay Hicks, who was playing in her final regular season game with the Eagles after four years on varsity.
The win was especially sweet since it came against Caesar Rodney.
“I’ve been waiting to win against them all four years and I hadn’t,” Hicks said. “For it to come this year is amazing. Alexis made those two free throws, and I was on cloud nine. ... I just want to thank my teammates for bringing me this far.”
The Eagles had to survive a wild fourth quarter to get the win. Each time CR mounted a threat, the Smyrna girls found a way to rise up and meet the challenge.
