By Bill Mitchell, Staff writer

GEORGETOWN - Seaford coach Jim Wearden knew it would be up to his seniors to lead his Blue Jays back to the girls' basketball Final Four.

"I really questioned my seniors and challenged them at halftime," said Wearden. "I asked them, are they going to let it end here tonight or end Saturday."

Responding to their coach's challenge, the top-seeded Blue Jays, led by senior Ebony Keaton, defeated No. 8 Caesar Rodney 57-43.

Seaford will play Henlopen rival Sussex Tech 6:30 Wednesday evening at the University of Delaware's Bob Carpenter Center.

The most important thing Keaton knew for sure was she didn't want her high school career to end with a loss to the Riders.

"I was having a rough time in the first half because I'm just getting over a sinus infection," said Keaton. "Every day in practice we always talk about sacrificing. So, even though I have a cold, I knew I needed to do whatever it took to win."

With the Jays trailing 36-30 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, Keaton scored 15 of her game-high 19 points over the following 6:15 to put Seaford up 53-43 with less than three minutes left in the game.

"Ebony came out in the second half and played like I knew she could," said Wearden. "She's a super basketball player, who laid it all on the line tonight."

In a game that had 11 lead changes and four ties, the turning point came early in the fourth quarter.

Clinging to a 41-38 lead, the Riders opened the door for the Blue Jays by missing two wide-open layups.

The Jays made the Riders pay for their mistakes, as each time they responded by hitting a three-point basket to take a 46-41 lead with 6:10 left in the game.

"Those (the three-point baskets) were really big," said Wearden. "What's funny is our trainer (Jerry Sodano) said if we could get a five-point lead, the game would be over and then we hit those three-pointers."

Another thing that helped the Jays was getting CR center Micki Younger in early foul trouble.

Younger was hit with her third foul early in the second period and didn't return to the game until 4:12 remained in the third quarter.

"Getting Younger in foul trouble was real important for us," said Wearden. "She is a tough basketball player. She scored 23 against us the first time we played them and we lost. Then when we beat them the second time we played, she was out sick."

CR coach Bill Victory was obviously disappointed after being knocked out of the tournament's quarterfinal round two years in a row by Seaford.

"One of these years it's going to be our turn," he said. "They (Seaford) are a great team. They played hard and you can't take anything away from them. We stayed with them for three quarters. But, when it finally came down to it, their four seniors wanted it more than my young pups.

"I do know, with five sophomores and two freshmen we will be right back here again next year. And, we will keep knocking on the door until we get through - and we will."

Among the Riders returning next year are freshman Nakia Anderson, who scored a team-high 17 points and Younger, who netted 13 points in her final game as a sophomore.