Adkins, Ravens beat CR girls

Sussex Tech's Bethany Pavlik, left, and teammate Monette Malabet, right, try to steal the ball from Caesar Rodney's April Jackson Friday night as the Ravens moved past the Riders to advance in the state basketball tournament. Delaware State News/Jason Minto

By Mike Lewis, Delaware State News

GEORGETOWN - Wesley Townsend, the coach of the Sussex Tech girls basketball team, told the Ravens at their Thursday practice to come into Friday night's game against Caesar Rodney playing "Tech Ball."

What is "Tech Ball," you ask?

If it's aggressively driving to the bucket, playing tough defense and having a never-say-die attitude, the Ravens displayed "Tech Ball" in fine style.

Sussex Tech recovered from an early deficit to defeat the visiting Riders 54-46 in the second round of the girls basketball state tournament.

The seventh-seeded Ravens will play Wilmington Charter, which defeated second-seeded Concord, in a quarterfinal matchup Monday night.

Trailing by three points at halftime, Sussex Tech exploded out of the gates in the second half, scoring the first eight points of the third quarter.

Brittany Adkins, who finished with a game-high 20 points, was particularly effective, scoring 10 points in that quarter alone.

"We knew if we lost this game, we were going home," Adkins said. "None of us wanted to go home.

"We all have jobs on this team and my job is take it to the basket, and that's what I did."

Sussex Tech (21-2) was forced to make a comeback after CR, the No. 10 seed, began the game with a 14-6 spurt. That start was all the more remarkable considering the Riders didn't arrive at the Ravens gym until 10 minutes before tipoff due to a late start from Camden.

"It seemed like nothing went our way," said CR coach Bill Victory. "This is tough but we'll definitely be back next year."

The Ravens chipped away throughout the second quarter and narrowed the Riders' lead to 24-21 at the break with two free throws by Anika Jones (18 points) with seven-tenths of a second remaining.

Following Adkins' huge third quarter, the Tech defense then did its job at the start of the fourth, holding CR without a point until Brittani Shells (team-high 16 points) hit a jumper with 3:45 left in the game. By that time, the Ravens had stretched their advantage to double figures.

"We play with a lot of heart," Townsend said. "We worked on our defense all week.

"For a couple games in the middle of the season, we were too relaxed. I told them (Thursday) we had to go back to Tech Ball. The girls did the job."

Inconsistent free-throw shooting by the Ravens (16-for-37 in the game) kept the outcome in doubt for most of the fourth quarter, as CR kept sending Tech players to the line.

Jones ended all hopes for a miracle comeback with 48.8 seconds left, when her off-balance shot off a drive trickled around the rim and went in, giving Tech a 49-39 cushion.

Jones' shot was the highlight of a second half which saw the Ravens outscore CR 33-22.

"We didn't give up when were down," Jones said. "That was our key."

Staff writer Mike Lewis can be reached at 741-8231 or mlewis@newszap.com.