Riders dominate Tower Hill in Delaware girls tournament

Caesar Rodney's Nakia Anderson gets off a shot between Tower Hill defenders Nicki White, left, and Kristin Phillips during Wednesday's state tournament victory. Delaware State News/Doug Curran

By Andy Walter, Delaware State News

CAMDEN - It was the one thing they couldn't think about on Wednesday night.

But it was also their biggest reward for a victory.

And right from the start, there was little doubt that the Riders were going to get what they wanted - another showdown with Sussex Tech.

Caesar Rodney High earned that date after dispatching Tower Hill, 42-22, in the first round of the girls basketball state tournament on Wednesday night.

The 10th-seeded Riders (15-8) will play at No. 7 Sussex Tech (20-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. in the tourney's second round. The two teams split their two regular-season meetings.

CR coach Bill Victory reminded his players constantly not to get caught looking ahead.

"Kids have a tendency to do that," he said. "You have to make sure they focus on the main meal right now. What's down the road, dessert, we can't look at that right now.

"We could mess around and get knocked off today and not play on Friday. Getting to Friday is kind of a big thing. I'm looking forward to it."

It was pretty clear early in Wednesday's game that the 23rd-seeded Hillers (14-9) couldn't match up with CR.

The Riders scored the first six points and eventually opened up a 23-7 halftime lead.

Tower Hill didn't reach double figures until 1:51 left in the third quarter. By then CR owned a 35-11 advantage.

The Riders' full-court press harassed the Hillers into 29 turnovers. Tower Hill scored only seven field goals.

"We didn't really know what Tower Hill had," said CR sophomore Nakia Anderson, who scored a game-high 16 points. "You can't look past one team because they might surprise you. You've got to play for the moment.

"We didn't come out as good as we could have," she added. "But we did what we had to do to get the job done."

Besides Anderson, freshman Brittani Shells netted 10 points for the Riders, including eight of their first 18 points.

Now that they can actually think about a rematch with Sussex Tech, the Riders admit they're looking forward to it.

"We like playing them," said Anderson. "They're great competition. It's always fun to play them."

"They thumped us the last time we were down there," said Victory. "(Coach) Wes (Townsend) does a good job with his kids. We have to come down there really primed and ready.

"I think the kids are looking forward to that, to see what we can do."

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 741-8227 or walter @newszap.com.