DV girls’ basketball takes on North Pocono, Honesdale

The Delaware Valley girls’ basketball teams recently played against North Pocono and Honesdale.

I was unable to attend the North Pocono games but the girls coach Mikaela Smith supplied the details.

The JV girls are portending a bright future for Delaware Valley girls’ basketball. They defeated a very tough and talented North Pocono team by a tight score of 27-26. The top two scorers were Cecelia Dickerson with 9 points and Alexis Silva with 8 points.

The varsity team was not as fortunate and suffered a blowout, with a North Pocono victory of 60-33.

Amanda Aragona put in 9 points, Ciara Newton and Jordan Dickerson both had 6 points, while Leah Bird had 5 points.

Now we come to the Honesdale games. At the end of the third quarter, the Delaware Valley JV teams was up 39-19. At one point, Rainna Carr pulled down a rebound and raced the entire length of the court and sank a layup, igniting the stands in an explosive reaction of cheers and calling out a chant of her name, “Rainna, Rainna, Rainna.”

The JV team won this by a score of 47-29.

Next came the varsity game. And what a game it was! Honesdale was so tall that I didn’t trust my perspective. I had to walk down on the court and see for myself. Three of the girls at least six feet, and several girls made me feel small.

The varsity team raced out to a 5-0 lead and really looked sharp. However, Honesdale began to get in a groove and the first quarter ended with Honesdale up 13-12. So yes, we had a game going here. During one beautiful play, Ciara Newton stole the ball and drove court length, but a pretty shot didn’t fall because she was fouled.

In the second period, it became apparent that Delaware Valley was going to have trouble scoring because the tall Honesdale girls were blocking or tipping everything. However, Newton took control and sunk a 3-point shot. A technical was called on Honesdale for an unnecessary shove and Newton got two free foul shots.

Newton hit another 3-pointer, putting Delaware Valley ahead 19-17. But after some poor foul shots, Honesdale took a halftime lead 23-21.

The third period was basically nip and tuck. In the final period Honesdale made foul shots but Krystina Orby popped 2 inside shots and Amanda Aragona hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 to go in the game, giving Delaware Valley the lead again.

Then came some fouls and missed calls, angering the crowd. Delaware Valley was up by just 3 points at this stage of the game. It looked to be a tossup, but Aragona sank a foul shot, her team up by 4 with .7 seconds to go. Delaware Valley pulled out what might have seen improbable with a score of 41-37.

Newton played her best game to date, with three 3-pointers all came at the direst moments. Aragona and Orby also had a great game, and Rainna Carr was flat out amazing. She is a rebounding demon, controlling the space around the rim like an unstoppable force. When in play she alters the dynamics of the game and really excites the fans.

Some unsung heroes are Leah Bird, Jordan Dickerson and Kiera Lazzaro. They are steady and necessary additions to the team.

So here are some statistics. Newton led the way with 11 points. Aragona had 9. Bird scored 7. Orby had 6 and Carr had 5. Lazzaro has to be mentioned for her defense. She had seven rebounds and four steals.

It was a very big victory thanks to the teamwork and contributions by all players.