Warriors Grind Out Win Over Jags

The Mardela girls basketball team proved they could win ugly Tuesday afternoon when they topped Washington 56-49 in a game riddled with fouls and little rhythm. The Warriors advance to face top seeded Pocomoke on Thursday.

The Warriors would jump out to a quick lead as Armani Banks connected on a couple outside shots, followed up by Aerionna Joynes getting out in transition for a few easy ones. The lead would reach 7-0 before Washington finally settled in. Danaisa Roberts would add a bucket in transition off a strong take, while Dominique Hutt would have a strong finish on the block to trim the deficit to 3. Then just before the end of the first quarter, Joynes would score in transition, but leave just enough time for Roberts to bring up the ball, then drill a 3 from the top of the arc to cut Mardelas lead to 13-9. The Warriors continued to build on their lead in the second quarter, but foul trouble began to mount up. Taylor Ross would pick up her 3rd, while Joynes was tagged with her 2nd and Banks picked up her 2nd as well. They would still take a 21-18 lead into half. Washington continued to attack in the third quarter, getting baskets from Hutt and Roberts along with Shira Hanna. Still though, the Warriors would fire right back. They would get a lift off their bench as Kayla Cook would add a couple baskets to give her team a 37-31 lead headed to the 4th. There, the lead would stretch to 7 before the momentum swung in favor of the road team.

Ross would pick up her 5th personal to foul out of the game, followed by Joynes getting her 4th along with Banks getting her 4th. As they took the bench, the Jags would go on a run. Roberts would drill a three ball, followed by a bucket from Hutt to make a 1 point game. 

That’s when Banks would come back into the game, scoring on back to back plays. The lead would return shortly after that to 7 with under a minute to play, and Mardela would close it out for the win.