Spartans shoot down Seahawks in girls’ hoops
The good news for the girls hooping it up at Sussex Academy is that two of their key players are nearing a return to action. The bad news is they had to play against senior Kirja Hickman and a 6-1 Lake Forest squad to ring in the new year.
Seahawks captains Rachel Carey and Emiley Bisaha have missed the last few games for Sussex Academy, and in their absence, fellow captain Falisha Amisial, senior Samira Zahraoui, sophomore Debora Williams and freshman Grayce Glover have had to shoulder the load. Sisters Lilyana Zorn, a sophomore, and freshman Isabella Zorn along with freshman Annabelle Hudson have also gained valuable varsity experience. Against Lake Forest Jan. 4, the girls were able to watch and defend against one of the more talented bigs in the Henlopen Conference.
“Kirja Hickman did an awesome job and did what she was supposed to do in the paint,” said Sussex Academy coach Rayona Benson. “It’s our job to stop it. We need to have somebody in the back and on the help side defense. They don’t want to lose – they are tired of losing – so in their minds, it’s not just me, it's them pushing each other and saying let’s go do this.”
The Spartans led 31-8 going into the break, but the Seahawks kept up the intensity throughout the contest and came out of halftime to win the third quarter 7-3. Defensively, the girls were noticeably engaged and fighting to win each possession, resulting in a few steals.
“We made some adjustments at halftime, which helped a lot, especially going man-to-man,” Benson said. “It’s hard missing two key players. We’re adjusting to whether we can run certain defenses with or without them.”
The 23-point deficit at half coupled with a fourth quarter won by Lake Forest 13-5 resulted in a 47-20 victory for the Spartans. Hickman led all scorers with 22, but she certainly had to earn every point.
“Samira came out here and did what she was supposed to do, as she always does,” Benson said. “She’s going harder, stepping up when we need her to step up. She was able to front [Hickman] and still recovered. She did an awesome job.”
The Seahawks will look to avenge an earlier two-point loss to Laurel when they travel west Tuesday, Jan. 9.
