By Steve Spiewak
MaxPreps.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Ursuline Academy (Del.) senior Elena Delle Donne scored 38 points in a 57-37 win over New York City powerhouse Christ the King to highlight Friday's action at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.
Delle Donne, widely regarded as the nation's top high school girls basketball player, added 11 rebounds to her scoring outburst in the 20-point victory.
The 6-foot-5 senior was hounded by autograph seekers after the game and warmly greeted by numerous University of Connecticut fans in attendance, including Husky women's head coach Geno Auriemma. Delle Donne has signed on to play in Storrs next year.
Christ the King had difficulty scoring against the Ursuline defense, which featured Delle Donne down low and Kayla Miller hounding the ball up top. No Royal had more than 10 points.
In other Friday action;
Granby (Mass.) 50, New Leadership Charter (Mass.) 37
In the day's first contest, Granby relied on the one-two punch of Lauren Livingstone and Gennifer Roy to pull away from New Leadership.
Livingstone had 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Roy added 17 points and nine rebounds to go along with five assists.
Granby's win spoiled a solid effort from New Leadership's Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, who added 18 points in defeat, demonstrating an array of offensive moves.
Springfield Central (Mass.) 49, Norwich Free Academy (Conn.) 47 - Overtime
Thanks to a three-point field goal from Felicia Barron with only seconds to play, Springfield Central was able to hold off Norwich Free Academy in a contest that took an overtime session to decide.
Barron was the game's leading scorer with 26 points.
Norwich Free Academy fought to the end in a game that featured 15 lead changes. Two last-minute steals had them up one point with less than thirty seconds to go before Barron's game-winning shot. Kastine Evans led the way with 18 points.
Minnechaug (Mass.) 43, Longview (Mass.) 27
In the final contest Friday, Minnechaug eased past Longview, 43-27.
Center Bridget Crowley led the way for Minnechaug with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She had a lot of help from Breanne Dufault, who added eight points and 10 boards.
Longview was led by Caitlin Izzo's seven points.
