City of Basketball Love

Finn Courtney (@finncourtney_)
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BRYN MAWR — It was the longest 1.4 seconds of the Shipley School Gators’ young careers.

After trailing for nearly the entire game and missing a potential game-tying free throw, the six-seed Shipley looked down and out on Friday at home against underdog Hill School trying to defend one last baseline inbound. 

Enter sophomore forward Rikai Williford, who scooped up a muffed inbounds pass and nailed a shot as time expired to turn what looked like a heartbreaker into one of the wildest finishes of the year to advance to the quarterfinals of the PAISAA tournament with a 44-43.

“They inbounded the ball, [they] dropped it, fumbled it, I got down, picked it up, dribble, layup — it was all so crazy, like 1.4 seconds left, it just happened so quick,” said Williford, who had just two points before her game-winner.

“I think a lot of people think the game is over,” second-year Shipley head coach Ellen Bair said. “At the last second, [we decided] to faceguard, switch all screens and hope we get something. And then to have Rikai get something, it’s awesome, it shows great fight and also why sports are crazy.” 

Williford has been a starter the last two years, and Bair’s influence since coming over from Linden Hall has helped turn the 5-foot-10 sophomore from a forward to a guard. Under her tutelage, Williford’s stepped up as an oversized guard by stretching bigs off defensive assignments and developing into a lead scorer.

“She gave me the confidence. I started playing [for the Gators] in eighth grade, and I was more so of a big. She helped me transform to a guard, she gave me the confidence to shoot more, I know I could shoot but it was like, ‘I’m a big,’” Williford said.

“[She’s] amazing, Rakai’s so important to our team, she plays almost every minute of the game, she always has to guard the other team’s big even though she’s smaller than them. She’s a guard, but I’m really proud of her to have such a big shot,” Bair said. “I like seeing her continue to mature, she’s only a sophomore so another two years with her will be awesome.

“I’m glad she got that moment to get us the win ‘cause she deserves it.”

It was an ugly offensive game for most of the affair for the Gators, who only made one 3-pointer, courtesy of junior Mallory Farr in the first quarter. 

The one standout who reached double digits for Shipley was eighth-grade guard Cidney Stanfield, her age not showing with 23 total points, including eight in the first quarter and six in the crucial final frame.

Outside of her performance, it was mostly a day to forget for the Gator offense.

“I don’t think we played very well; I think that’s probably the worst we’ve ever shot from 3 all season, so I think that contributed,” Bair said. “But to grind it out and finish, I love to see that from my team especially in the playoffs. That takes consistency and courage.”

Bair said the Gators were hot and cold on offense, the hottest stretch coming in the form of a 12-0 run after halftime. It gave Shipley its first lead of the day, up six with 4:22 left in the quarter. 

“I would have liked to see a little bit more urgency, but I hope this game is a wake-up call, like we gotta be in it all the time,” Bair said. “The momentum we played with to have the 12-0 run, we can play like that all the time, we can have that pace all the time.”

But Hill School sophomore guard Sammie Faella rallied her team with six points, including the only field goals of the third quarter for Hill. Kayleigh Ludwig went 3-of-3 at the line after getting fouled to put the Blues up one heading to the final quarter.

For Hill, three players finished with 11 or more points, led by Lily Soller. The 6-foot-2 forward scored at will underneath against an undersized Shipley team, finishing with a double-double that included a team-high 17 points, 12 in the first quarter alone. She formed a deadly duo with Faella (11 points) from tip to the final buzzer.

“We were in pretty bad foul trouble the whole game, that messed with us,” Bair said. “We were throwing different lineups out there, and [Soller] is obviously excellent, so lacking height and also being in foul trouble, that was tough.”

The road gets no easier for the Gators from here, with three-seed and co-Inter-Academic League champion Germantown Academy (23-5) awaiting them Tuesday. Williford and Co. are looking to ride the momentum of this come-from-behind win to pull off an upset.

“We’re feeling really good, we were getting upset towards the end,” Williford said, “but after making that layup, everyone’s hype, we’re ready for GA and [we’re gonna have] a few good practices.”

By Quarter

Hill School: 17 | 9 | 11 | 6 || 43

Shipley School: 12 | 9 | 15 | 8 || 44

Scoring

Hill School: Lily Soller 17, Kayleigh Ludwig 15, Sammie Faella 11, Graciana Eilberg 1

Shipley School: Cidney Stanfield 23. Mallory Farr 9, Rikai Williford 4, Anna Pascale 2, Taylor Lasky 2, Halle Newsome 2, Sanai Johnson 2