By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
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DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP — There aren’t many girls basketball players in the state who can shut down Lenape junior guard El-Anita Joe-Samuel, and the handful who possibly can weren’t wearing the Navy-and-gold of the Franklin High Warriors on Tuesday night at Deptford High.
Joe-Samuel — who is averaging nearly 25 points per game and has almost 800 points this season alone — outscored the ENTIRE Warriors team in the Group 4 semifinals, dropping in 39 points to lead Lenape to a 54-35 victory that puts the Indians into the state championship game for the second time in three years. They won it all two years ago with a win over Morristown, and at noon on Saturday at Rutgers University the Indians will take on North Jersey champion Westfield.
Last year, Lenape was stymied by district rival Cherokee in the sectional finals, and Joe-Samuel wasn’t about to let that happen again this year. The Indians beat Cherokee four times this season, including in the sectional semifinals, and Lenape is riding a 12-game winning streak into the state title game.
On Tuesday night, Joe-Samuel made it clear from the start she was in control against Franklin. She went on a 6-0 run all by herself to start the game.
“First of all, I knew I had to start off strong because everybody was a little nervous,” she said. “So, if I started off strong, I knew I could maybe kill (Franklin’s) spirits from the start and we could get a lead.”
“I’m honestly so grateful to have her. I take pride in playing my position and being able to find her because I know how talented she is and I know she’ll execute when I give it to her,” said senior guard Olivia Watkins, a Susquehanna University recruit. “I’m really glad me and the girls were able to find her tonight and help her score that much.”
No other Indians player scored in double figures — but they didn’t have to the way Joe-Samuel was playing. She scored in just about every way imaginable, hitting 15 shots from the floor and adding seven points from the foul line.
“El-Anita is a very special player. She’s so good at so many different parts of the game. She can get to the basket; she can finish in traffic; she’s got a beautiful mid-range shot; she can shoot from the perimeter,” said Lenape coach Sean McAneny. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, one of my biggest things with her is how much intensity she brings to the defensive side of the ball. She applies so much pressure on defense, and she takes every possession personally and I love that about her. It makes it easy to coach. There’s not much I have to say to her because she’s so competitive. She wants to get a stop every time (on defense), and she wants to make sure she scores to help her team succeed. It’s easy to coach a player like that.”
Lenape (28-4, 8-0 Olympic American) took a precarious 20-18 lead into halftime, but Joe-Samuel hit a big 3-pointer to start the third quarter, and even after picking up her third foul she was dominant. She was a big part of Lenape’s 10-1 run to start the second half, and Watkins nailed a 3-pointer as well, as the Indians’ lead swelled to 30-19. By the end of three quarters, Lenape held a comfortable 37-24 lead and there was little hope of a comeback for the Warriors (22-9, 2-2 Skyland-Delaware).
“(Coach McAneny) always tells us (at halftime) that the other team is going to come out with fire, and that it’s not over until it’s over, so we have to come out even harder, and win the half,” Joe-Samuel said. “I’m very grateful for my teammates for passing me the ball when I’m open, setting screens. I work hard every day; after practice every day I go and work out at a little gym that’s near me. I knew I had this in me. I knew that I’ve worked hard and I could do the things I did (tonight). That hard work gives me confidence.
“This feels amazing. I’m so glad to be able to go back there again, and we’re going to be out there to win it.”
“Coming into this game, we knew it was going to be a lot of mental toughness we were going to have to have. At halftime, we just reiterated that so that we were all on the same page. We knew what we had to do, we just had to execute and I’m really happy that we did. We’ve worked so hard, every single day in practice. We always knew we could do it,” Watkins added. “(El-Anita) is incredible to watch. I’ve been playing with her since eighth grade — she played up (an age group) on my travel team, and she’s just awesome. She’s always been amazing. She’s a real talent.”
Joe-Samuel was just as impressive on defense, as she limited Franklin’s leading scorer, Aleah Sunkins, to just four points. Sunkins entered the game with 1,314 points and had scored more than 550 this season.
McAneny said his team has been on a mission since last year’s tough loss in sectionals.
“I think last year, that heartbreaking loss — we lost to a rival, and Cherokee is an awesome program. I’m friends with their coach and they have a great program, great coaches, great girls. And it’s hard to beat a rival like that three times in one year. So, we had some heartache at the end of last year and I think that was motivation,” he said. “These seniors realized this is their last run and they wanted every moment they could get out of it. I’m very blessed to have seniors like Olivia Watkins and Ryleigh Nichols — just the passion they bring and the intensity on both ends of the floor. It showed in some crunch time moments tonight, and them having been through this before was huge for us.”
