Owens sparks Willingboro to victory over Delran

Maybe it was because of the simple fact that their team leader, a sophomore, had just scored her 1,000th point.

Or maybe it was the way Micayha Owens did it.

Either way, the Willingboro Chimeras looked like a completely reenergized team after Owens split a double team just beyond midcourt and charged the basket before drawing a hard foul and making one of two free throws.

Willingboro looked flat and was losing to Delran when Owens hit her historic free throw with 1 minute, 59 seconds left in the first quarter Wednesday night in the second round of the South Jersey Group 2 girls' basketball tournament at Willingboro.

But the fourth-seeded Chimeras went on to outscore the No. 5 Bears by 14 in the second quarter and cruise to a 52-36 win over the team that had cost them a share of the Burlington County Patriot Division title.

"She's a tremendous scorer for us. She's one of the best players we've ever had," said Willingboro coach Guy Fowler, whose team moves on to play Friday night against No. 1 Sterling, a 49-30 winner Wednesday over No. 9 West Deptford. "And I think this is what the whole team has been waiting for. So when it happened, I think we kind of got that monkey off our back.

"It's [Owens'] 1,000th point, but we kind of look at it as a team accomplishment.

"So once we got that out of the way, we were ready to play."

Owens, a forward, is on pace to score 2,000 points. Only 23 players in South Jersey girls' basketball history have reached that mark.

"I was kind of nervous about it before the game. I kept thinking about it," Owens said. "But really, I just wanted to beat Delran. They beat us before, and the whole team just wanted to get them back this time."

Willingboro (19-8) fell to Delran (18-6) by four points on Feb. 15. The win earned Delran a share of the division title with Holy Cross. The Chimeras, who had been front-running for most of the season, were left empty-handed.

Since that loss, Willingboro had been counting the days to Wednesday's matchup.

"When they beat us, we told them, 'Hey, we'll see you in two weeks,' " Fowler said. "Revenge was definitely a big deal for us in this game."

Freshman Kara Cezar, who suffered a sprained ankle against Delran on Feb. 15 and missed four games, chipped in 10 points, Owens finished with 11, and junior Taylor Lewis led all players with 14.

After the Chimeras' dominant second quarter, Lewis made sure her team kept the momentum in the second half.

The junior hit her first three shots in the third quarter - they also happened to be her team's first three shots in the period - to put Willingboro up by 10 midway through the quarter.

"Taylor sets the tone for us defensively," Fowler said. "And today, she was able to set her feet . . . and take her shot, and she did that."

Delran   12 3 11 10 – 36

Willingboro   7 17 18 10 – 52

D: April Cleveland 2, Crystal Cleveland 3, Haley Cullen 8, Aliyah Murray 11, Taylor Umbrell 12.

W: Kara Cezar 10, Micayha Owens 11, Gabby Bennett 5, Taylor Lewis 14, Kamilla Ferguson 5, Brittanie Bingham 3, Vanessa Francis 4.