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CR girls find way past young Hodgson

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GLASGOW – Caesar Rodney girls basketball coach Bill Victory knew that Tuesday was the perfect time to take on Hodgson.

“I’m glad I saw them now,” he said. “Later on in the year, boy, they’re going to be wearing people out. They’re a blur getting up and down the floor.”

But the Silver Eagles are inexperienced right now, as four of the nine players to see action were freshmen making their high school debuts. Caesar Rodney took advantage, pulling away late for a 52-41 road victory.

Caesar Rodney's Alexis Reid (left) defends as Hodgson's Ja-naiah Perkins-Jackson moves along the perimeter in the Riders' 52-41 road win Tuesday.

Caesar Rodney’s Alexis Reid (left) defends as Hodgson’s Ja-naiah Perkins-Jackson moves along the perimeter in the Riders’ 52-41 road win Tuesday.

The Riders (1-1) also have a young team, starting two sophomores, two juniors and a senior. But Caesar Rodney also had the benefit of a game under its belt, a 59-57 loss to archrival Dover last Friday that left the Riders hungry to improve.

“It was a big step up from our first game,” said CR senior Jordan Moseley, who finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds. “We worked hard, we played defense better, and we shared the ball a lot better.”

It was a streaky first half. The Riders scored the first four points, then watched Hodgson score the next eight. The Silver Eagles took a 14-10 lead on a 3-pointer from the right corner by Ja-naiah Perkins-Jackson, only to see CR respond with a 6-0 run.

The lead changed hands two more times before two free throws by Brionna Brooks put the Riders up 21-20 at the half.

CR took control early in the third quarter, with Moseley collecting rebounds and running the floor for easy baskets on the other end. Alissa Haith drove for a score, and Victoria Sebastian and Haith fed Moseley for layups. Then Moseley banked in another layup and hit two free throws to push the Riders to a 31-22 lead.

“Just a monster game for her,” Victory said of Moseley, who moved from forward to center to replace the injured Zoe Scott. “She missed eight layups in our first game, but she brought it tonight. I’m so proud of her.”

CR kept pushing the tempo, with Destiny Johnson scoring on a fast break and Moseley putting back an offensive rebound to stretch the lead to 44-30 with 6:58 to play. But Hodgson, which graduated much of a team that went 19-4 and reached the state quarterfinals last season, got back in it with pressure defense.

The Silver Eagles started getting fast breaks off of turnovers to score nine straight points. Imani Henry-Butler’s layup pulled Hodgson within 44-39 with 5:13 remaining.

“They were really good,” Moseley said of the Silver Eagles. “We have to keep pushing ourselves, and know that we can’t take our heads out of the game if they’re coming back.”

CR righted the ship, scoring eight of the game’s final 10 points. Haith hit two free throws and a layup to push the Riders’ lead back to 49-39 with 3:49 to go.

“We moved her to point guard because she gets to the rim so well, and she puts everybody in the mix,” Victory said of Haith, who finished with 24 points. “She distributes the ball really well.”

Hodgson (0-1) was led by two freshmen, with Kayla Braxton-Young scoring 16 and Perkins-Jackson adding 13.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ


Cape boys hoops starts season strong

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Jeremiah Smack of Cape moves the ball as Poly's Zach Price defends Tuesday.

Jeremiah Smack of Cape moves the ball as Poly’s Zach Price defends Tuesday.

Only one team could win, but both teams gained a lot when Concord and Cape Henlopen matched up in their boys basketball season opener in the Rumble By The River on Dec. 6 at St. Georges.

Concord won 55-51 in overtime, scoring the only four points of the extra period on free throws. When it was over, both head coaches were pleased.

“In my opinion, we just beat a playoff team,” Raiders coach Ralph Flowers said. “They’ve got inside, they’ve got outside shooters and a point guard that can get them the ball. Cape Henlopen really played hard and played well, and they’re going to be a team to be reckoned with.”

The Vikings went 9-12 and lost in the first round of the state tournament last season, but coach Stephen Re saw a lot of hopeful signs in hanging tough against a perennial state title contender. The only downside for Cape was a 16-for-29 performance at the foul line.

“It’s a make or miss game, and we missed a ton of free throws,” Re said. “We got great looks, and we missed them. We played hard, we executed well, we got great looks, we rotated well on D. They made a couple of more buckets at the end of the game than we did, and that’s what it came down to.”

Neither team led by more than seven, and the lead changed hands 13 times. Concord jumped to a 10-5 lead on a three-point play by Joe McHugh, only to see the Vikings score eight straight and go up 13-10 on two free throws from Demetrius Price.

Cape led for most of the second quarter, until a spinning bank shot and two free throws by Chimaobi Okwu-Lawrence pushed the Raiders ahead 29-28 at the half.

Concord stretched the margin to 37-30 on Matthew Arrabal’s 3-pointer from the right corner three minutes into the second half. But the Vikings stepped up the defensive pressure and closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run, taking a 39-37 lead on Randy Rickards’ buzzer-beating layup.

Neither team led by more than three in the fourth quarter. A floater in the lane by Concord’s Danny Wise tied it at 51 with 36.8 seconds left, and Price’s off-balance 3-pointer barely missed at the buzzer to send it into overtime.

“That was a playoff atmosphere in game one,” Flowers said. “Both teams are going to benefit.”

No field goals were scored in the four-minute OT. Concord won it on two three throws by McHugh and one each from Wise and Noah Rivera, all in the final 1:03.

“It was definitely a defensive game,” Wise said. “It was hard fought, and I really enjoyed it. It was one of my favorite games I’ve played in high school so far. I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Wise, Concord’s point guard, earned praise from Flowers after finishing with 10 points, three assists and no turnovers. The Raiders got balanced scoring, as Rivera, Okwu-Lawrence and McHugh each had 11 points.

Rickards led Cape with 15 points, and Price added 10.

Vikings pick up first win 

After a tough opening game, Cape got its first win of the season at home against Polytech on Dec. 8.

Led by Rickards 24-point game, the Vikings beat the Panthers 60-48.

Despite the win, Re thought Cape played better in the first game of the season.

“To be honest, I thought we were two different teams really,” he said. “We played a whole lot on Sunday than the win on Tuesday. I believe we are somewhere in between those two teams is the team we are.”

The Vikings only turned the ball over eight times against Concord, but then played with too much energy and were sloppy against Poly. However, the free throw shooting in the second half was better.

Rickards has been a bright spot, and Re thinks once he is comfortable and not playing off instinct, he could be a consistent threat.

“He’s continuing to develop,” Re said. “He just has a knack for getting rebounds and putting the ball back up.”

— Ryan Marshall

Smyrna wins on Garnett's tip-in at buzzer

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NEW CASTLE – Jaymeir Garnett beat the man trying to box him out on Ja’vier Worthy’s first free throw, but Worthy made it.

When the second foul shot rimmed out, Garnett slipped inside again and tipped it in at the buzzer Thursday night to give Smyrna a thrilling, 58-57 victory at William Penn.

“I did the same move, got around him, tipped it in,” said Garnett, a 6-foot-3 freshman who finished with 10 points. “I jabbed like I was going behind him, and then I went in front of him and tipped it in.”

The seventh-ranked Eagles (2-0) were trailing by two points when Worthy went to the line for a one-an

Smyrna's Ja'vier Worthy (21) is sent to the line by William Penn's Jermal Crumel, setting up the Jaymeir Garnett's winning buzzer-beater putback of a missed free throw in the fourth quarter of Smyrna's 58-57 win at William Penn Thursday.

Smyrna’s Ja’vier Worthy (21) is sent to the line by William Penn’s Jermal Crumel, setting up the Jaymeir Garnett’s winning buzzer-beater putback of a missed free throw in the fourth quarter of Smyrna’s 58-57 win at William Penn Thursday.

d-one with 1.0 seconds on the clock. The senior was 5-for-5 at the line on the night when his second free throw spun out of the cylinder.

“I thought somebody was going to go up and get it,” said Worthy, who finished with 15 points. “At first, I thought the game was over. But then Jaymeir jumped out of nowhere and tipped the ball.”

Smyrna coach Andrew Mears was thrilled not only with the win, but with the way his Eagles came through in the final second.

“We went through this whole week with the thought, ‘Winning is in the details,’” Mears said. “It was that little detail at the end. Our bigs just knew that was going to come off the rim on their side, and they were just ready to make a play when it did.”

Smyrna went on a 10-0 run midway through the second quarter, as Caleb Matthews (15 points) hit an NBA-range 3-pointer and Garnett turned Dymer’e Richardson’s sharp assist into a layup for a 26-13 lead.

The Eagles were up 29-21 at the half and 46-39 after three quarters. But the 10th-ranked Colonials (1-1) trailed Salesianum by 10 at the half in their season opener before roaring back to win by 10, and they cranked it up a notch again at the start of the fourth quarter.

William Penn put together a 14-2 surge, with a driving layup by Daniel Walsh giving the Colonials their first lead of the game at 49-48. Markee Johnson followed with a layup off an inbounds play, and Ny’Jere Hodges hit two free throws to push William Penn ahead 53-48 with 4:23 to play.

“We’re a gritty team. Our guys play hard,” Colonials coach Steve Christensen said. “We have our lulls, we have our ups and downs. But we did a lot of good things.”

It tightened up from there. Dasir King’s free throw gave the Colonials a 57-55 cushion with 17.9 seconds left. Worthy missed a deep 3 on the other end, but the Eagles got the ball back after a wild scramble and Worthy was fouled with one tick left.

Worthy made the first and missed the second. But Garnett saved the Eagles and set off a wild celebration.

Smyrna's Jaymeir Garnett (second from right) is the center of the celebration after his buzzer-beater putback of a missed free throw to nip William Penn in Smyrna's 58-57 win Thursday.

Smyrna’s Jaymeir Garnett (second from right) is the center of the celebration after his buzzer-beater putback of a missed free throw to nip William Penn in Smyrna’s 58-57 win Thursday.

“He is a freshman, but he is definitely well versed in basketball,” Mears said of Garnett. “He’s got a lot of heart that matches the talent, so it’s an easy decision to put him out there.”

It was reminiscent of last year’s DIAA tournament, when Smyrna traveled to William Penn and edged the Colonials 51-48 in the second round. Worthy said the Eagles learned a lot during last year’s 17-6 season.

“We went through this all last year,” Worthy said. “Now this year, we know how to go through these situations and we know how to come out on top at the end.”

William Penn got 17 points from Walsh and 10 each from Johnson and Jermal Crumel. The Colonials must bounce back quickly, as they play their first road game of the season Saturday at Christiana.

“We talk to them all the time about trying to respond to adversity,” Christensen said. “This is about as adverse as you can get in a basketball game. We’ve got to bounce back [at practice] tomorrow. We’ve got another opportunity on Saturday. How we respond tomorrow will probably tell us a lot about what we’re going to be this season.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Medley takes top wrestler honors at Yellowjacket

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Caravel's Keith Medley, top, controls Newark's Nazr Roberson at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday. Medley defeated Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class.

Caravel’s Keith Medley, top, controls Newark’s Nazr Roberson at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday. Medley defeated Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class.

Caravel's Keith Medley, right, grabs the leg of Newark's Nazr Roberson at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday. Medley defeated Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class.

Caravel’s Keith Medley, right, grabs the leg of Newark’s Nazr Roberson at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday. Medley defeated Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class.

Caravel's Keith Medley (right) defeated Newark's Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound match at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday.

Caravel’s Keith Medley (right) defeated Newark’s Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound match at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday.

Caravel's Keith Medley, right, defeated Newark's Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday.

Caravel’s Keith Medley, right, defeated Newark’s Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220 pound weight class at the Yellowjackets Invitational at Newark High School Saturday.

NEWARK – Caravel wrestler Keith Medley learned a valuable lesson on Saturday night.

Be ready at all times.

Medley came out a little sluggish, and Newark’s Nazr Roberson nailed him with an early takedown in the 220-pound final at the Yellowjacket Invitational on Roberson’s home mat.

But Medley recovered and grinded out an 8-4 decision, good for outstanding wrestler honors in the 18-team tournament at Newark High.

“Honestly, I didn’t bring my ‘A’ game,” Medley said. “It was more of a gut check for me.”

Medley, who finished second in the state at 220 last season, transferred from St. Mark’s to Caravel before this school year. He took Roberson’s early move, which put him behind 2-0 just 30 seconds into the match, as a challenge.

“I work hard, and I expect myself to get out of situations like that,” Medley said. “I just tried to get in the best position to wrestle and score points.”

The junior scored enough points to win, and now looks forward to next weekend’s Beast of the East tournament at the University of Delaware. The annual event draws some of the best high school wrestlers from around the nation, so Medley is sure to have his hands full.

“Anything can happen to anybody at any given moment,” Medley said. “I didn’t have the sense of urgency I should have during that match. But I will focus on that this whole week.”

Caravel teammate Josh Dailey scored three pins, including a takedown of Hodgson’s Attila Brisco in 1:29 in the 160-pound final.

“It was pretty good,” Dailey said. “It was a slow start, but I got out there and my coaches were just telling me, ‘You need to go, you need to go. Get it over with.’”

Hodgson scored one over Caravel in the 126-pound final, as senior Tyler Harris made a quick, decisive takedown just 20 seconds into overtime to earn a 7-5 decision over Christopher DiEdoardo.

“I tried to execute, overcome my tiredness to get the win,” said Harris, who also won his weight class in the Green Knight Invitational at Mount Pleasant last year. “I knew I had to get a shot off the whistle, because he’s a very good wrestler. I knew I had to get him quick, pull that leg in and climb to the top and get my two points.”

The Silver Eagles also got individual titles from Dante Beadle (106), Anthony Dominelli (113) and Joey Conner (138) and won the team title by outpointing Caravel 240-232. A.I. du Pont (187) was third, followed by Archmere (176) and Mount Pleasant (144).

Caravel also got individual titles from Nick Barnhart, who pinned all four of his opponents at 132, and Colin Adams at 195.

Other weight-class winners were Archmere’s Matt McCurnin (120), A.I. du Pont’s Jamier Schaener (145) and Jacob Somerville (285), Mount Pleasant’s Caleb Lum (152), Conrad’s Andrew Chin-A-Loy (170) and Tatnall’s Benjamin Van Duyke (182).

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Athlete of Week: Jordan Moseley

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Jordan Moseley had 24 points and 16 rebounds in Caesar Rodney's win over Hodgson last week.

Jordan Moseley had 24 points and 16 rebounds in Caesar Rodney’s win over Hodgson last week.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Jordan Moseley of Caesar Rodney girls basketball.

Senior, Caesar Rodney girls basketball

THE WEEK: Scored 24 points and pulled down 16 rebounds as the Riders won 52-41 at Hodgson last Tuesday. Added 10 points as CR (2-1) won 65-52 at Cape Henlopen on Friday.

THE KNOWLEDGE: “She’s smart. She’s got a high basketball IQ,” Caesar Rodney coach Bill Victory said. “She is a sharing person. She’s all about her teammates; she wants things to be good for everybody. So she kind of puts herself last, and because of that it kind of makes it really good for everybody that plays with her. She’s a great teammate.”

THE IMPROVEMENT: Moseley missed eight layups and scored only one point in the Riders’ first game, a 57-55 loss to archrival Dover. She bounced back and was much sharper to dominate inside against a quick Hodgson team. “I just made sure I put the ball where it needed to be, high above the square on the basket,” she said.

THE FAST BREAK: The 5-foot-11 Moseley isn’t the Riders’ fastest player, but she still runs the floor well to make herself an option in CR’s transition game. “She makes that dive from elbow to the block and scores the layup on our early break, just the way it’s supposed to be done,” Victory said. “She did it just like a yeoman.”

THE MOTIVATON: “I’m going to keep pushing myself harder and harder each week, every day at practice, to make sure I keep getting better and better,” Moseley said.

THE EXPERIENCE: The Riders have only three seniors, and face a tough stretch of 10 consecutive road games after opening with one game at home. “I’m the senior that has the most experience on the team, and I have to lead them,” Moseley said.

THE CLASSROOM: “My favorite class right now is CPR,” Moseley said. “It’s a hands-on class, and it’s very fun to do. You can get your CPR certification through this class.”

THE FUTURE: Moseley has already been accepted to Tennessee and Towson, but is also considering Kean, George Washington and Delaware. She may or may not continue to play basketball, but plans to major in occupational therapy or speech pathology.

Send Athlete of the Week nominations to bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Delaware high school sports rankings

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Caravel's Keith Medley (right) defeated Newark's Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220-pound title at the Yellowjacket Invitational on Saturday at Newark High. Caravel is ranked fifth in Division II.

Caravel’s Keith Medley (right) defeated Newark’s Nazr Roberson 8-4 to win the 220-pound title at the Yellowjacket Invitational on Saturday at Newark High. Caravel is ranked fifth in Division II.

THE NEWS JOURNAL/DELAWAREONLINE RANKINGS

BOYS BASKETBALL

1. Mount Pleasant (2-0) Prev. 1

2. St. Georges (3-0) 4

3. Sanford (1-1) 3

4. Dover (2-2) 2

5. Smyrna (2-0) 7

6. St. Elizabeth (3-0) 8

7. Hodgson (2-0) NR

8. Appoquinimink (2-1) 5

9. William Penn (1-1) 10

10. Salesianum (1-1) 6

GIRLS BASKETBALL

1. Ursuline (1-1) 1

2. St. Elizabeth (1-0) 2

3. Sanford (2-2) 3

4. Concord (3-0) 4

5. Caravel (3-1) 5

6. Dover (3-0) 6

7. Sussex Central (2-1) 8

8. Caesar Rodney (2-1)

9. Hodgson (1-1) 7

10. Padua (0-2) 9

WRESTLING

DIVISION I

1. Smyrna (0-0) 1

2. Caesar Rodney (0-0) 2

3. Polytech (0-0) 3

4. Dover (1-0) 4

5. Salesianum (0-0) 5

DIVISION II

1. Milford (0-0) 1

2. Sanford (0-0) 2

3. Hodgson (1-0) NR

4. St. Georges (1-0) 4

5. Caravel (0-0) 3

BOYS SWIMMING

1. Charter of Wilmington (2-0) 2

2. Conrad (2-0) NR

3. Salesianum (1-1) 1

4. Concord (1-0) 4

5. Newark (2-0) 5

GIRLS SWIMMING

1. Charter of Wilmington (2-0) 1

2. Ursuline (3-0) 2

3. Archmere (1-0) 4

4. Conrad (1-1) 3

5. Cape Henlopen (2-0) 5

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Prep notes: Conrad pulls swimming shocker

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Appoquinimink's (from left) Ryan Steckline, Chandler Fitzgerald and Matt Alexander converge to celebrate the school's first DIAA baseball title last June. The DIAA tournament will expand from 16 to 20 teams this spring.

Appoquinimink’s (from left) Ryan Steckline, Chandler Fitzgerald and Matt Alexander converge to celebrate the school’s first DIAA baseball title last June. The DIAA tournament will expand from 16 to 20 teams this spring.

The Conrad boys swimming team knows it has no chance against Salesianum in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association state meet, where depth makes all the difference.

But Conrad coach Michelle Northshield thought if she structured her lineup just right, and perhaps caught the Sals at a little less than full steam, a dual-meet upset was possible.

Mission accomplished.

Conrad stunned Salesianum 90-80 last Tuesday at the H. Fletcher Brown Boys and Girls Club in Wilmington, a result Northshield and her team will never forget.

“The stars were aligned,” the coach said. “We had a full roster, and I think they were missing a few. We went with our full roster and lined up the best way we could, in hopes that we could outmaneuver them.”

Salesianum has won the last 10 DIAA titles, and 25 of the last 28. Conrad finished 13th in the DIAA meet last year, and its best finish has been ninth. So even though dual meets are different, this was unexpected.

“We thought if we put forward our best lineup, put all the cards on the table, we thought there might be a small window of opportunity,” Northshield said. “But even if we didn’t win, we thought we could make a showing and make them think that Conrad gave them a run for their money.”

Conrad had two dual winners – freshman Ryan Pirrung in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke and senior Brett Saunders in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Freshman Josh Eckrich won the 100 butterfly, and the meet came down to the final event – the 400 freestyle relay.

Conrad had to either win or finish second and third. Eckrich, eighth-grader Jacob Benson, Pirrung and Saunders won in 3:34.02, and the upset was complete.

“We’re getting a little stronger each year,” Northshield said. “It has taken some time. We’ve only had a team for six years now, and we started with two boys and three girls.”

Conrad now has 23 on the boys team and 21 on the girls team. Against Sallies, the boys also got a victory from Eckrich, Saunders, Benson and Pirrung in the 200 medley relay. The Sals got wins from Andrew Boyle in the 200 freestyle, Andrew Halberg in the 50 freestyle, Derrick Kennedy in the 500 freestyle and Boyle, Anthony Marion, Michael Portmann and Owen Riley in the 200 freestyle relay.

Baseball tourney expands

The DIAA board of directors has approved a proposal from the Delaware High School Baseball Coaches Association (DEBCA) to expand the DIAA baseball tournament field from 16 teams to 20, starting this spring.

The new format will begin with an interesting twist on Saturday, May 21. The tournament’s top four seeds will host playoff doubleheaders, with the 13th- through 20th-seeded teams starting the day with four first-round games to earn the right to advance to a second-round game against one of the top seeds on the same day.

“With the play-in round, it gives teams a chance to play a game where they might feel a little bit more competitive,” said George Eilers, Polytech coach and DEBCA president. “And if they get on a roll, who knows what could happen?”

The exact format of which lower-seeded teams will play which higher-seeded teams has yet to be determined. But the new format will reward the top 12 seeds by allowing them to avoid a first-round game. And it will especially reward the top four seeds, who will be opening the tournament against a low-seeded team that likely just used its best pitcher in the day’s first game.

“I think it’s going to bring about a lot of interest in that first round,” Eilers said. “It will bring more strategy into the mix.”

DIAA approved the proposal on a two-year trial period. DEBCA examined the playoff point indexes from 2010-15 and found that the margin separating teams 16 through 20 was just tenths of a point each year.

“That shows you how close it is, how competitive it has been,” Eilers said.

The baseball tournament was last expanded from 12 to 16 teams in 1989, when there were 37 high schools playing baseball in Delaware. Now, the state has 50 teams.

Rounding it up

— Archmere boys soccer coach Bob Bussiere has been named Mid-Atlantic Private-Parochial Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The award places Bussiere in the running for the national high school coach of the year award, to be announced in January.

— Cape Henlopen’s Tess Bernheimer and Erin Coverdale, Delmar’s Peyton Kemp and Paige Twilley-Webster, Mount Pleasant’s Kate Walker and Tower Hill’s Gretchen Zungailia have been named to the Harrow Sports/National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Mid-Atlantic regional team.

— DIAA champion Delaware Military Academy (20-0) finished 43rd in the final CBS maxpreps.com Xcellent 50 national high school volleyball rankings.

— Salesianum tailback-safety Colby Reeder has been named Gatorade Delaware Football Player of the Year. Delaware Military Academy setter Sydney Fulton has been named Gatorade Delaware Volleyball Player of the Year.

— Appoquinimink midfielder Matt Dina is among 56 boys nationally named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Fall High School All-American team.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Delaware high school sports rankings

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Padua's Megan Mallon gets trapped by Alisha Lewis (1) and Sabriya Harris (13) of top-ranked Ursuline last Thursday.

Padua’s Megan Mallon gets trapped by Alisha Lewis (1) and Sabriya Harris (13) of top-ranked Ursuline last Thursday.

THE NEWS JOURNAL/DELAWAREONLINE RANKINGS

BOYS BASKETBALL

1. Mount Pleasant (4-0) 1

2. St. Georges (5-0) 2

3. Sanford (1-1) 3

4. Dover (3-2) 4

5. Smyrna (3-0) 5

6. St. Elizabeth (5-0) 6

7. William Penn (4-1) 9

8. Newark (6-0) NR

9. Salesianum (2-1) 10

10. Hodgson (3-1) 7

GIRLS BASKETBALL

1. Ursuline (3-1) 1

2. St. Elizabeth (3-0) 2

3. Sanford (2-2) 3

4. Concord (4-0) 4

5. Caravel (4-1) 5

6. Dover (3-1) 6

7. Sussex Central (3-2) 7

8. Caesar Rodney (3-2) 8

9. William Penn (3-0) NR

10. Hodgson (2-1) 9

WRESTLING

DIVISION I

1. Smyrna (1-0) 1

2. Caesar Rodney (1-0) 2

3. Polytech (0-0) 3

4. Dover (1-0) 4

5. Salesianum (0-0) 5

DIVISION II

1. Milford (1-0) 1

2. Sanford (0-0) 2

3. Hodgson (2-0) 3

4. St. Georges (1-1) 4

5. Caravel (0-0) 5

BOYS SWIMMING

1. Charter of Wilmington (4-0) 1

2. Conrad (2-0) 2

3. Salesianum (1-1) 3

4. Concord (3-1) 4

5. Newark (2-1) 5

GIRLS SWIMMING

1. Charter of Wilmington (4-0) 1

2. Ursuline (4-0) 2

3. Archmere (3-0) 3

4. Conrad (1-1) 4

5. Cape Henlopen (4-0) 5

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ


Slam Dunk highlights holiday hoops tourneys

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Concord's Robert White (left) fouls Mount Pleasant's Richard Caldwell on Dec. 15. The top-ranked Green Knights will be one of six Delaware teams playing in the upcoming Slam Dunk to the Beach boys basketball showcase at Cape Henlopen High.

Concord’s Robert White (left) fouls Mount Pleasant’s Richard Caldwell on Dec. 15. The top-ranked Green Knights will be one of six Delaware teams playing in the upcoming Slam Dunk to the Beach boys basketball showcase at Cape Henlopen High.

The kids are out of school, and you know what that means.

Let’s cram in as many basketball games as possible until we have to hit the books again.

The annual holiday hoops tournaments will crank up at the end of this week, filling the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day with ankle-breaking crossovers, rainbow 3-pointers and spectacular dunks.

Slam Dunk to the Beach headlines the festivities for boys, as the national showcase returns to Cape Henlopen High from Sunday through Dec. 29. It will be a who’s who of high school basketball, as five teams currently in the Maxpreps.com Xcellent 25 will be making an appearance in Lewes: No. 2 La Lumiere (Indiana), No. 8 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia), No. 15 Roselle Catholic (New Jersey), No. 18 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) and No. 20 The Patrick School (New Jersey).

Four teams ranked among Delaware’s top six also are part of the field. No. 1 Mount Pleasant, No. 3 Sanford, No. 4 Dover and No. 6 St. Elizabeth will join Appoquinimink and host Cape Henlopen in challenging some of the nation’s best, and each other.

A couple of all-Delaware matchups – Sanford vs. Dover at 9 p.m. Sunday and Mount Pleasant vs. St. Elizabeth at noon Dec. 29 – could shuffle the state’s rankings. Sanford also will jump into the deep end against La Lumiere at 9 p.m. Dec. 28.

The event will feature six three-game sessions, starting at noon and 6 p.m. each day. The gym will be cleared between sessions, and a separate admission will be charged. Tickets are $15 per session, $28 for a one-day pass or $58 for a three-day pass. Tickets may be purchased at the door, online at www.slamdunktothebeach.com or by calling (800)-441-7223 and pressing 3.

The Diamond State Classic girls tournament will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the St. E Center, with the action running Sunday through Dec. 30.

Ursuline, Delaware’s top-ranked team, will open against Jamesville Dewitt (New York) at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the Saint Francis Healthcare Cup, DSC’s eight-team national bracket.

The Raiders will be the First State’s only entrant in the top bracket this year, but plenty more will participate. No. 9-ranked William Penn, Wilmington Friends and St. Mark’s will be part of the New Castle Insurance Cup. No. 5 Caravel and Padua will be in the First State Orthopaedics Cup. And No. 2 St. Elizabeth, Howard and Caesar Rodney will compete in the Delaware Cup.

Tickets will be available at the door all four days, and proceeds will benefit the B+ Foundation, Special Olympics Delaware and other local charities.

Wilmington Friends will host the Quaker Classic boys tournament Dec. 29-30, with a $5 admission both days.

Germantown Friends (Pa.) will meet Charter of Wilmington at noon Dec. 29 in the West Gym. Brandywine will take on Wilmington Christian at 1 p.m. in the East Gym. Then Friends will host Springside Chestnut Hill (Pa.) at 2 p.m. in the West Gym, and Newark Charter will take on Woodbridge at 3 p.m. in the East Gym.

On Dec. 30, the losing teams from the West Gym’s first-day games will meet at noon in the West Gym. Then the losing teams from the East Gym’s first-day games will meet at 1 p.m. in the East Gym. The West Gym’s championship game will be up next at 2, followed by the East Gym’s championship game at 3.

The annual Pat Borowski Tournament for girls will be held Dec. 28-29 at Lake Forest High, with Appoquinimink, Concord, Dover, Hodgson, Laurel, Middletown, Milford, Polytech, St. Georges and Sussex Central joining the host Spartans.

Middletown will host a boys tournament Dec. 28-29. The first round will be Newark vs. Lake Forest at 5 p.m. Dec. 28, followed by Middletown vs. Tatnall. The consolation game will be at 5 p.m. Dec. 29, with the championship game at 6:30.

Finally, the Governor’s Challenge tournament will run from Saturday through Dec. 30 at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, Wicomico High School and J.M. Bennett High School in Salisbury, Md.

Boys teams from Polytech, Delmar, Caesar Rodney, Conrad, Sussex Tech and Sanford are scheduled to participate. Also, Sanford’s third-ranked girls team is in the field and will open against Mardela (Md.) at 2 p.m. Saturday at J.M. Bennett.

Tickets are $10 per day, or $30 for a week-long pass. For more information, go to http://www.salisburychampionships.org/sporting-events/governors-challenge.

Colonials win on home mat

Host William Penn scored 257½ points to edge Polytech (251) for the team trophy in the 21-team Howdy Duncan Wrestling Classic over the weekend.

Delaware Military Academy (214) finished third, followed by Hodgson (212) and Charter of Wilmington (205).

William Penn had two individual champions in Ryan Juarez-Robertson at 132 pounds and Alex Haber at 138. Other Delaware weight-class winners were DMA’s Shane Cawman (113), Archmere’s Matt McCurnin (120), Hodgson’s Tyler Harris (126), Charter’s Khadeir Hamilton (152), Appoquinimink’s Danny Blaasch (160), Polytech’s Avery Mayan (170) and Justin Land (195), Newark’s Nazr Roberson (220), Concord’s Andrew Galazeski (285).

Rounding it up

• Delaware Field Hockey Player of the Year Kate Walker of Mount Pleasant has been named to the Harrow Sports/National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American second team. Tess Bernheimer of DIAA champion Cape Henlopen is part of the All-American third team.

• The eighth annual Hockey for a Cause event, benefitting the Delaware Foundation Reaching Citizens with intellectual disabilities, will be held Jan. 2 at the University of Delaware’s Gold Ice Arena. Action will start at 4 p.m. with a game featuring alumni from Salesianum against alumni from St. Mark’s. Then the current varsity teams from Sallies and St. Mark’s will follow with an exhibition game. Tickets ($5) will be sold at the door.

• State Representative Harvey R. Kenton and former boxer Dave Tiberi will be the annual honorees at the Blue-Gold All-Star Basketball Games, to be played March 19 at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Defense carries Concord girls past Caravel

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Concord's Caroline Procak (No. 20) puts up a shot as Caravel's Grace Lange defends in the first quarter of Concord's 59-48 win over over Caravel at Caravel Academy on Monday night.

Concord’s Caroline Procak (No. 20) puts up a shot as Caravel’s Grace Lange defends in the first quarter of Concord’s 59-48 win over over Caravel at Caravel Academy on Monday night.

Concord's Caroline Procak (No. 20) puts up a shot as Caravel's Grace Lange defends in the first quarter of Concords 59-48 win over over Caravel at Caravel Academy on Monday night.

Concord’s Caroline Procak (No. 20) puts up a shot as Caravel’s Grace Lange defends in the first quarter of Concords 59-48 win over over Caravel at Caravel Academy on Monday night.

Concord's Jamiyah Dennis (left) and Caravel's Karli Cauley fight for a loose ball in the first quarter of Concords 59-48 win over over Caravel at Caravel Academy on Monday night.

Concord’s Jamiyah Dennis (left) and Caravel’s Karli Cauley fight for a loose ball in the first quarter of Concords 59-48 win over over Caravel at Caravel Academy on Monday night.

GLASGOW – Concord girls basketball coach John Armstrong emphasizes defense over offense.

So Armstrong was pretty happy after his Raiders held Caravel scoreless for a 6:51 stretch at the end of the first half and start of the second half Monday night. No. 4-ranked Concord turned a five-point deficit into a 13-point lead and went on to a confidence-building, 59-48 road victory over the No. 5 Buccaneers.

“We have the capability of scoring points. What we have to do is stop the other team from scoring points,” Armstrong said. “We’ve been working on defense, because sometimes, teams that are that talented offensively can get caught up in just offense.

“I preach every day and I scream every day about playing good defense.”

The Raiders listened to their coach, got 19 points each from Aahliyah Selby and Jamiyah Dennis and improved to 5-0.

“Defense wins games, so we just focus on defense,” Selby said. “The offense is going to come for us.”

It didn’t come early, as Caravel (4-2) jumped to a 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Mia Bryson and free throws from Grace Lange and Kaylee Otlowski. Concord didn’t get on the board until Amayla Sharif hit a running 10-footer with 5:14 left in the first quarter.

“We missed some layups early, but I told them, ‘When you go to somebody else’s gym, sometimes that happens,’” Armstrong said. “You have to be able to hold the fort and wait until everything falls into place and just keep playing, not get frustrated.”

The Raiders tied it at 10 after one quarter, but the young Buccaneers – who have only one senior on their roster – pulled ahead again. Freshman guard Karli Cauley hit a 3-pointer and drove the baseline for a layup to give Caravel a 19-14 lead with 3:49 left in the first half.

That’s when the Buccaneers stopped scoring, and the Raiders cranked it up. Concord scored the last 12 points of the half, as Dennis hit two 3-pointers and a driving layup, Selby dropped a 3 from the left corner and Danielle Mitchell made a free throw for a 26-19 halftime lead.

“We played well,” Dennis said. “Our defense was going good, everything was falling for us. Our offense was flowing, and when our offense flows, what can they do?”

Dennis bombed another 3, and Wynter McLaughlin scored a layup off a Dennis assist and hit a free throw as Concord’s run reached 18-0 early in the second half. The Raiders’ lead was 32-19 before Otlowski ended the Bucs’ drought with a 10-footer with 5:02 left in the third quarter.

Caravel could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way. After scoring six points in the first half, Selby broke loose for 13 after halftime. The junior guard hit 4 of 5 from the field – including a 3-pointer – and made all four free throws in the second half.

“I was trying to find a way to help my team to win and pull through,” Selby said. “We started off kind of slow, so I just wanted to build some momentum to help my team win.”

Caravel got 14 points from Bryson, 12 points and eight rebounds from Otlowski and 11 points and six boards from Lange.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Newark boys work OT to move to 7-0

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Newark guard Chaz Knox celebrates after Middletown misses the last second shot as the Yellowjackets keep their winning streak alive beating Middletown in overtime 59-57.

Newark guard Chaz Knox celebrates after Middletown misses the last second shot as the Yellowjackets keep their winning streak alive beating Middletown in overtime 59-57.

NEWARK– The Newark boys basketball team really hadn’t faced any adversity while buzzing through its first six games undefeated.

The Yellowjackets got hit with a major test on Tuesday night, and they responded.

Newark lost three key players just 2½ minutes into the game, then went to overtime against Middletown. But the Cavaliers’ final 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim, and the eighth-ranked Yellowjackets survived for a 59-57 win.

“It was our first real test of the season,” said senior guard Brendan Sherman, who led Newark with 16 points. “Some stuff happened in the beginning that we really can’t control. But we fought through it, played hard, followed our coaches’ lead and came out with the victory.”

The teams got in a brief scrap at midcourt with 5:27 left in the first quarter. Order was restored within seconds, but Middletown’s Kenneth Edelin was ejected for his actions on the court and Newark’s Rahmee Carter, Ryan Hurlock and Charles Leonard were ejected for leaving the bench. Just like that, the Yellowjackets’ depth was negated.

“We’re kind of deep, about 10 deep,” Newark coach Shannon McCants Sr. said. “We just went with our top guys, and they kind of held on. It was tough.”

The Yellowjackets (7-0, 2-0 Blue Hen Flight A) were in control early, forcing Middletown into mistakes and capitalizing with fast-break points. Sherman turned a turnover into a three-point play, and Mike Drumgo-Sharpe got a steal and layup off of full-court pressure and converted another turnover into a layup for a 21-7 lead with 3:14 left in the first half.

But the Cavaliers (0-3, 0-1) gained confidence with a 9-0 run to end the second quarter. Justin Thompson sandwiched a 10-footer and two free throws around three straight buckets by Shane Wilkins as Middletown pulled within 23-19 at the half.

Newark led 32-23 when Cavaliers coach Chuck Robinson was ejected after receiving his second technical foul with 5:02 left in the third quarter. But Middletown was far from finished.

The Cavaliers were down 46-37 with 6:36 to play, then went on another 9-0 run. Wilkins dropped a 3 from the left wing and Thompson drove for a layup to tie it at 46 with 4:16 remaining.

A layup by Thompson tied it at 52 with 1:51 to play. Then both teams missed a shot, and it went into overtime.

That’s when Newark’s Elijah Woodard stepped forward. The 6-foot-6 senior grabbed an offensive rebound, hit a layup while being fouled and made the free throw to push the Yellowjackets ahead 55-53 with 1:18 to go.

“I didn’t know I was going to get it,” Woodard said. “But I got my hands on it, I put it up and they called the foul. I believed in myself, and so did my teammates.”

Then Woodard fed Eric Marshall for a layup, snagged another rebound and hit a free throw to give Newark a 58-54 cushion with 24.7 seconds remaining.

“This is his first time really getting some varsity action, and I told him it’s going to pick up each and every game,” McCants Sr. said of Woodard, who finished with six points and four rebounds. “He did a pretty good job.”

But Thompson banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull the Cavaliers within 58-57. Shannon McCants Jr. made a free throw to push the Yellowjackets’ lead back to two with 15.4 seconds to go, and Wilkins’ last-second 3-pointer was just short to keep Newark unbeaten.

“It’s going to help the team a lot,” Sherman said. “It’s going to help our team chemistry, because we know we’ve all got each other’s back. We can play with anybody, I feel like. We’re deep. Even though we lost players, we all stuck together.”

Drumgo-Sharpe added 14 points for the Yellowjackets. Middletown got 19 points and eight rebounds from Thompson, and 18 points and eight boards from Wilkins. Cavaliers center Jeremiah Nkumsah was a force inside with 13 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Offensive player of year: Will Knight

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Sophomore Will Knight rushed for 2,015 yards and 33 touchdowns as Smyrna won its first DIAA Division I state championship.

Sophomore Will Knight rushed for 2,015 yards and 33 touchdowns as Smyrna won its first DIAA Division I state championship.

Two years ago, on the first day Smyrna was allowed to hold full-contact football practices, coach Mike Judy noticed something special about Will Knight.

The Eagles’ defense couldn’t tackle the freshman running back consistently. A group of 17- and 18-year-olds couldn’t bring down the 14-year-old.

Knight moved right into the starting lineup, and the pace has accelerated ever since. This year, the sophomore rushed for 2,015 yards and 33 touchdowns. He caught 17 passes for 310 yards and four more scores. And he scored a staggering 51 two-point conversions as Smyrna won its first DIAA Division I football state championship.

So it was no surprise that Knight was a runaway choice as Delaware’s Offensive Player of the Year. The award is determined in voting by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association board and the state’s high school football media.

“We leaned on him heavily,” Judy said. “To be able to respond the way he did as a sophomore, that’s an unbelievable job by him.”

What makes him so hard to tackle?

“It’s a great combination of speed and power,” Judy said. “He’s low to the ground. He’s 5-foot-9, probably 190 pounds, and he’s very, very strong. With that low center of gravity, powerful build, leg strength and upper-body strength, and then you throw on top of that some breakaway speed and his savvy as a running back.”

Knight rushed for 961 yards and eight TDs and caught 22 passes for 417 yards as a freshman, when the Eagles improved from 2-8 to 5-5. He shifted into overdrive this season, but not by going faster.

“It slowed down a lot,” Knight said. “The game finally came to me, to realize where the holes are and see the openings.”

Once Knight found the holes, the sky was the limit.

“His biggest jump was the patience,” Judy said. “Having patience to not just run up into a hole, to be patient and set up the blocks. Our run schemes are mostly zone blocking, which means that the running back sets up the offensive line for their blocks. He’s waiting for a cutback or a seam to open, and he hits it hard.”

He made big plays all season, but to Judy, one of Knight’s 226 carries stood out more than any other. Knight scored all five touchdowns and all five two-point conversions when Smyrna defeated Dover 40-14 on Oct. 3. One of them was extra special, a 68-yard touchdown run late in the first half.

“Dover guessed right and had some extra guys at the point of attack,” Judy said. “Will made a cut, broke two tackles in the hole, shook a linebacker out of his shoes. And then a really athletic safety was coming downhill on a great angle, and Will showed off the speed, destroyed the angle and ran up the sideline.

“It was the perfect example of all of that skill set that makes him so special.”

Another memorable play came in the state semifinals. The Eagles were trailing 13-0 at William Penn, and Smyrna quarterback Nolan Henderson left the field on a stretcher after taking a hard hit to the head late in the first half.

Knight began taking direct snaps, and he scored a touchdown just before halftime. Then on his first carry of the second half, he blew through a hole right up the middle and went 98 yards for a touchdown.

“I just saw the other side of the field, and I had to get to the end zone,” Knight said. “I saw them coming. They were pretty fast, but I was just focused on getting to the end zone. It gets your adrenaline up, to make sure you don’t get caught from behind.”

Knight added the two-point run to give Smyrna a 14-13 lead with 7:59 left in the third quarter. After Henderson left, Knight rushed 23 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns as the Eagles pulled away for a 30-13 victory

“It may have been the worst thing that happened to us,” William Penn coach Marvin Dooley said of Henderson’s departure. “Because 25 [Knight] just took over. He was a one-man show.”

Salesianum did a better job against Knight in the championship game, holding the sophomore to 61 yards on 27 carries. So he found another way to hurt the Sals.

Early in the fourth quarter, Knight took a pitch from Henderson, pulled up and threw to Jared Gillis over the middle. The senior receiver zigzagged for 68 yards to the Sals 6.

“That was a great play, just to execute it, keep your composure and get it to the receiver,” Knight said.

Knight scored on a 6-yard toss sweep three plays later to tie the game at 26 with 10:12 to play.

“He’s a very exceptional athlete,” Sallies coach Bill DiNardo said. “He can run, he can throw, he can catch the ball. He does everything very, very well.

“You have to account for him on every play. He can break a basic zone play for a 90-yard run. He showed that all year long.”

Knight’s 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down gave Smyrna a 32-26 lead in overtime. Then Eagles linebacker Eli Hutchinson stopped Sallies star Colby Reeder for a 3-yard loss on fourth down from the 1, and Smyrna’s revelry began.

It still hasn’t ended.

“It’s been talked about every day,” Knight said. “Just praised every day, and we’re just celebrating.”

Knight certainly benefitted from having two first-team All-State brothers – senior guard Terren Carter and junior tackle Jerren Carter – opening holes up front. The Eagles’ prolific offense also produced the first-team All-State quarterback in Henderson (3,297 yards, 36 TDs passing) and a first-team receiver in Donte Ritchie (49 catches, 1,181 yards, 15 TDs).

But Knight was the centerpiece. Running, receiving or passing, he was a threat on every play.

“He’s mature beyond his years,” Judy said. “He’s a special young man. He is tremendously powerful, fast, and his football IQ is as high as can be.

“We knew he was special from the beginning.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Huge challenge awaits Sanford at Slam Dunk

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Mikey Dixon (3), shown here against Salesianum's Paul Brown last season, will lead Sanford at Slam Dunk to the Beach on Sunday and Monday.

Mikey Dixon (3), shown here against Salesianum’s Paul Brown last season, will lead Sanford at Slam Dunk to the Beach on Sunday and Monday.

Sanford boys basketball coach Stan Waterman always likes to challenge his team.

The Warriors will definitely be in for a challenge this week.

Third-ranked Sanford will meet No. 4 Dover in the first day’s final game at 9 p.m. Sunday at the annual Slam Dunk to the Beach showcase at Cape Henlopen High.

Then at 9 p.m. Monday, the Warriors will tangle with another third-ranked team.

La Lumiere of LaPorte, Indiana, is ranked third nationally by USA Today, and is one of the headliners in the three-day hoops fest in Lewes.

“This will be the highest-ranked team we’ve faced in my 25 years here, no doubt,” Waterman said. “They’re very, very good. Very talented, very deep, very big, very skilled.”

That sounds very tough, and that’s exactly what Waterman wants.

“It’s another opportunity for us to see how we measure up, and how different the game is on a larger scale,” the Sanford coach said. “These games always come back to help us when we get into the [state] tournament, because we’ve seen some of the best competition we can possibly face.”

La Lumiere counts United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and comedian-actor Chris Farley among its famous alumni. The Lakers are already 12-1 against a national schedule, coming off a loss to Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, California, in the championship game of a tournament in Hawaii.

The Lakers also have a national roster. James Banks, a 6-foot-10 senior center from Atlanta, has signed with Texas. Brandon Cyrus, a 6-4 senior guard, has signed with DePaul. Algevon Eichelberger, a 6-7 senior forward from Saginaw, Michigan, is weighing multiple college offers. Then there are 6-7 junior Brian Bowen, also from Saginaw; 6-9 junior Jeremiah Tilmon of East St. Louis, Ill., who has received interest from North Carolina, Texas and UCLA; and 6-9 sophomore Kevin Zhang.

A lineup with that much height will provide the ultimate challenge for Jacob Walsh, Sanford’s 6-8 senior center. A solid showing could boost his recruiting interest.

The Warriors (1-1) also have an exciting pair of 6-2 senior guards in Mikey Dixon, a Quinnipiac signee, and Kyle Evans. And when they’re done in Lewes, they will head to Salisbury, Maryland, at 2:30 Wednesday to take on West Charlotte, North Carolina – a Class 4A state semifinalist last year – in the Governors’ Challenge.

“We’ll find out just what we have in the next week or so,” Waterman said.

Sanford is sure to get a stiff in-state test from Dover, which returns all but one player from a 14-8 team. The Senators are 3-2 this year, the losses coming to Philadelphia power Neumann-Goretti and 65-63 to second-ranked St. Georges.

“Sanford has been one of the top teams in the state the last 10 years,” Dover coach Stephen Wilson said. “It gives us a chance to see where we’re at and figure out what we’ve got to work on.”

The Senators are led by 6-4 senior Jordan Allen, who has signed with Rider. They also have more size in 6-5 senior forward Steven Justice, 6-7 senior forward Terrence Woodlin, 6-6 junior center Jhalil Mosley, 6-4 sophomore Thomas Hoskins and 6-3 junior guard Stefan Rush-Wilson.

Dover will also take on Friendship Collegiate of Washington, D.C. – led by Temple signee Alani Moore at point guard – at 3 p.m. Monday.

“It gives our guys a chance to be in that environment, be around some of the top players in the country,” Wilson said. “There are going to be future college players, probably a couple of future NBA guys, and our guys will get a chance to see where they’re at, what they need to work on.”

Mount Pleasant, Delaware’s top-ranked team, is also heading south for two big games at Slam Dunk. The Green Knights will meet Bishop O’Connell of Arlington, Virginia, at 1:30 Sunday, then take on sixth-ranked St. Elizabeth in an all-Delaware battle at noon Tuesday.

Slam Dunk is certain to attract college coaches from every level, giving Delaware’s best players a chance to be seen by recruiters. Mount Pleasant coach Lisa Sullivan wants her players to rise to the occasion.

“It’s a business trip,” Sullivan told her team. “You’re down here to earn a college scholarship. It’s an opportunity to be seen and earn a scholarship.”

The Green Knights (5-0) are led by 6-1 senior guards Raheim Burnett and Rob Myrick and explosive 6-5 freshman KVonn Cramer. Mount Pleasant has stood up to the pressure of the state’s No. 1 ranking – so far.

“I tried to explain to them, ‘Listen, guys, you start out down 20-0 in every game,’” Sullivan said. “That’s what you’re looking at. Every team wants to be the team that bumps you off. So you’re down 20-0 to start the game.

“After the first couple of games, they told me, ‘Now we understand 20-0.’ It just makes you stronger. It makes you play harder.”

Appoquinimink, St. Elizabeth and host Cape Henlopen will also be representing Delaware at Slam Dunk to the Beach.

Appo (3-2) will kick off the entire event against Maret School of Washington, D.C., at noon Sunday. Cape Henlopen (4-2) will go against Bishop McNamara of Forestville, Maryland, at 6 p.m. Sunday, and Appo and Cape will meet in Slam Dunk’s final game at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Before taking on Mount Pleasant on Tuesday, St. Elizabeth (5-0) will meet St. Raymond’s of New York City at noon Monday.

In addition to La Lumiere, Neumann-Goretti, Paul VI of Fairfax, Virginia; Roman Catholic of Philadelphia; New Jersey powers Roselle Catholic, St. Benedict’s Prep and The Patrick School and Westtown (Pennsylvania) all will play at least two games.

The event will feature six three-game sessions, starting at noon and 6 p.m. each day. The gym will be cleared between sessions, and a separate admission will be charged. Tickets are $15 per session, $28 for a one-day pass or $58 for a three-day pass. Tickets may be purchased at the door, online at www.slamdunktothebeach.com or by calling (800)-441-7223 and pressing 3.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Ursuline meets elite at Diamond State Classic

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Ursuline freshman Yanni Hendley-McCalla (right) drives against Padua on Dec. 17. The Raiders start play in the Diamond State Classic on Sunday.

Ursuline freshman Yanni Hendley-McCalla (right) drives against Padua on Dec. 17. The Raiders start play in the Diamond State Classic on Sunday.

Ursuline basketball coach John Noonan doesn’t know who his leading scorer will be from game to game.

But the opponent doesn’t know, either, and the Raiders are hoping to use that to their advantage.

Ursuline will take a balanced approach into the Diamond State Classic, as the annual high school girls basketball tournament celebrates its 25th anniversary Sunday through Wednesday at the St. E Center.

“We can do it by committee,” Noonan said. “If a kid is having a tough night, there’s another kid ready.”

The defending state champion Raiders will be the only Delaware team in the Saint Francis Healthcare Cup, DSC’s eight-team national bracket. Ursuline will open against Jamesville DeWitt of DeWitt, New York, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

“We’re just trying to play the best possible teams,” Noonan said. “The Diamond State Classic offers that locally. Great teams come in each year, and it’s really nice to be able to play against high-level competition and stay home for Christmas. It’s fantastic.”

The Raiders are still adjusting to the graduation of Adrianna Hahn, the three-time Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association Girls Basketball Player of the Year who is already Villanova’s second-leading scorer (10.6 points per game) as a freshman.

“We definitely have kids with basketball talent,” Noonan said. “It’s just about them gaining the experience needed to lead the team. A lot of our talent is young. They’re really, really skilled, but experience is lacking.”

The Raiders are 3-1, their only loss coming 55-47 to National Christian Academy of Fort Washington, Maryland, in their season opener. Their second game – a 65-60 win over Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma, Washington, showed how deep they can be.

Ursuline got 29 points off the bench, and 11 different players scored in a close game. Sophomore guard Maggie Connolly, freshman guard Alisha Lewis, senior forwards Kailyn Kampert and Sabriya Harris, junior post player Kryshell Gordy, senior guard Alyssa Irons and sophomore Olivia Mason are among the leading contributors.

“We have some kids that are so unselfish that we’re telling them, ‘You have to shoot the ball when you’re open,’” Noonan said. “That’s what makes us tough to guard. We can’t pass up open looks, because everybody is capable of knocking down a shot.”

No. 2-ranked St. Elizabeth stepped out of the national bracket and into the four-team Delaware Cup this year. But the Vikings face a formidable task at 7:30 p.m. Monday against Damascus (Maryland), which is 7-0.

“They’re going to be a big challenge for us,” St. E coach Dan Cooney said. “This is actually the only out-of-state game we’re playing this year, against Damascus, so the kids are looking forward to it. It’s a little bit different.”

The Vikings are 3-0, with easy wins over Woodbridge, Caesar Rodney and Sussex Central. Returning starters Alanna Speaks (5-foot-10 junior), Sarah Metz (5-8 junior) and Lexi Bromwell (5-5 junior) have led the way, along with 5-10 eighth-grader Julie McCarron.

“I was a little bit worried in the beginning, before the games started, with how they were going to react,” Cooney said. “But they really have been playing better than I thought they would at this time.”

Wilmington Friends will kick off the DSC against William Penn at 10 a.m. Sunday, part of the four-team New Castle Insurance Cup. St. Mark’s will follow against Oxford (Pennsylvania) in another New Castle game at 11:45. Then four Saint Francis Healthcare Cup games will follow, capped by Ursuline’s opener.

Caravel and Padua will compete in the First State Orthopaedics Cup, with the Buccaneers meeting Seton Keough (Maryland) at 12:30 p.m. Monday and the Pandas following against Central Bucks East (Pennsylvania) at 2:15. Howard will take on Caesar Rodney in the other Delaware Cup first-round game at 5:45 Monday.

For a complete, four-day tournament schedule, go to www.diamondstateclassic.org.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

All-State: Cathers pursues defensive excellence

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Salesianum’s Kyle Cathers (92), shown here chasing Smyrna’s Donte Ritchie, has been named the state's Lineman of the Year. The senior finished with 62 tackles and eight sacks.

Salesianum’s Kyle Cathers (92), shown here chasing Smyrna’s Donte Ritchie, has been named the state’s Lineman of the Year. The senior finished with 62 tackles and eight sacks.

It isn’t a good idea to run straight at Salesianum defensive end Kyle Cathers.

It isn’t a good idea to run away from him, either.

Cathers’ ability to make plays both at the point of attack and in pursuit, plus his blocking and soft hands at tight end, made the 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior the choice as Delaware’s Lineman of the Year. The award is determined through voting by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association board and the state’s high school football media.

Cathers finished the season with 62 tackles, eight sacks and four fumble recoveries. Many of those big plays came when opponents went at him, but just as many happened when they went to the other side.

“If I can be the right end and it’s a sweep to the opposite side and I can cut the guy off at the 1-yard-line and stop the touchdown, I take a lot of pride in that,” Cathers said. “Just to say, ‘You’re not going to score that easily.’ There are 11 guys on this field. You can run away from four of us, but we can still catch you.”

It was that ability to be a threat all over the field that set No. 92 apart.

“He pursues very, very well,” Sallies coach Bill DiNardo said of Cathers. “He’s very quick, he has very good feet, and he does good things chasing as well as coming right at him.”

The three-year starter played a major role on the defensive line as a sophomore, as the Sals won the 2013 DIAA Division I state championship. He helped Salesianum back to the final this year, but fell just short of a second title.

Smryna rallied for a 32-26 victory in overtime, before a record crowd of 10,094 fans at Delaware Stadium. Cathers left a painful impression on the Eagles by sacking quarterback Nolan Henderson a couple of times.

Smyrna coach Mike Judy said the Eagles knew that even though Cathers played defensive end, he was going to slant to the inside most of the time. It didn’t matter.

“Even knowing where he was going to go, physically he was just too much,” Judy said. “He made a lot of plays. He put a hurting on Nolan at least twice in that game.”

He also put a hurting on the Eagles’ defense, slipping off the line of scrimmage and hauling in a 42-yard touchdown bomb from sophomore Zach Gwynn to give the Sals an 18-6 lead with 3:51 left in the first half.

“He had a great year at tight end. He was a really good blocker, and we knew he could do that,” DiNardo said. “He’s also a good receiver. I think he scored three touchdowns this year.

“He had some big catches for us. He was like a freight train catching the ball.”

It was the freight train’s first year at tight end, a natural fit since that position often blocks a defensive end. The new techniques he learned on offense were beneficial on both sides of the ball.

“I know what annoys me as a defensive end, what frustrates me,” Cathers said. “If I’m engaged with the tackle and the tight end walls me off, I can’t control that.”

Cathers could control his college destination, and after also visiting Boston College, Pittsburgh and Monmouth he chose Coastal Carolina, a perennial FCS national title contender that is in the process of moving up to the FBS Sun Belt Conference.

Cathers’ father, John, is a former University of Delaware football season-ticket holder, and John and Kyle even followed the Blue Hens to Chattanooga, Tennessee, for their 40-0 victory over Colgate in the 2003 FCS championship game, and to Frisco, Texas, for their 20-19 loss to Eastern Washington in the 2010 FCS title game.

“The University of Delaware is almost in my blood,” said Kyle, who lives in Newark, a five-minute drive from Delaware Stadium.

He received recruiting interest from fellow Colonial Athletic Association members William & Mary, James Madison, Towson and Villanova, but no contact from Delaware.

“I wasn’t disappointed,” Cathers said. “It is how it is.”

He instead found a welcoming atmosphere at Coastal Carolina, just 10 minutes away from Myrtle Beach. He plans to major in middle school education, with goals of becoming a teacher, football coach and athletic director.

“I love everything about the school,” Cathers said. “They have a great education program, and I want to teach. To teach and coach football would be a dream of mine.”

He has already been working at Newark Day Nursery and Children’s Center as a summer intern.

“I love helping kids learn,” Cathers said. “And I’m good with math. I help my classmates if they’re struggling with something. So it all seems like a good fit. I really enjoy the idea of teaching, and I’d love to coach football. I don’t think I could ever give up football.”

He never gave up on a play at Salesianum, and it paid off.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ


All-State: Colby Reeder makes jarring impact

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Salesian senior Colby Reeder snags an interception as Smyrna sophomore Will Knight tries to knock it out of his hands.

Salesian senior Colby Reeder snags an interception as Smyrna sophomore Will Knight tries to knock it out of his hands.

Salesianum's Colby Reeder (left) gets his hands on Middletown's Jalen Whitehead during the Sals' 20-6 victory on Oct. 9. Reeder finished the season with 56 tackles and six blocked kicks.

Salesianum’s Colby Reeder (left) gets his hands on Middletown’s Jalen Whitehead during the Sals’ 20-6 victory on Oct. 9. Reeder finished the season with 56 tackles and six blocked kicks.

What does it feel like to run full speed into a football that has just been kicked?

Colby Reeder knows the feeling. He felt it six times this season.

“It kind of feels like you’re getting shot,” he said. “Because that ball is flying at you at 60 mph. But it always feels better when the crowd is roaring and the adrenaline is pumping.”

The Salesianum senior rushed for 2,010 yards and 32 touchdowns, but that was only half of his contribution to a 10-2 team that reached the DIAA Division I championship game before falling to Smyrna in overtime.

Reeder also made 56 tackles and often changed opposing game plans from his safety spot. He was an easy choice as Delaware’s Defensive Player of the Year in voting by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association board and the state’s high school football media.

“Actually, playing running back really helps playing defense,” Reeder said. “I can see the holes developing. I have the running back mindset, so I kind of see where they’re going to be running and I could meet them in the hole.”

And when he met them, they felt it.

“Reeder is so adept at getting to the ball, and getting there violently, and being mad when he gets there,” Smyrna coach Mike Judy said. “He’s very, very good at stripping the ball and just making these instinctual football plays, unlike I’ve ever seen. Unbelievable.”

He came to Salesianum as a 5-foot-8, 150-pound freshman, and left as a 6-foot-4, 225-pound wrecking ball. The transformation was gradual, but Reeder could see and feel the changes through a combination of maturity and old-fashioned hard work.

“It’s a lot different,” he said. “Being 70 pounds heavier than I was as a freshman, now when I hit people they go flying, instead of me taking most of the hit.”

His head coach, Bill DiNardo, could see the annual improvement, too. Fortunately, unlike the opposition, he didn’t have to feel it.

“He was strong last year. He was even stronger this year,” DiNardo said. “I think his strength really made a difference, both offensively and defensively.”

But there is more to football than just being big and strong. The best have a knack for the big play, knowing what their team needs and delivering it. Reeder filled that bill on several occasions this season.

On Oct. 31, Reeder and the Sals traveled to Bill Cole Stadium to face No. 1-ranked William Penn. The defending state champion Colonials were riding a 19-game winning streak, but it came to an end that day.

Reeder rushed 20 times for 173 yards and three touchdowns. But his biggest plays in Salesianum’s 30-13 victory came on defense.

The Sals were leading 7-0 midway through the second quarter when William Penn decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 30. Quarterback D.J. Johnson dove into the pile on a sneak, and Reeder popped out of the scrum with the ball and raced 30 yards the other way for a 14-0 lead.

“Our line did a good job of stuffing him, and we’re taught to just get the ball,” Reeder said. “I was one of the last guys in from safety, and I saw the ball. So I went in there and ripped it out, and no one was in front of me so I just took it to the end zone.”

William Penn’s outside running game devastated Concord the week before, but Reeder went sideline-to-sideline in the secondary and helped the Sals hold the Colonials to just 99 yards on 39 carries.

“It was fun,” Reeder said of playing safety. “You get to fly downhill, hit some people, and you get to cover. I enjoyed it a lot.”

The following week, the Sals fumbled the opening kickoff at Sussex Tech, the team that ended their season in the first round of the playoffs last year. This time, Reeder blocked the Ravens’ 38-yard field-goal attempt, and Sallies was on its way to a 42-7 victory.

“He’s a tremendous player, a tremendous competitor,” DiNardo said. “What he does on the field, what he does off the field, is just extraordinary stuff. He’s our strongest guy, he’s our fastest guy. He’s a great performer, he’s a great leader, he’s a great person.”

Reeder projects as an outside or middle linebacker in college, and at least a dozen programs have made him an offer. His older brother, Troy, was the state’s Defensive Player of the Year at Salesianum in 2013 and is now a starting linebacker at Penn State.

“He’s definitely a role model for me, somebody to look up to,” Colby said. “He’s a really hard worker, and he’s doing great at Penn State. I don’t like to compete with my brother, but he set some high standards for me coming through here. I wanted to work just as hard or harder than him.”

He did, and it paid off. Colby will take his time sorting through the offers and making campus visits before the signing period begins Feb. 3. He is looking forward to college football, where he will only have to concentrate on one side of the ball.

“It’s kind of hard to play offense and defense, especially when you’re getting 30 carries a game,” he said. “But I’m going to go on to play defense in college, and defense is what I love. I love to hit people, I love to fly around.

“This year, I was more tired on defense. When you’re getting the ball so much, you kind of have to conserve some energy here and there.”

Ask anybody who ran into him while carrying the ball. Colby Reeder always seemed to have plenty left.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Appo falls in four OTs in Slam Dunk opener

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Appo's Myles Cale goes up for a dunk during early action of the Slam Dunk to The Beach on Sunday afternoon at Cape Henlopen High School. Appoquinimink fell to Maret School in four overtimes.

Appo’s Myles Cale goes up for a dunk during early action of the Slam Dunk to The Beach on Sunday afternoon at Cape Henlopen High School. Appoquinimink fell to Maret School in four overtimes.

LEWES – No Delaware team came closer than 10 points against an out-of-state opponent at the Slam Dunk to the Beach boys basketball showcase last year.

Appoquinimink came within a whisker of beating an out-of-state team in the second annual event’s first game on Sunday.

The Jaguars didn’t win any fans, but they almost won the game before Trey Perry of the Maret School of Washington, D.C., hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the fourth overtime to give the Frogs a 55-52 victory at Cape Henlopen High.

“I kept on telling them, ‘No team from Delaware won a game against an out-of-state team last year,” Appo coach Steve Wright said. “I said, ‘We’ve got the first game at 12 o’clock, let’s set that tone.’”

The Jaguars (3-3) set the tone with a torrid first half, shooting 59.1 percent from the field – including 4 of 7 3-pointers – on the way to a 34-25 lead. Appo still led 48-38 going into the fourth quarter, but Maret center Luka Garza took over.

The 6-foot-10 junior hit two layups and a baby hook during a 10-0 run as the Frogs tied it at 48 with 4:06 to play.

“They just went to the big boy the whole game, and on five straight possessions he made a layup,” Wright said of Garza, who hit 15 of 20 from the field on the way to 32 points. “We were at a disadvantage. We were able to hold them for the first three quarters.”

It went to overtime tied at 50, and both teams scored an early bucket to make it 52-52. Then Appo turned the game into Hold the Ball at the Beach.

The Jaguars held the ball for the final 1:51 before turning it over, leading to a second overtime. Then Appo won the tip and held the ball for 3:50 – with the fans’ jeers growing louder by the minute – before calling timeout. Keith Deloatch missed a layup at the buzzer.

Maret missed three shots at the start of the third OT before the Jaguars held the ball for the final 1:50. Then Appo’s Myles Cale (23 points, nine rebounds) fouled out on a charging call on a last-second drive to the basket, and it went to a fourth OT.

The Jaguars missed on a baseline drive with 19 seconds left, and Maret grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 11.7 seconds left. Then Perry ended it with his 3 from the corner.

“It got to the point where every time they got the ball, they scored,” Wright said. “So I said let’s hold the ball, and keep the advantage in our hands. I thought we could probably make a layup at the end of the game.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Mount Pleasant battles hard in Slam Dunk loss

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Mount Pleasant's Rob Myrick (5) is whistled for charging on a second-quarter drive against Bishop O'Connell on Sunday at Slam Dunk to the Beach.

Mount Pleasant’s Rob Myrick (5) is whistled for charging on a second-quarter drive against Bishop O’Connell on Sunday at Slam Dunk to the Beach.

Mt. Pleasant's Raheim Burnett drives to the basket against Bishop O'Connell during the Slam Dunk to the Beach.

Mt. Pleasant’s Raheim Burnett drives to the basket against Bishop O’Connell during the Slam Dunk to the Beach.

LEWES– It wasn’t a win, but Mount Pleasant boys basketball coach Lisa Sullivan thought it was a statement.

The Green Knights – Delaware’s top-ranked team – went toe-to-toe with a much larger opponent in Bishop O’Connell of Arlington, Va., on Sunday. Mount Pleasant led for much of the first half, but the Knights were too much in the end and held on for a 53-46 victory at Slam Dunk to the Beach at Cape Henlopen High.

“We proved that we can play with anybody, and we battled. We’ve got a lot of heart,” Sullivan said. “They were taller, a little stronger at every position, but we were scrappy. We gave them our best shot.”

Mount Pleasant (5-1) fell behind 6-2 early, then scored the next nine points. Raheim Burnett made a 3-pointer and a layup, KVonn Cramer scored on a fast break and Richard Caldwell scored on a driving layup to push the Green Knights up 11-6 with 3:29 left in the first quarter.

Both teams went on short scoring runs through the rest of the first half, with Mount Pleasant leading 21-19 at halftime. Caldwell dropped a 3 and Rob Myrick hit a short jumper to push the Green Knights’ lead to 26-19 with 6:22 left in the third quarter.

But Bishop O’Connell cranked it up, closing the quarter on a 19-4 run. Two big dunks from 6-foot-8 junior center Nate Watson pushed the visitors from Virginia to a 38-30 lead.

“We did a nice job executing, but then when we got shots we didn’t finish,” Sullivan said. “When you get an open layup, you’ve got to make the open layup. When you get foul shots, you’ve got to make foul shots.”

The Knights built the advantage to 48-35 with 3:48 left, but Sharif Holland tried to shoot Mount Pleasant back into it. The 6-1 senior hit three 3-pointers – including one from each corner – and Myrick scored a fast-break layup to pull the Green Knights within 50-46 with 1:33 to go.

“My teammates were looking for me,” Holland said. “… My teammates want me to shoot the ball, and I shoot it. They’ve got confidence in me.”

Mount Pleasant could get no closer, but Sullivan was happy with the effort. Caldwell led the Green Knights with 14 points, Holland had 11 and Burnett scored nine before fouling out late.

“As long as we play hard, we can compete against anybody in the country,” Burnett said. “That’s what we’re going to take out of it, play hard and stay together.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

McNamara too much for Cape in Slam Dunk

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Capes Demetruis Price goes airborne for a basket as Cape Henlopen played Bishop McNamara in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Capes Demetruis Price goes airborne for a basket as Cape Henlopen played Bishop McNamara in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Bishop McNamara's Jamar Watson goes for the ball as Cape's Jeremiah Smack fights back in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Bishop McNamara’s Jamar Watson goes for the ball as Cape’s Jeremiah Smack fights back in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Capes Ryan Meade drives for a basket past Bishop McNamara's Jelani Chapman in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Capes Ryan Meade drives for a basket past Bishop McNamara’s Jelani Chapman in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Capes Demetrius Price gets 2 past Bishop McNamara's Makhi Mitchell as Cape Henlopen played Bishop McNamara in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Capes Demetrius Price gets 2 past Bishop McNamara’s Makhi Mitchell as Cape Henlopen played Bishop McNamara in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Capes Drew Mulcahy drives for 2 points as Cape Henlopen played Bishop McNamara in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Capes Drew Mulcahy drives for 2 points as Cape Henlopen played Bishop McNamara in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

LEWES – Cape Henlopen knew its opening opponent at the Slam Dunk to the Beach boys basketball showcase was going to be a handful on Sunday night.

But despite a good start, Vikings coach Stephen Re was disappointed in the way his team competed on its home floor in a 68-42 loss to Bishop McNamara of Forestville, Md.

“In the fourth quarter I had some young guys show me some bright stuff, but we’ve been kind of going backwards right now,” Re said. “… We don’t deal with adversity very well right now.”

Cape Henlopen (4-3) led for most of the first quarter. Sophomore Ian Robertson opened the game with a 3-pointer, and Demetrius Price drove for a baseline jumper to give the Vikings a 5-4 lead. Then Drew Mulcahy scored on a reverse layup and Robertson dropped two free throws to push Cape ahead 9-6.

But the Mustangs’ Johnathan McGriff ended the quarter with a 3-pointer and a 15-foot jumper to send Bishop McNamara to a 16-11 lead. Then it really got out of hand.

The Mustangs (6-3) scored 21 of the next 24 points, with a three-point play and fast-break layup by 6-foot-9 freshman center Makhi Mitchell making it 37-14 with 2:41 left in the first half.

“Eventually, their size and athleticism will wear you down,” Re said. “But it’s the mental competitive component that I was thoroughly disappointed with tonight.”

It turned into a highlight reel for Bishop McNamara in the second half. Mitchell (19 points) flushed four dunks, including an alley-oop slam off a pass from Jalen Hayes to push the Mustangs’ lead to 63-32 with 5:31 to play.

Bishop McNamara’s speedy backcourt pressured Cape into 27 turnovers.

“We don’t play well unless we’re having success,” Re said. “We have a hard time when success doesn’t occur.”

Mulcahy led the Vikings with 11 points, and 6-5 sophomore Randy Rickards added 10 points and seven rebounds. Cape will get back on the practice floor Monday, then wrap up the three-day Slam Dunk showcase against in-state opponent Appoquinimink at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: BradMyersTNJ

Dixon's career-high 39 leads Sanford past Dover

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Sanford's Mike Dixon goes for a basket past Dover's Troy Scott as Dover played Sanford in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

Sanford’s Mike Dixon goes for a basket past Dover’s Troy Scott as Dover played Sanford in the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen High School.

LEWES – Sanford had a 20-day layoff coming into Sunday night’s game at the Slam Dunk to the Beach boys basketball showcase.

Mikey Dixon didn’t look rusty. At all.

The 6-foot-2 senior pumped in a career-high 39 points as the third-ranked Warriors dismantled No. 4 Dover 77-59 in an early-season showdown at Cape Henlopen High.

“He was really aggressive, and we needed him to be aggressive,” Sanford coach Stan Waterman said of Dixon. “He came out looking to score the ball. His teammates did a good job of setting screens and helping him to get open, and he really did let the game come to him.”

The Warriors’ most recent game was Dec. 8, but they were ready from the opening tip. Dixon splashed two 3-pointers from the top of the key and made a layup off a turnover, and Jacob Walsh (20 points, eight rebounds) made a free throw as Sanford jumped to a 9-0 lead with 5:30 left in the first quarter.

“I wasn’t sure what we would get,” Waterman said. “I thought we might have to shake some rust off.”

Sanford (2-1) led 17-9 after one quarter, and stretched it to 30-19 at the half as Kyle Evans (eight points, seven rebounds) beat the buzzer with a 15-footer.

Dixon’s assault continued in the third quarter, as he drove for a layup and banked in a scoop shot to make it 40-26. The Quinnipiac signee finished 11-of-17 from the floor – including 2-of-5 3-pointers – and hit 15-of-18 free throws.

“They were setting good screens, making sure I was getting open,” Dixon said of his teammates. “It was a team effort, everybody buying into their role.

“It was easy. I let the game come to me. Sometimes last year, I would get rattled. I’m just letting it come to me, just playing the game.”

The Warriors also frustrated Dover sharpshooter Jordan Allen, holding the Rider signee to four points through three quarters. The 6-4 senior did heat up with three late 3-pointers to finish with 13 points, but fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.

“We just wanted to crowd him and kind of stay connected to him and not give him space,” Waterman said of Allen. “He’s a great shooter, one of the best shooters I’ve seen in high school basketball anywhere. We wanted to stay close to him.”

The Senators (3-3) also got 14 points from Michael Douglas and 12 from Steven Justice. But the Warriors proved they will again be a force to be reckoned with in Delaware boys basketball this season.

“It was a really big game,” Dixon said. “We knew we had to make a statement, two of the top teams in the state playing here.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.

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