Dover’s Michael Douglas gets some air while driving for the basket as Dover HS played Friendship Collegiate Academy from Washington, D.C. at the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen HS near Lewes on Monday December 28th.
LEWES – It was not the Slam Dunk to the Beach experience the Dover Senators wanted.
Dover led for most of the second half Monday afternoon, only to see Friendship Collegiate Academy of Washington, D.C., rally for a 53-50 victory at Cape Henlopen High.
Point guard Alani Moore, a Temple signee, made the big plays down the stretch as the Knights improved to 1-3. Dover (3-4) goes home with two losses in two days, but the Senators showed much more intensity than they did in a 77-59 loss to Sanford on Sunday night.
“The way they competed today, you can’t be upset about that,” Dover coach Stephen Wilson said. “I asked them, ‘Can you look in the mirror and say you gave 100 percent,’ and they did. We just didn’t do what we needed to do.”
The Senators trailed 20-16 at the half, but scored the first 12 points of the third quarter. Jordan Allen (21 points) hit a pull-up 15-footer and an NBA-range 3-pointer. Steven Justice stroked a 3 from the left wing, and Terrence Woodlin and Tre’vonne Moore scored on offensive rebounds as Dover surged to a 28-20 lead.
“We were sharing the ball, everybody was playing hard,” Allen said. “We played hard the whole game, but just a couple of missed plays cost us.”
Friendship’s Ike Okwaro and Dover’s Terrence Woodlin fight for the ball as Dover HS played Friendship Collegiate Academy from Washington, D.C. at the Slam Dunk to the Beach held at Cape Henlopen HS near Lewes on Monday December 28th.
The Senators still led 46-39 on two Michael Douglas free throws with 3:28 left, but Friendship began to creep closer. Alani Moore hit a 3-pointer, a driving layup and two free throws, and a 15-footer by the Knights’ Kevon Hines tied it at 49 with 1:05 to play.
“We lost track of Moore a little bit too much at the end,” Wilson said of the 5-foot-9 senior, who finished with 27 points.
Allen’s free throw put Dover back in front with 59.5 seconds to go, but Alani Moore’s driving layup gave Friendship a 51-50 lead with 14.2 seconds left. The Senators turned it over, and Alani Moore made two more foul shots for a 53-50 cushion with 5.2 seconds remaining. Then Allen’s last-second 3-point attempt was partially blocked.
“They played harder today than they did last night,” Wilson said of his team. “I think that they were kind of embarrassed about what happened last night. They needed to come out and have a better showing, and I think they did that.”
On the bright side, the Senators are 3-0 in the Henlopen North, with most of the season still to play.
“All of our goals are still intact,” Wilson said. “To lose two games here doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. We’re upset about it, but we’ve got come back to practice on Wednesday ready to go.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ