Prep notes: Colonials, Green Knights set for showdown

William Penn’s Danny Walsh drives past Newark’s Shannon McCants on Jan. 7. The No. 2 Colonials will meet No. 3 Mount Pleasant for the Blue Hen Flight A title on Wednesday.

Mother Nature may be a basketball fan.

No. 2-ranked William Penn and No. 3 Mount Pleasant were scheduled to meet in a Flight A boys basketball showdown on Feb. 9. But snow intervened, forcing the game to be postponed.

So now the Colonials (17-2, 7-0) will travel to the Green Knights’ (16-3, 6-1) home court for a 5:30 p.m. Wednesday tipoff, on the final day of the regular season.

“Winner takes all, baby,” Mount Pleasant coach Lisa Sullivan said.

William Penn could sweep Flight A with a win. A Green Knights win would result in a tie for the title, but Mount Pleasant would win the tiebreaker by beating the Colonials.

“It was always going to be a big game,” William Penn coach Steve Christensen said. “But now you make it the game of the year on the last day of the season, with Flight A on the line … it’s special. I think the atmosphere will be what high school sports is all about.”

Both of the Colonials’ losses have come by one point – 58-57 to Smyrna in the second game of the season, and 68-67 to Medford Tech (N.J.) in the Bishop Eustace (N.J.) Showcase on Feb. 6.

William Penn has a balanced team, with guards Jermal Crumel, Danny Walsh and Ny’Jere Hodges, forward Markee Johnson and center Malik Hines all capable of being the leader scorer on any night.

“We have a really, really good group of kids,” Christensen said. “We’re really lucky. They just believe and have bought in completely to the team concept. There are really no attitudes or egos. They just play hard every day in practice and try to compete hard in games.”

The Green Knights returned almost all of a team that reached the state semifinals last year, and Mount Pleasant has lived up to the hype. The only in-state loss was 55-54 at Appoquinimink on Jan. 5, and a roster loaded with eight seniors – led by point guard Raheim Burnett – has won six in a row.

The winner will play Flight B champion St. Georges in the overall Blue Hen Conference title game on Saturday. The loser will go back to practice with new resolve to make a deep state tournament run.

“I told the kids, ‘It’s just like a playoff game, except the loser gets to hit the reset button,’” Sullivan said. “You’re upset, but your season isn’t over.”

Big test for Concord girls

The Concord girls basketball team has buzzed through 19 straight opponents, winning by an average of 25.7 points per game. The Raiders have won every game by at least nine points, and only seven teams have managed to stay within 20.

But third-ranked Concord faces its biggest test at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, in the regular-season finale at No. 1 Ursuline. The defending state champions are 14-5, but those five losses have come to teams with a combined record of 99-14.

Two of Ursuline’s losses came to Neumann-Goretti (22-0) of Philadelphia, which is ranked third nationally by USA Today, and National Christian Academy (24-0) of Fort Washington, Md., which is ranked seventh.

Ursuline is one of only two teams to defeat nationally ninth-ranked Cardinal O’Hara (Pa.). Plus the Raiders are 10-0 against Delaware opponents, their closest win coming 55-44 over No. 2 Sanford last Thursday.

Wrestling schedule set

The DIAA Individual Wrestling Championships will start at 4 p.m. Friday, with two rounds scheduled for the opening day at Cape Henlopen High.

Saturday’s action will start at 10:30 a.m., with semifinals scheduled to start at 11. The gym will be cleared at the conclusion of the consolation semifinal round, and a separate admission will be charged for the final session.

That will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the fifth-place matches, followed by the third-place matches. Then the championship matches are scheduled to begin at 7.

Tickets will be $5 Friday, $6 for Saturday’s early session and $7 for Saturday’s championship session. Tickets are available online at www.diaa.ticketleap.com, and will also be available at the door.

Estrada wins scholarship

With tears in his eyes, Middletown senior 106-pounder Luis Estrada accepted the Tim Bisson Memorial Wrestling Scholarship prior to Saturday night’s Blue Hen Conference wrestling finals at William Penn.

Bisson was an A.I. du Pont wrestler who overcame personal and academic problems to log a 118-34 record wrestling for the Tigers through 2006, the most wins in school history at the time of his graduation, while becoming an Academic All-State selection with a 3.65 grade-point average.

The scholarship was set up by the Delaware Wrestling Alliance after Bisson’s sudden death at age 24 in 2013. It recognizes a wrestler who, like Bisson, has transformed himself as a student.

Estrada was academically ineligible to wrestle his freshman and sophomore years before he developed the necessary accountability, diligence and discipline to focus his energy on schoolwork, which carried over into his wrestling. During the presentation, it was said that teachers described him as a student who focused on doing the right things and has become a role model for other students. Estrada hopes to first attend community college in pursuit of a degree in criminal justice.

Estrada went on to win his second Blue Hen title with a 9-4 decision over William Penn freshman Brandon Pike. Estrada takes a 34-6 record this season to the state individual meet, where last year he placed fourth at 106.

Lampkin scorches record

Daija Lampkin keeps getting faster.

The Middletown junior broke the state record and set the second-fastest high school time in the nation this season in winning the 55-meter dash in 6.91 seconds on Saturday at the Millrose Games at The Armory in New York City.

Lampkin lowered the state mark of 7.01, set in 2001 by Christiana’s Danielle Bailey. The only 55 run faster nationally this season is a 6.90 by Lanae-Tava Thomas of Henrietta, N.Y.

Rounding it up

— Tickets will not be available at the door for Tuesday’s Salesianum at Concord basketball game. All tickets were sold in advance at both schools.

— The DIAA Swimming and Diving Championships begin with free admission for diving preliminaries at 7 p.m. Tuesday at McKean. But tickets for all four sessions at the University of Delaware’s Rawstrom Natatorium are sold out.

Boys swimming preliminaries will be held at UD at 6 p.m. Wednesday, followed by girls prelims at 6 p.m. Thursday. The boys championship meet will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday. The girls championship meet will start at 6 p.m. Saturday.

— Delaware Military Academy is seeking a head coach for cheerleading. Send a letter of interest and resumé to athletic director Michael Ryan at michael.ryan@dma.k12.de.us.

Kevin Tresolini contributed to this article.

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