Prep notes: Diamond State Classic thrives

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Salesianum’s Joseph Cautillo (8) watches the third base runner after he grabs a infield hit in their game against Cape Henlopen.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Noah Agwu, sr., A.I. du Pont, shot put (52-6¾)

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Reed Winkler, shown here winning the DSGA Junior Championship last July, fired a 1-under-par 35 to earn medalist honors as top-ranked Salesianum and No. 2 Tower Hill played to a tie in a high school golf showdown last Tuesday.

The Diamond State Classic girls basketball tournament enjoyed a banner 25th anniversary, as the event recently distributed $25,440 in charitable donations.

The annual event, always held Dec. 27-30 at the St. E Center, contributed $13,690 to the B+ Foundation, $6,500 to Kay’s Kamp, $4,000 to Special Olympics Delaware, $1,000 to St. Elizabeth High School and $250 to Hodgson Vo-Tech.

Tournament director John Gretchen has also announced the field for the 2016 event. Defending state champion Ursuline, St. Elizabeth, Roland Park Country School of Baltimore, Monsignor Scanlan of Bronx, New York; St. Rose of Belmar, New Jersey; Ventura, California; Redondo Union of Redondo Beach, California; and Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania, will play in the tournament’s three-game, eight-team national bracket.

Caravel, Caesar Rodney, Hodgson, Wilmington Friends, Cape Henlopen, Howard, Padua, St. Mark’s, William Penn and three Maryland schools – Damascus, Institute of Notre Dame and Perryville – will play in three two-game, four-team brackets. Pairings will be announced at a later date.

Track recap

A couple of double winners in the field events carried Mount Pleasant to the boys team title at the Art Madric Hall of Fame Invitational track and field meet on Saturday.

Malachi Davis swept the long jump and triple jump, Noah Lockwood took the shot put and discus and Johnelle Joe won the 800 as the Green Knights scored 63 points to outdistance Glasgow (50). The Dragons got wins from Ja’saan Cunningham in the 100 and 200 and Simeon Dailey in the 400.

Padua won the girls title with 89 points, well ahead of Charter of Wilmington’s 56. The Pandas got individual wins from Lydia Olivere (800), Cameron Lucey (100-meter hurdles) and Darby Deutsch (pole vault). Double winners among the girls were Middletown’s Daija Lampkin in the 100 and 200 and Concord’s Katie Macturk in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Ursuline edged Appoquinimink 120-116 for the girls team title at the A.I. du Pont Invitational on Friday. The Raiders’ Najiya Cornish (100 and 200), Sussex Tech’s Roxanne Ramirez (1,600 and 3,200) and A.I.’s A’Lexus Irons (100- and 300-meter hurdles) each won two events.

Appo (135 points) won a three-way race over Sussex Tech (123) and A.I. (116) for the boys team title. A.I.’s Lewis Kungu (100 and 400) and Appo’s Brian Otto (200 and pole vault) each won two events.

St. Georges swept the boys and girls high school team titles at the University of Delaware Invitational on Saturday. Individual results were not available.

Keep on signing

More of Delaware’s top senior athletes continue to make their college choices official. Here are the latest signees:

Archmere’s Jennifer Raphaelson (St. Joseph’s rowing) and Joseph Singley (Tulane baseball); Wilmington Friends’ Demetria Ruhl (Dickinson swimming), Brendan Wren (Temple crew), Cat Clark (Stanford crew) and Jakob Katzen (McDaniel lacrosse); St. Mark’s Jamai Rice (Wesley football) and P.J. Groves (Widener football); Smyrna’s Shawn Dulin (Delaware State baseball); Caravel’s Will Findley (Carson-Newman baseball); Milford’s Dante George (Carson-Newman baseball); and A.I. du Pont’s Noah Agwu (Maryland-Eastern Shore track and field), Julia Waters (Spring Hill softball), Kyle Mott (Centenary lacrosse) and Tom Burton (Wesley football).

Rounding it up

— The tennis winning streaks keep piling up at Caesar Rodney.

The Riders’ boys team, coached by Jim Harvey, won its 101st consecutive match with a 5-0 victory over Dover on Monday. CR has lost only one individual match this season, and its last team loss came March 24, 2010, against Dover.

The Riders’ girls team, coached by Zach Taylor, reached 100 straight victories with a 5-0 win over Dover on Monday. The CR girls haven’t lost an individual match all year, and haven’t lost as a team since May 12, 2009, against Archmere.

— The Salesianum lacrosse team (8-2), ranked No. 1 in Delaware, battled tooth and nail against Hill Academy of Concord, Ontario, Canada, before falling 10-9 in overtime on Saturday at Baynard Stadium. Hill (9-0) plays an all-American schedule and is currently second among boys high school teams in Laxpower’s national computer rankings.

— The state’s top two golf teams – Salesianum and Tower Hill – lived up to their billings by playing to a 149-149 tie last Tuesday at Bidermann Golf Club. Both teams had four players break 40 for nine holes, including medalist Reed Winkler with a 1-under-par 35 for Sallies.

— The Sussex Central baseball team (5-5) scored the biggest win of its season with a 3-2 upset of then-No. 1 Salesianum on Saturday.

The Sals had already played 6 1/3 innings and sat through a 35-minute rain delay at Cape Henlopen before going to Georgetown Little League for a second game. Golden Knights pitcher Jake Brewington was masterful, holding Sallies to three hits and going the distance on just 79 pitches.

Jacob Swift had a two-run double for Sussex Central, and Trevor Collins’ solo homer in the sixth gave the Golden Knights the lead for good. Salesianum pitcher Nolan O’Neill was also strong, allowing four hits and completing six innings in just 70 pitches as the game took only 65 minutes.

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