The rosters for the 2017 Blue-Gold All-Star basketball games have been selected by the Delaware Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association.
The state’s top high school seniors will gather for a final time March 18 at the Bob Carpenter Center, with the girls game starting at 1 p.m., followed by the boys game. Performances by the Newark, Conrad and A.I. du Pont bands will be featured in between.
The games benefit Best Buddies Delaware, which creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
During the week leading up to the games, players on all four teams will practice, travel to Dover to spend a day at Legislative Hall and be honored at a banquet at the Delaware Tech Terry Campus in Dover.
The Blue girls roster features Ronnay Blatch-Huggins of Howard, Lexi Bromwell and Alanna Speaks of St. Elizabeth, Danaziah Brown of Archmere, Jamiyah Dennis of Concord, Hannah Garbowski of Delaware Military Academy, Kryshell Gordy of Ursuline, Brianna Grant of Concord, Lauryn Griffin and Al’kirah Wilson of A.I. du Pont, Jayna Jones of Wilmington Friends, Brianna McCoy of Tower Hill, Shanira Mitchell of William Penn, Jaylin Ortiz of Delcastle and Katie Woodacre of Charter of Wilmington. The team will be coached by Scott Barker of St. Mark’s.
Lake Forest’s Trenita Shields will coach the Gold girls team, which includes the Spartans’ Arika Burrell and Mya Maddox, Sussex Tech’s Rukiya Davis and Kara Hignutt, Milford’s Rajene Bowe and Kiarra Brittingham, Delmar’s Aizha Brown, Middletown’s Nyasia Carroll-Jackson, Smyrna’s Melena Credle, Cape Henlopen’s Abby E’Nama, Caesar Rodney’s Alissa Haith, Dover’s Brionna Hill, Sussex Central’s Tashara Houston, Caravel’s Grace Lange and Polytech’s Tamia Mathias.
The Blue boys team consists of William Penn’s Jermal Crumel, Tatnall’s Nicolas Cutrona, Newark’s Michael Drumgo-Sharpe, Glasgow’s Devon Earl, Hodgson’s Dawson Grinnage and L.J. Stansbury, A.I. du Pont’s Julius Inge, Salesianum’s Michael Kempski, McKean’s Pierre Lofland, St. Mark’s Chris Ludman, Sanford’s Marcus McCollum, Mount Pleasant’s Keon Taylor, Concord’s Joe McHugh, St. Elizabeth’s Jordan Money and Wilmington Friends’ Jordan Perkins. The Blue will be coached by Mount Pleasant’s Lisa Sullivan.
Shawn Phillips of Delmar will coach the Gold boys, which will feature Appoquinimink’s Myles Cale, St. Georges’ Kyson Rawls, St. Thomas More’s Corey Gordon and Eric Montanez, Milford’s Brion Murray and Tymire Riddick, Indian River’s Isaiah Bratton, Woodbridge’s Cornell Corbin and Te’Vion Waters, Caesar Rodney’s Jaquan Hooks and Joe Williams, Polytech’s Jaeden Dungee, Seaford’s Andrez Jones, Lake Forest’s Cameron Lewis and Smyrna’s Anthony Watson.
The event will also include a fun zone for kids, pregame middle school basketball skills clinic, halftime 3-point shooting contest for the girls players and halftime dunk contest for the boys players.
More information on tickets and game day activities is available at www.bestbuddies.org/bluegold.
Wrestling preview
Smyrna is riding a 56-match in-state winning streak, just won the Henlopen Conference title and has already beaten four of the five other teams in the Division I bracket going into Tuesday’s DIAA Dual Meet Wrestling Championships.
And the Eagles, who have won the last four D-I titles, will be wrestling in their home gym. So how does coach Kurt Howell guard against overconfidence?
“We just talk about what we’re doing to get better,” Howell said. “It’s one day at a time, one move at a time. I have a motto, it’s always next move. That applies to just about everything we do.”
Six teams will participate in each division. First-round matches will begin at 3:30 p.m., followed by the semifinals at 5:30 and the championship matches at 7:30.
Five of the six Division I teams come from the Henlopen North. Third-seeded Sussex Central (9-2) will meet No. 6 William Penn (10-3) and No. 4 Caesar Rodney (7-4) will take on fifth-seeded Dover (12-5) in the first round.
Top-seeded Smyrna (12-2) will meet the lowest-seeded first-round winner in the semifinals. Second-seeded Cape Henlopen (15-1) will take on the highest-seeded first-round winner in the other semi.
In Division II, three-time defending champion Milford (12-3) has again earned the top seed. But the Buccaneers had two close wins over the next two seeds – 37-33 over Indian River and 44-36 over St. Georges.
The third-seeded Hawks (8-4) will meet No. 6 Caravel (9-3) and fourth-seeded Sanford (3-8) will take on No. 5 Laurel (9-6) in the first round.
Milford will go against the lowest-seeded first-round winner in the semifinals, with No. 2 Indian River (15-2) taking on the highest-seeded first-round winner in the other semi.
DIAA has corrected the starting weights for all three rounds. The first round will start at 160 pounds, with the semifinals beginning at 170 and the championship matches starting at 182.
State wrestling qualifiers
Three-weekend tournaments will determine the fields for the DIAA Individual Wrestling Championships, to be held Feb. 24-25 at Dover High.
The Henlopen Conference Championships, which will start at 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday at Sussex Central will send the top six from each weight class to the state meet.
Top-five finishers in the Blue Hen Conference Championships will advance. A.I. du Pont will be the host for three sessions – at 4:30 p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $7 for adults, $3 for students per session, with a two-session tickets available on Saturday for $12 adults, $5 students.
Salesianum will host the Independent Schools Championships, which will send the top five to states. The one-day event begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Rounding it up
— Caravel/Hodgson (14-1-2) will meet Appoquinimink (11-1-2) for the Delaware High School Hockey League championship at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday at The Pond Ice Arena in Newark.
— Top-ranked Charter of Wilmington and No. 2 Salesianum have staged some epic dual meets in swimming over the years, and Saturday was no exception as the teams tied at 85. The Force won 91½-78½ last year. Sallies romped 111-59 in 2015, and Charter won an 86-84 squeaker in 2014.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
Ursuline’s Kryshell Gordy (14) is one of 60 Delaware high school seniors scheduled to play in the Blue-Gold All-Star basketball games on March 18,