Often the best way for a team to overcome a sloppy game on the offensive side of the court is to batten down the hatches on the defensive end.
In Friday night’s Blue Hen Flight A Conference game against Middletown, Delcastle overcame its own 18 turnovers by stifling a struggling Cavaliers offense, including shutting them out in the second quarter, to come away with an easy 61-35 victory.
Junior forward Exzavier Cooper scored 10 first-quarter points to get the Cougars out to an early lead, and then junior forward Terrance Bobb-Jones took over from there, pouring in a game-high 18. Cooper finished with 15.
Middletown (3-10) was led by senior forward Naamon Johnson’s 20 points, but couldn’t overcome its own 21 turnovers forced by Delcastle’s aggressive matchup zone defense. Delcastle (12-1) will be tested this week when they travel to Christiana (6-5) on Tuesday and then host Concord (11-2) on Friday.
2. Jan. 25 rankings:
Boys basketball
1. Sanford (13-0)
2. Delcastle (12-1)
3. Concord (11-2)
4. Hodgson Vo-Tech (13-1)
5. Newark (11-2)
Girls basketball
1. St. Mark’s (10-0)
2. Ursuline (8-4)
3. Sanford (10-4)
4. Cape Henlopen (9-2)
5. Smyrna (13-2)
3. Sanford continues to roll: Sanford’s boys team kept its perfect record intact with three wins last week. The Warriors dominated Wilmington Friends, 60-22, on Tuesday night as junior guard Trevor Cooney poured in 20. Thursday night, junior guard Deon Jones had a game-high 19 in a 52-33 victory over St. Mark’s. Sanford finished out its perfect week with an easy 78-34 win over Tower Hill on Saturday afternoon. Cooney led all scorers with 21.
4. Middletown tops last year’s win total: The Middletown boys basketball team cruised to a 70-48 victory over Glasgow on Tuesday night. Naamon Johnson had 16 points, including shooting 5-for-6 from the foul line, to give the Cavaliers their third victory, one more than it had the entire 2008-09 season.
5. St. Mark’s girls remain perfect: Lindsey Nichols proved on Friday night that age and experience aren’t required to come up big in a big game. The 5-foot-9 sophomore guard scored 17 second-half points and finished with 20 to lead the Spartans to a 51-44 win over upset-minded St. Elizabeth. "She played all 32 minutes, and we’re asking a lot of her as a sophomore," coach John Fiorelli told The News Journal. "She just keeps improving." St. Mark’s improved to 10-0.
First-rate performers in the First State
* Mike Pinkett (Middletown): The junior point guard scored a career-high 12 points in the Cavaliers’ 70-48 win over conference-rival Glasgow on Tuesday night.
* Chris Oscar (Smyrna): The senior guard scored 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to lead the Eagles to a 50-47 win over visiting Salesianum on Tuesday night.
* Paris White (Cape Henlopen): White poured in a game-high 33 points as the Vikings edged conference-rival Seaford, 79-78.
* Lindsey Nichols (St. Mark’s): The sophomore guard scored 17 second-half points, including 7-for-10 from the charity stripe, and finished with 20 to lead St. Mark’s to a 51-44 win over St. Elizabeth on Friday night. Nichols also had 14 points in the Spartans’ 47-36 win over Caesar Rodney on Tuesday night.
* Andrea Hines (Sanford): The junior guard scored 30 points in a losing effort when the Warriors dropped a 49-45 decision to Ursuline Academy on Saturday afternoon.
Recruiting news
* As reported throughout the fall, the following football players will sign letters of intent on Wednesday:
— Brandon Cheaton (DB, Caravel Academy-University of Delaware)
— William Jones (DB, A.I. du Pont-Boston College)
— Jerome Smith (RB, Pencader Charter-Syracuse University)
— Gifford Timothy (OL, Middletown-Clemson University)
— Malcolm Yowk (RB, Caesar Rodney-University of Delaware)
* The only Division I prospect yet to commit is Hodgson Vo-Tech running back Jamaal Jackson.
DVR alert
* No. 2 St. Mark’s (10-0) puts its perfect record on the line when it hosts No. 3 Ursuline Academy (8-4) in girls basketball action on Thursday at 7:30.
* No. 2 Delcastle boys (12-1) hosts No. 3 Concord (11-2) on Friday at 5:30.
* No. 5 Smyrna (13-2) travels to No. 4 Cape Henlopen (9-2) on Tuesday at 7:15.
The buzz
Zeb Blum of A.I. du Pont and Rahsaan Matthews of Pencader Charter were named the Division I and II state coaches of the year, respectively, by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association at its annual banquet Monday night. Blum, in his second season at the helm of the Tigers’ program, led A.I. to a perfect regular season before losing to St. Mark’s in the state tournament semifinals. Matthews led the Titans to a 9-3 record and playoff berth in the program’s third varsity season. …
Ed Brown, an assistant football coach for 41 years with the last 27 being spent on the sidelines at Concord High School, was the inaugural recipient of the "Ed Brown" award, which will now be awarded annually to a top assistant coach. … Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano flew by helicopter in to the First State on Tuesday and touched down at William Penn High School, Dover High and Salesianum. I guess that’s one way to save on cab fare from airports. … Pencader Charter announced it will field a varsity girls basketball team for the 2010-11 season. … It was great to see Appoquinimink superintendent Dr. Tony Marchio at the Middletown-Glasgow game on Tuesday night. The only problem was that he was wearing the sweatshirt of district-rival Appoquinimink High.
Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and occasional color commentator for the 1290 AM The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.
