At the Appoquinimink boys basketball game against Howard on Tuesday evening, junior A.J. English III, who was on the bench in street clothes while serving a suspension, left the court and went into the locker room along with his brother A’Jen, a sophomore starting guard, at the conclusion of the first quarter and neither player returned.
A’Jen was taken out just a few minutes into the first quarter for a reason coach Spencer Dunkley would not comment on. He did not return to the lineup for the remainder of the quarter, apparently prompting the departure of the brothers.
Messages left with Dunkley as to the status of the players were not returned, but athletic director Christy Boyd said in an e-mail that "both boys are still enrolled and on the team."
A’Jen returned on Friday night to score 28 points in the Jaguars’ 69-59 win over McKean High School, and according to assistant coach Ian Baker, A.J. III will return to the lineup on Saturday against Red Lion Christian Academy. When A.J. III does return to the lineup, he will have missed six games due to his suspension following the Jags’ home loss to Middletown on Dec. 10.
A.J. III and A’Jen are sons of former NBA player A.J. English, who played briefly with the Washington Bullets and Portland Trailblazers.
2. Jan. 11 rankings:
Boys basketball
1. Delcastle (7-0)
2. Sanford (6-0)
3. Polytech (7-1)
4. Concord (6-2)
5. Hodgson Vo-Tech (6-1)
Girls basketball
1. Sanford (8-2)
2. Ursuline (5-3)
3. St. Mark’s (4-0)
4. St. Elizabeth (4-3)
5. Cape Henlopen (6-2)
3. Christiana manhandles opponents: Christiana forward Domenick Bond single-handedly matched his team’s opponent’s total score on Tuesday night, scoring nine points in a 50-9 victory over Charter of Wilmington. Christiana (4-1) then finished out the week cruising to decisive wins over Middletown (71-54) and William Penn (59-46).
4. No. 1 Sanford girls rebound: Sanford rebounded from two losses to out-of-state opponents in the Diamond State Classic and cruised to easy wins this past week over Tower Hill (54-22), Wilmington Friends (62-28) and Tatnall (67-17). Sophomore forward Anjaleace White scored a game-high 17 points in the win over Tower Hill, while junior guard Andrea Hines led all scorers with 16 against Friends. Andrea Hines finished off the Warriors’ week with 20 points and 10 steals in the Tatnall win.
5. No. 1 Delcastle boys top Concord and Glasgow: Delcastle Vo-Tech pulled away in the third quarter for a 74-62 win over Concord on Tuesday night. Junior forward Terrance Bobb-Jones poured in 23 points for the Cougars, while senior guard Jordan Dupree had a game-high 26 points for the Raiders. Delcastle (7-0) then followed that up with a 69-55 win over Glasgow. Bobb-Jones once again led the Cougars with 18 points, while his brother, senior guard Brandon, chipped in with 13.
First-rate performers in the First State
* Bobb-Jones (Delcastle): The 6-foot-3 junior forward scored 23 and 18 points in his team’s two wins last week, which upped the Cougars’ record to 7-0.
* Mike Morsches (St. Mark’s): The senior point guard was 10-of-11 from the charity stripe and finished with 20 points in the Spartans’ 49-37 win over Middletown.
* Brandon Williamson (Lake Forest): The junior guard capped the Spartans’ week scoring 21 points in a 66-59 win over Woodbridge, upping Lake’s record to 6-4.
* Ashleigh Roberts (Concord): The senior forward had a big week, leading Concord (5-2) to wins over Delcastle (33 points), A.I. du Pont (17) and Newark (25).
* Johnesha Warren (Cape Henlopen): The junior guard poured in 24 points to lead the Lady Vikings (6-2) to a 46-42 win over Caesar Rodney, and then followed that up scoring 11 points in a 61-58 revenge win over Dover.
Recruiting news
* Former Middletown High School first-team all-state selection Cameron Thomas has committed to play football at Western Kentucky next season. The 6-foot, 182-pound cornerback played at Milford Academy (New Berlin, N.Y.) this past fall.
* Delmar senior catcher Dylan Shupe signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Delaware on a baseball scholarship. Shupe, who also pitched for the Wildcats last season, plans to major in Math Education.
* According to Mark Pray, assistant athletic director for communications at the University of Miami, the Hurricanes are still recruiting former Newark High lineman Malcolm Bunche, who signed a letter of intent in February 2009 to play for the Hurricanes but then enrolled this past fall at Milford Academy Prep School (Berlin, N.Y.).
DVR alert
* Sanford (6-0) travels to Tatnall (5-2) on Tuesday at 5:15 for a key Independent Conference boys battle.
* The top two boys teams in the Henlopen South Conference square off when Polytech (7-1) visits Seaford (7-1) on Tuesday at 5:30.
* The Lady Spartans of St. Mark’s (4-0) travel to Charter of Wilmington (5-2) on Thursday at 3:30.
The buzz
The Christiana-Middletown boys basketball game was a picture-perfect example of the need for three referees at all varsity games. Several obvious calls were missed, not necessarily due to a lack of knowledge or skill by the officials, but simply due to the speed of the game and two referees — one young and in shape and one not so young or in shape — not being able to keep their eyes on everything.
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.
