Appoquinimink Comes Up Short Against Charter

A despondent AJ English (#5) sits on the court after narrowly missing a last minute shot that would have won the game for Appoquinimink. (Photo by Rob Tornoe)

In a regular season finale that would leave both teams on the bubble for next week’s Delaware State High School Basketball Tournament, the visiting Wilmington Charter School Force (9-13) boys’ basketball squad held on for a narrow 47-45 win over the Appoquinimink High School Jaguars (14-8).

Charter’s senior forward Matt Roach dominated physically in the paint throughout the entire game by grabbing rebounds, creating off of the dribble, and finishing at the rim. While Roach led all scorers in the game with 16 points, the Charter triumvirate was completed by senior forward Kevin Greene (15 points) and senior guard Matt Stagitis (14 points), whose two three-point shots in the second quarter helped the Force jump out to a commanding 23-10 halftime lead.

If Charter dominated the Jaguars physically early on, they certainly did so with Appoquinimink’s help: the Jaguars’ young guards stayed predominately on the perimeter, rarely penetrating, while settling for an almost unending barrage of missed three-point field goal attempts. “[Charter] had a lot more maturity in the first half,” said Appoquinimink coach Kevin Smith, adding “They were definitely the most physical team.”

Charter’s first-half dominance in the paint seemed like a distant memory in the second half, as the re-energized Jaguars used their superior team speed and quickness to their advantage, contesting nearly every Charter possession in the back court, creating steal opportunities that resulted in easy baskets. “I told them to spread the floor out, and keep A.J. (sophomore guard A.J. English) off of the ball, so they couldn’t focus on him,” said Coach Smith of his halftime talk.

The strategy paid off in the form of a 16-6 run by the Jaguars to start the second half, keyed by their own troika of fast guards that included sophomores Aaron Clark (11 points) and A.J. English (14 points), and freshman A’Jen English (15 points).

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Staggered by the ferocity of the Jaguars defense, Charter remained undeterred, continuing to work the ball into the low post to Roach and Greene. Though still finding success with this in the third period, the Force would soon find the Jaguars contesting every attempt to work inside the paint in the fourth. Defensively, Charter found itself out of position often down the stretch. They were in a man-to-man defense, but their lack of respect for Appoquinimink’s outside shooting caused them to leave dangerous gaps along the perimeter.

Where the Jaguars settled for outside shots early on, they now exploited these gaps, darting quickly to the basket for lay ups, drawing fouls along the way. After Charter’s Stagitis sank one of two free throw attempts to put his team up 45-43 with :40 left in regulation, Jaguar A.J. English responded with a drive to the basket, getting fouled. With 13.4 seconds left in the game, and the Appoquinimink gym eerily quiet, English displayed cool nerves, making both free throws, tying the game at 45-45.

With so little time left in the game, Charter went quickly down the court. Making a split-second decision, Stagitis found Kevin Greene unguarded, cutting through the “back door” of the Jaguars’ defense with only 05 seconds left, giving Charter a 47-45 lead.

A certain symmetry defined this game, as it began with Appoquinimink missing three point shots, and it ended with A.J. English taking a 25-foot three-point shot for the win, spinning in and out of the rim.

“We’re used to falling behind early, playing in Flight A,” a relieved Charter coach Brendan Haley said after the game. “Our guys played a little bit harder in the first, and our big guys are a little bit thicker than theirs.”

Ultimately, that was enough.