Delcastle Rides Out Early Glasgow Storm In Late Win, 56-53

Delcastle's Brandon Bobb-Jones (#35) catches an elbow to the chin from Glasgow's Raimek Taylor (#32) during Tuesday night's game. (Photo by Rob Tornoe)

In a late season match-up of Blue Hen Flight-A boys’ basketball rivals, the Delcastle Vo-Tech Cougars (15-3) outlasted the Glasgow Dragons (11-6) for the second time this season, 56-53. While both games between the two teams featured similar results—3 point margins of victory for the Cougars—tonight’s contest was different in tempo, style, and character.

The Dragons, coming off a stunning 4-point win over William Penn High School, continued to display their most consistent trend of the season: playing up to the level of competition they are faced for two or three quarters. More often than not, this has carried them to victory, but too often for the taste of Glasgow coach Shahid Perkins it has resulted in late, heart-breaking losses. “We played hard, not smart,” he said.

No one admitted to the privilege of watching the first 5:10 of the game could deny Glasgow’s effort, as they jumped out to an 18-3 lead over visiting Delcastle. The Dragons’ first quarter onslaught was keyed by the outside shooting of senior forward Will Townsville, and punctuated by a spectacular dunk off of the dribble by senior center Darrell Thomas.

The Cougars were not about to go down that easily, much to Glasgow’s chagrin, as they proceeded to prove why they have been consistently placed near the top of Delaware’s state basketball rankings all season. Sparked by forward J.J. Dickey (who led all scorers with 21), Delcastle converted steals and rebounds into quick points, eroding Glasgow’s lead as the end of the half approached. It wasn’t offense alone that got the Cougars back into the game, however—an aggressive, active, physical man-to-man defense kept the Dragons scoreless for a 5 minute stretch.

Related

Click to view photo gallery

Delcastle’s rally came at a price, as Dickey was charged with his third foul with 1:11 left in the first half. Though the Dragons held desperately to a one point lead going into the second half, two things were ominously clear: first, that the Cougars were a physically stronger team; and secondly, that the officials were not calling many contact fouls, thus inadvertently allowing the game’s physicality to escalate. This was of decisive benefit to the Cougars.

Though the teams traded blows throughout the second half, Delcastle’s physical defense successfully forced Glasgow into settling for lower-percentage jump-shots, rather than penetrating into the paint. The converse was true on the other end, as the Cougars went inside repeatedly against the Dragons, to great effect. Perhaps the most telling stat of a game in which the final margin was so thin was Delcastle’s advantage in free-throw attempts: 23 to Glasgow’s 6.

Late, back-to-back three-point field goals by Glasgow’s Townsville, coupled with spirited late play by senior guard Charles Burley (8 points) and forward Thomas (12 points) kept the Dragons in the game until the end. The usually tenacious Glasgow defense could not match the late surge by its offense, allowing several coast-to-coast, off of the dribble baskets by Dickey and guard Johnny Everett (15 points). Four free throws by Everett and Cougars guard/forward Briean Boddy in the last 34 seconds of regulation sealed the Delcastle victory.

After the game a somber Coach Perkins was unambiguous in explaining why Glasgow again fell just short. “We were blowing our assignments in the heart of their defense—that’s where you have to shoot, drive, or dish the ball,” he said. The combination of Delcastle’s defense and Glasgow’s erratic and tentative play made it happen.