For The Dialog
and Mike Lang
Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – As the 5:30 p.m. game time neared on the afternoon of Jan. 19, there was no sign of visiting St. Thomas More at McKean High School. It turns out the bus that brought the Ravens from Magnolia to New Castle County was late, and the team, which had scheduled a 3:30 departure, got on the road around 4:20.
It did not matter. The Ravens arrived at McKean around 5:30, changed and had a few minutes to warm up. That was all they needed as they ran past the host Highlanders, 76-52.
Zion Cole’s two three-point field goals keyed a game-opening 8-0 run before Pierre Lofland got the Highlanders on the board. McKean tried to slow the Ravens down with a deliberate pace on offense, but as the minutes elapsed, the scoring picked up. Corey Gordon nailed a pair of buckets in the first quarter, and Kobe Morris added a three-pointer as St. Thomas More led, 18-11, after one. Lofland kept McKean close, scoring nine of his team-high 13 in the first.
The Ravens (10-2) increased the advantage to 12 at 30-18 and threatened to run away with it, but McKean’s pressure defense created the opportunities the Highlanders needed to climb back into it. Antoine Barnes led the way during an eight-point run that cut Thomas More’s lead to 30-26, and each team added two more points before the half.
McKean’s Vincent Smith closed the gap to 32-30 on the first possession of the third quarter, but the Ravens would turn the tables after that. They responded with a seven-point run, pounding the ball inside most of the quarter. Forward Aaron Scott, the team’s leading scorer, punished the Highlanders in the paint with four field goals in the third and 10 points total. Lanky forward Elias Revelle, who just recently joined the rotation, added five in the quarter.
McKean kept it close thanks to the long ball. Ryheem Jenkins drilled two three-pointers in the third, and Barnes added another. The margin was nine after three.
There would be no comeback this time for the Highlanders, however, as the Ravens quickly extended the advantage. McKean managed just one field goal in the fourth, while St. Thomas More had their biggest offensive quarter. Revelle continued his inside work, and the Ravens made the hosts pay with a steady march to the free-throw line. The Ravens made 22 of 28 attempts for the afternoon; Scott was eight of 10.
Scott led four players in double figures for St. Thomas More with 22. The others were Cole (14), Gordon (12) and Revelle (11). The team plays next on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Newark Technical (N.J.) at Pemberton (N.J.) High School in the Tristate Border Battle.
In addition to Lofland, Barnes reached double figures for McKean with 11. The Highlanders (7-4) are at Newark Charter on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
