For The Dialog
The boys’ basketball tournament semifinals will be played Thursday night at the Bob Carpenter Center. It is an intriguing set of games, as one will pit two of the top four seeds, while the other features a pair of double-digit seeds.
No. 14 Cape Henlopen vs. No. 10 St. Georges, 6:30 p.m. Cape’s Vikings are fun to watch as they play a fast-paced style of offense. They scored 73 points against Howard on Sunday, with three seniors leading the way. Tyreik Burton had 25 points, Toney Floyd had 20 and Jonathan Warren 14.
For St. Georges, all eyes will be on sophomore Lamar Hamrick, who scored 39 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the Hawks’ 69-66 overtime upset of second-seeded Sanford in the quarters.
The teams did not meet during the regular season, but they have two common opponents, Sanford and Sussex Tech. Cape lost to Sanford and beat Tech twice, while St. Georges beat both teams once.
No. 4 Concord vs. No. 1 Salesianum, approximately 8 p.m. The Raiders and Sals square off for the second time this season, with Concord looking for revenge after losing to the Sals at home on Feb. 8 by a 50-33 score.
Salesianum has a deep, talented roster led by senior forward Brian O’Neill and junior guard Donte DiVincenzo. Both are player-of-the-year candidates. They also get key contributions from seniors Joe McCusker and David Barone. The Sals struggled in Sunday’s quarterfinal vs. St. Elizabeth, winning by nine but playing perhaps their poorest game of the season. To beat Concord, they will need O’Neill to stay out of foul trouble and DiVincenzo to find his shot.
The unquestionable leader for Concord is senior guard Joe Cooper, who transferred from Tower Hill before this school year. Cooper scored 19 in the Raiders’ win over St. Mark’s in the quarters, including five of eight from three-point range. Another key contributor is senior guard William Chapman.
Tickets are $8 and available at diaa.ticketleap.com or at the Bob. One ticket is good for both games. The championship game is Saturday at 1 p.m., also at the Bob Carpenter Center.
