SPORTS- Delsea Basketball Double Header
Delsea Basketball Double Header
By Sentinel Sports Writer Jacob Keppen
On Friday, December 16th both Delsea basketball teams, the boys and girls, opened their seasons. They opened with a double header, with the girls playing first, then the boys following. Both exciting seasons starting right after one another.
The Delsea girls basketball team opened with what they knew would be a tough matchup. They opened their season against a Williamstown team that they knew would give them a strong fight. With a tough matchup and a starter out in Emily Evans some people had doubts of a Delsea win. Many had doubts on how Delsea would do this year after losing valuable seniors. Delsea tried to silence all of those doubts with a convincing 37-25 win over Williamstown.
Wykira Johnson was the star of the game. Get used to hearing this almost every week this year. Johnson took over the game like she usually does, earning 16 points for the Crusaders. Tiaerrah Coney was the top scorer for the Braves with 10 points.
It wasn’t just Johnson doing all the work though, which is probably the biggest takeaway from the win. The Delsea girls, just like the boys teams of recent years, have found their Morton connection. Glory Morton had a solid game, scoring eight points while showing some improved range in her shots. Good things were seen in the first glimpses of Kamille Morton. The Morton connection could be a fantastic addition to the team. Add in solid play and defense from Abby Poisker, and Delsea is looking pretty good in their big situation and as a team in general. And we haven’t even seen the team at their fullest with Evans in the lineup. This could be a very interesting and exciting season for the Crusaders girls. The girls play against Triton at home on Tuesday.
The boys started off their season right. After a somewhat scary first quarter, the Delsea Crusaders jumped out to a big 61-40 win over Gloucester Tech. All around team basketball is what was sold by this Crusaders boys team, and all around team basketball is the product we got on Friday night. Delsea had 3 players into double digits for scoring, Kamel Morton leading with 20. Brice Parks scored 11 points while grabbing five rebounds. Kolby Braxton had great all around game, scoring 11 points, while dishing out 7 assists and grabbing two rebounds. He also gathered two steals. Javon Gordon scored nine points and five assists. Gordon and Will Hawkins were active on defense, both gathering five steals.
Despite this big win Delsea would lose their next game to Woodbury 77-67. While nobody wants to lose, a loss can always bring good early in the season. The Crusaders can learn from the loss, learn from their mistakes and improve on them as well. Improve and move forward to Tuesday, when they play a Triton team who defeated Wildwood 79-65.