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The Dover boys moved to 6-2 on the year with a 62-47 win Friday night over Cape Henlopen.
Zach Walker who finished with a game-high 24 points in the win led the Senators.
Dover took control of the game early with some strong defensive play and rebounding in the first half. The Senators allowed only 20 first half points to Cape, smothering the Vikings with their stingy defense while eliminating second-chance opportunities at the basket.
Big-man Zach Walker continued his stellar play on both ends of the floor, while owning the play underneath the glass. Guard Tyler Myers contributed an important 13 points, including three of the four three-pointers made by the Senators Friday night.
Dover stopped a hot Cape team that had won 7-games in a row after dropping their first two contests of the season. The Senators defense also kept Cape to their second lowest point total of the season.
Dover has won a season-high three games in a row, scoring 60 or more points in two of those contests.
“It’s a good win - puts us in second place now one game behind Smyrna,” said Dover Head Coach Stephen Wilson. “We knew what we were going to get into with (Cape Henlopen,) we knew it was going to be a defensive struggle and they were going to make a run.”
To the surprise of some, a young Dover squad has been able to avoid the pitfalls that usually weigh down inexperienced teams. Even though there is still room to build, Coach Wilson understands what he has with his team and believes they can go far.
“We’re young, I know we’re going to play hundred percent every game,” said Wilson. “With only one senior we have an opportunity to compete and we’ll take it where ever it goes. Hopefully we can get in the tournament and we’ll go from there.”
With the season at the half-way mark, the elite teams are beginning to pull away from the pack. Though, talent alone cannot put a winning basketball team on the court. For Dover, the belief that they can be alongside the elite may be their biggest hurdle.
One such hurdle came late in the game Friday night. After getting out to big leads, the young Senators squad let a strong Cape team hang around. The Vikings slowly crawled back into the game, cutting the deficit to eight points late in the fourth quarter when Coach Wilson called a timeout.
The Dover boys moved to 6-2 on the year with a 62-47 win Friday night over Cape Henlopen.
Zach Walker who finished with a game-high 24 points in the win led the Senators.
Dover took control of the game early with some strong defensive play and rebounding in the first half. The Senators allowed only 20 first half points to Cape, smothering the Vikings with their stingy defense while eliminating second-chance opportunities at the basket.
Big-man Zach Walker continued his stellar play on both ends of the floor, while owning the play underneath the glass. Guard Tyler Myers contributed an important 13 points, including three of the four three-pointers made by the Senators Friday night.
Dover stopped a hot Cape team that had won 7-games in a row after dropping their first two contests of the season. The Senators defense also kept Cape to their second lowest point total of the season.
Dover has won a season-high three games in a row, scoring 60 or more points in two of those contests.
“It’s a good win - puts us in second place now one game behind Smyrna,” said Dover Head Coach Stephen Wilson. “We knew what we were going to get into with (Cape Henlopen,) we knew it was going to be a defensive struggle and they were going to make a run.”
To the surprise of some, a young Dover squad has been able to avoid the pitfalls that usually weigh down inexperienced teams. Even though there is still room to build, Coach Wilson understands what he has with his team and believes they can go far.
“We’re young, I know we’re going to play hundred percent every game,” said Wilson. “With only one senior we have an opportunity to compete and we’ll take it where ever it goes. Hopefully we can get in the tournament and we’ll go from there.”
With the season at the half-way mark, the elite teams are beginning to pull away from the pack. Though, talent alone cannot put a winning basketball team on the court. For Dover, the belief that they can be alongside the elite may be their biggest hurdle.
One such hurdle came late in the game Friday night. After getting out to big leads, the young Senators squad let a strong Cape team hang around. The Vikings slowly crawled back into the game, cutting the deficit to eight points late in the fourth quarter when Coach Wilson called a timeout.
“I told them to finish, we knew they were going to make a run,” said Wilson. “Basketball is a game of runs so we just had to finish. You know when you have that big of a lead with a young group it will happen, we just had to stay with them and keep them working.”
After the timeout Wilson’s squad responded, winning the game by 15. More importantly after squandering such a big lead, the Senators took the Vikings best shot in the fourth and were able to match it.
Coach Wilson and his squad don’t know for sure what it’s going to take to win every night, whether it’s going to be a tight defensive battle or a shootout. One thing is for sure, they’re gaining valuable experience. Something that’s sure to help them when their next test arrives.
“We got a big game coming up,” said Wilson. “I think we’ll be okay and we’ll see what happens.”
The “big game” Wilson is speaking of is under a week away against first-place Smyrna.
