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Middletown, Del. —
After being victimized by Newark High School’s relentless full-court pressure defense Tuesday night, the Appoquinimink boys basketball team figured what was good for the Yellowjackets would be better for the Jaguars against cross-town rival Middletown Thursday night.
“We usually practice that and Newark did it to us so we figured we could use it because we have the guys who are fast enough to play their positions,” senior guard Ajen English said after the host Jags took a 58-39 win over the Cavaliers.
“It really caught us off guard for some reason,” Middletown assistant coach Derek Saunders said. “They caught us with that 3-2 defense and by the time we figured it out, it was too big of a hole for us to climb out of. We also didn’t execute as well as we should have.”
English led all scorers with 23, while Michael Gordon added 12 and Appo head coach Spencer Dunkley was pleased with the interior play of junior center Trejean Woodard, who helped the Jaguars get the ball across half-court whenever Middletown tried to turn up the pressure.
“When you have a big guy who plays the way a big guy can play and do what he did for us tonight, it makes a huge difference,” he said.
English felt this game was huge for the pride of the team and the school.
“It feels good to beat Middletown, they beat us in football, so we had to get them back in basketball and represent for our school,” he said.
Appoquinimink now sits at 6-5 and Dunkley says one thing will make his team better as they make a run at the DIAA state tournament.
“If Allen Iverson can say it, so can I, and for all the kids out there - Practice. Practice. Practice,” he said.
As for the Cavaliers, Saunders thinks a few fixable things and more aggression can help Middletown break their five-game slide.
“If we work on the mistakes we’ve made, fix those and take that anger and frustration out on our next opponent, we should be fine,” he said.
Sardayah Sambo led Middletown with 12 points and Jordan Griffin added nine points.
E-mail Chris Stevens at chris.stevens@doverpost.com
After being victimized by Newark High School’s relentless full-court pressure defense Tuesday night, the Appoquinimink boys basketball team figured what was good for the Yellowjackets would be better for the Jaguars against cross-town rival Middletown Thursday night.
“We usually practice that and Newark did it to us so we figured we could use it because we have the guys who are fast enough to play their positions,” senior guard Ajen English said after the host Jags took a 58-39 win over the Cavaliers.
“It really caught us off guard for some reason,” Middletown assistant coach Derek Saunders said. “They caught us with that 3-2 defense and by the time we figured it out, it was too big of a hole for us to climb out of. We also didn’t execute as well as we should have.”
English led all scorers with 23, while Michael Gordon added 12 and Appo head coach Spencer Dunkley was pleased with the interior play of junior center Trejean Woodard, who helped the Jaguars get the ball across half-court whenever Middletown tried to turn up the pressure.
“When you have a big guy who plays the way a big guy can play and do what he did for us tonight, it makes a huge difference,” he said.
English felt this game was huge for the pride of the team and the school.
“It feels good to beat Middletown, they beat us in football, so we had to get them back in basketball and represent for our school,” he said.
Appoquinimink now sits at 6-5 and Dunkley says one thing will make his team better as they make a run at the DIAA state tournament.
“If Allen Iverson can say it, so can I, and for all the kids out there - Practice. Practice. Practice,” he said.
As for the Cavaliers, Saunders thinks a few fixable things and more aggression can help Middletown break their five-game slide.
“If we work on the mistakes we’ve made, fix those and take that anger and frustration out on our next opponent, we should be fine,” he said.
Sardayah Sambo led Middletown with 12 points and Jordan Griffin added nine points.
E-mail Chris Stevens at chris.stevens@doverpost.com
