Basketball team lost game, but not season
March 17, 2010 • By Ron Ross, Staff Reporter
Filed under Sports, Top Stories
All good things must come to an end at some point, and it feels like that point came too soon for the Pencader Charter High School boys basketball team.
The Titans recently fell to Brandywine 60-56 in a tough, hard-fought contest in the first round of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association boys basketball tournament. It was the school’s first appearance in the tournament, and Pencader closed its season at 13-8.
Titan seniors Bobby Wright (18 points) and John Yates (14 points) led the team offensively against the Bulldogs. Yates also had four steals and Wright pulled down 11 rebounds.
The game was close throughout and Pencader trailed 52-49 when junior guard Zaire Phillips hit a clutch three pointer to tie the game with 1:30 left to play. But Brandywine (14-6) outscored the Titans 8-4 over the remaining time to pull out the victory.
The loss was especially painful considering how well Pencader had been playing going into the playoffs. The Titans went into the state tournament having won 11 of their final 14 games. Two of the losses (to Appoquinimink and Tatnall) were by a combined four points.
After defeating Pencader, Brandywine lost in the next round to Sanford, which went on to beat Dover in the state championship game.
Perhaps the person hit hardest by the loss to Brandywine was senior guard John Yates, the first 1,000-point scorer in Pencader’s short history. Yates enjoyed many memorable moments in his high school career, but unfortunately his last game in a Titan uniform ended in a heart-wrenching defeat.
Even in the face of defeat, all those associated with the team should be able to hold their heads high as they think back on the season that they put together. Last year’s Titan squad posted a record of 9-12, so improving to 13-8 and qualifying for the state tournament was a giant step for the program.
Five seniors will be leaving the team after contributing to the program’s success. In addition to Yates and Wright, Pencader will also lose Kwame Baffour-Akowuah, Jerome Lewis, and Cameron Richardson.
But at least these departing players can always look back and remember that they were a part of something special – the first trip to the state tournament for Pencader Charter High School.
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