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Game of the Week |
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Photo: Sussex Tech's Brian Polk glides to the basket for 2 of his 21 points. GEORGETOWN -- Anyone from the Henlopen Conference who thought they saw a chink in the armor of the defending conference champions during last week's Slam Dunk to the Beach basketball tournament were quickly reminded of Sussex Tech's downstate superiority on Tuesday night. With a thorough dismantling of neighborhood rival and previously unbeaten Sussex Central, the Ravens took over sole possession of first place in the Henlopen North with a 65-54 win on Jan. 4, 2000.
Brian Polk and Tynell Tingle led the Ravens with 21 points apiece. Tyray Chandler and L.J. Walston added 9 and 7 points, respectively, but were most notable for throwing a scare into the crowd when they were injured trying to dunk. Walston's injury was the more serious of the two as he was taken out of the gym on a stretcher after landing flat on his face and chest when he was knocked sideways trying to dunk after play had stopped with 11.2 seconds left in the third quarter. Trainers attended to Walston as he lay motionless for 25 minutes under the basket until an ambulance arrived. Tech coach Jerry Kobasa said Walston was taken to the hospital to determine the extent of his injury. Chandler, meanwhile, was injured as he went in for a dunk in the last second of the game and also hit the floor hard. He was on the floor for several minutes before getting up and walking off but Kobasa said he didn't know the severity of Chandler's injury. The injuries tempered an outstanding effort by the Ravens, who took the lead for good on a layup by Walston early in the second period. That 18-17 advantage quickly grew to 25-17 on a dunk on a follow by Polk, a steal and layup by Chandler, and three free throws when Tingle was fouled on a three-point attempt. Sussex Central battled back to within 27-25 on a putback of a missed free throw by Travis Leonard but fell behind 31-27 by halftime. The Knights stayed close in the third period but the Ravens took advantage of a pair of fouls against SC standout James Cannon midway through the quarter that sent Cannon to the bench with four fouls. The conference's third leading scorer at 24.2 points a game, Cannon was limited to only 14 points due to the foul problems, which sat him down for a 6-minute stretch from the third to the fourth quarters. During those six minutes, the Ravens turned a 37-31 lead into a 53-39 lead before Cannon could return with 6:29 left in the game. Even with Cannon's return, the Knights never challenged again. Besides Cannon, Leonard was also in double figures for the Knights with 10 points.
SUSSEX CENTRAL (54) -- Darris Sample 2 0-0 5, Anthony Williams 2 0-1 4, Leroy Mann 2 0-0 5, Omar Ogelsby 2 0-2 4, James Cannon 6 2-5 14, Ed Brady 2 0-0 4, Orlando Farrow 2 0-0 4, Jesse Makowski 1 2-4 4, Travis Leonard 5 0-0 10, Toy Cintron 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 4-12 54. SUSSEX TECH (65) -- Brian Polk 7 7-9 21, Michael Hooks 0 1-4 1, L.J. Walston 3 0-0 7, Tynell Tingle 7 6-8 21, Tyray Chandler 3 3-5 9, Shannon Wright 1 0-0 2, Darko Jankovic 2 0-1 4. Totals: 23 17-28 65. Three-pointers: L.J. Walston, Tynell Tingle, Darris Sample, Leroy Mann.
Tech coach Jerry Kobasa Tech swingman Brian Polk Sussex Tech coach Jerry Kobasa on the victory: "We were awfully embarrassed with the way we played against William (a 79-35 loss in last week's Slam Dunk to the Beach). Then we came back and played very good defensively against St. Mark' and we came out and did that again tonight. Sussex Central is a good team. (James) Cannon can play with anybody in the conference or state and (Travis) Leonard is a good player and (Tony) Cintron keeps the team together. I thought we played very well defensively tonight from start to finish." Tech standout Brian Polk on coming back from the Slam Dunk to the Beach experience: "The Slam Dunk, that's like an eye-opener. It's not about showing anybody anything. It's basically to prepare us for the Henlopen Conference. It showed us that you can't go in cocky. Just because you're undefeated and 4-0, that doesn't mean you can't catch an 'L' because anybody can beat you at any given time."
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In rising to 5-0 in the North and 7-2 overall, the Ravens moved a half-game ahead of the Golden Knights, who fell to 5-1 and 6-1.