By Chris Stevens, Editor
Tonight is the night four becomes two on the boys’ side of the tournament. First State Hoops Report previews the boys’ basketball semifinals, both of which start at 6:30 pm.
No. 1 Sanford (15-1) vs. No 4 Tower Hill (12-2)
How they got here: Sanford defeated St. Georges 59-50 in Round 2, Delcastle 84-56 in Round 3 and Appoquinimink 54-38 in the quarterfinals. Tower Hill defeated Conrad 65-35 in Round 2, Wilmington Christian 68-41 in Round 3 and Seaford 56-25 in the quarterfinals.
Key players: Sanford – Nnanna Njoku, Carter Ruby, Brandon Dwyer, Amin Johnson, Dayon Polk. Tower Hill – Donoven Mack, Ricky Deadywler Jr., Jaeden Fitzhugh, Dean Shepherd, DJ McClendon.
Outlook: Will the third time be the charm for the Hillers? Their first trip the Final Four pits them against their Independent Conference rivals, who have more Final Four appearances than anyone in the history of the tournament.
Sanford obviously will look to Nnanna Njoku to jumpstart their offense, while Tower will counter with the perimeter stylings of Donoven Mack, Ricky Deadwyler Jr. and Dean Shepherd. Can Sanford’s guards turn up the defense and keep Tower’s trio from going off, or will the Hillers finally, pardon the pun, climb the hill to the state championship game?
No. 2 Salesianum (12-3) vs. No. 6 Smyrna (18-0)
How they got here: Salesianum defeated Indian River 70-29 in Round 2, Dickinson 71-39 in Round 3 and Tatnall 61-47 in the quarterfinals. Smyrna defeated St. Mark’s 46-27 in Round 2, Caravel 63-46 in Round 3 and Howard 59-50 in the quarterfinals.
Key players: Salesianum – Rasheen Caulk Jr., Ethan Hinds, Justin Molen, Jackson Conkey. Smyrna – Elijah Credle, Robert Wiley, Olamyuiwa Salako, Elisha Gregory.
Outlook: The Eagles fought off a tough Howard challenge Tuesday, but the road gets even rougher with a trip to Salesianum, who has looked pretty good at home in this tournament.
Salesianum will have to win the battle of the boards and keep Elijah Credle and Robert Wiley from having their run of the gym, which has proven to be a tough task for everyone Smyrna has played thus far.
For Smyrna to have a quasi-home game in the state championship game at Dover, they’ll have to slow Rasheen Caulk Jr. and keep an eye (or several) on Swiss army knife Ethan Hinds. The Eagles have also fallen behind in all of their tournament games thus far before roaring back for the win. If the Sals can get an early lead, that might be too much to overcome.
