By Chris Stevens, Editor
Of all the storied athletic history just off Pennsylvania Avenue, a boys’ basketball final four is one the few successes that has eluded Tower Hill School.
Until Tuesday night.
Senior guard Donoven Mack’s 21 points was a huge part of a blistering start for the Hillers, who ran past 5-seed Seaford 56-25 and into the first semifinals appearance in Tower history.
“I’m super excited for the boys,” Hillers head coach Patrick Kaiser said. “We’ve got a super group of seniors who’ve been here since Day One. They’ve worked four years this moment and 15 guys have been working hard every day since December. I’m just tremendously proud of this group for making it to this point.”
“We felt like we should’ve made this far last year,” said Mack, who threw down two fast break dunks in a nine-point spurt to put Tower Hill ahead comfortably by half time. “We came up short last year, but now, we’re here and it’s great.”
Before Mack even got started, sophomore guard Dean Shepherd scored eight first quarter points (13 in all) to lift the Hillers to a 15-9 lead after one. The second quarter was all Mack as his nine-point outburst pushed the lead to 30-16 at the half.
The game was put away in the third quarter when Mack again ripped off nine straight points as a part of a 15-0 start to the frame for the Hillers (12-2). The Blue Jays could manage just two free throws in the third quarter and nine points the entirety of the second half.
“We just came out and tried to come and pressure them because of the experience factor,” Kaiser explained. “But they’ve got some studs, [Brent] Ricketts is a great player and [Tyrese] Fortune is very talented as well. They’ll definitely be back next year.”
“Coach told us ‘they’re here for a reason,’ so we wanted to come out strong early,” Mack added.
Next up for Tower Hill? Another shot at Sanford, this time with an appearance in the state championship game on the line, Thursday night at 6:30 pm.
Tyrese Fortune Jr. led Seaford, who finished the season 13-4, with 10 points.
