Polytech basketball Junior Dorrell Little dunks during their game against Dover, photo by Brandon Bossert from 47 ABC WMDT
The Polytech Panthers took a two game lead in the Henlopen North with a hard fought 55-52 win at Dover High Tuesday. Coach John Pierce told 302 Sports that he talked to his players at halftime regarding the pressure of the hostile environment. “It was a little sketchy in the beginning, but they finally worked their way through it”. Pierce credited the Panthers defense as the key to the win saying, “that’s our main focus, offensively you can have a bad night, but our defense will always keep us in games”.
The two teams played a tight opening quarter as Polytech led 10-7 with 3:00 to go, but the Senators out-scored the Panthers 8-2 to grab a 15-12 lead after one. Kendall Abrams scored the final basket of the 1st quarter with :04 to go, and then proceeded to lead Dover with 9 of the first 11 points in the 2nd quarter including a long range shot in the left corner. Dover went on an 8-0 run to take the largest lead of the night at 30-19 with 1:19 left in the half. Polytech closed the half with free throws by Xavier Brewington to make the score 32-24 in favor of the Senators.
Kendall Abrams paced Dover in the 1st half with 14 points, while Denim Perkins scored 13. Jaheim Harrell was held to five points in the half. The Panthers were lead by Dorell Little with 9 points.
The Panthers clawed their way back in the game trailing just 44-42 after three quarters as Little started heating up his game with some great moves in the paint. Little scored 13 of Polytech’s 18 in the 3rd. His spin move and finish at the rim gave the Panthers the lead 48-47 with 3:15 left in the game. It was the 1st Panther lead since 12-10 late in the opening quarter.
Dover regained the advantage when Kameron Jackson-Dickson nailed a “three” deep in the left corner with 2:00 left, but Polytech came right back with a free throw and a layup by Little to give them the lead at 53-52 with 1:18 to go. Dover’s Harrell was fouled with :42 left but missed both attempts. The Panthers had the one point lead and the ball, forcing Dover to foul. With :20 left in the game, Brewington made the crucial “front end” of the one-and-one, then swished the 2nd attempt and Polytech was up by three. Dover coach Stephen Wilson called a timeout to set up the final play with just :16 left, but Brett Shelton-Hoskins stole the ball and the Panthers ran out the clock for the win.
Polytech is 7-0 in the conference with the win while Dover falls to 6-2 just a half game ahead of Cape Henlopen in second place. The Senators face the Vikings Thursday night.
Polytech junior Dorell Little had a game-high 28 points. Dover was led by Denim Perkins with 16.
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