Delmarva Christian crowned ESIAC champions for second consecutive year

Playing to a packed house, the Delmarva Christian boys’ basketball team defended its ESIAC tournament title Feb. 20, with a complete 61-23 win over rival Worcester Prep.

“The last two years of being more and more involved in winning has just been something special,” senior Andrew Collins said. “So many family and friends to enjoy this moment in life with … it was just great.”

“It means a lot in school, to my teammates and everyone involved,” junior Noah Barbrow said.

The Mallards flew together in the first quarter, staying within striking distance, but trailing 10-8. In the second quarter, the skies became a bit more difficult to navigate, as the Royals made their move.

“We were pressing; they turned it over, and then we did our thing,” Barbrow said.

Delmarva Christian’s thing was lighting up the scoreboard with 25 points to take a commanding 35-14 lead at the halftime break. It didn’t matter who was rocking the purple and white, they were producing.

“I can be confident playing with this team no matter who we go up against,” senior Seth Mifflin said. “We can go very deep into the bench when we need to, and there's no player that's on the bench that doesn’t have the skill to come out here before and perform.”

Mifflin is a crowd favorite and helps amplify the energy, which played a big role in the dominating defensive performance that included 20 steals and six blocked shots.

“We came out and we told them we're not letting up pressure at any point in the game,” Mifflin said. “Defense is way more important than offense. With a good defense, the other team is going to get lackadaisical, and that's when the offense comes through.”

Delmarva Christian’s defense surrendered just nine points in the final 16 minutes while pouring in 26 to earn the right to cut down the nets.

Sophomore Asher Woods led the team with 13 points, while Collins, Gideon Woods and Josh LoRusso led the charge on the boards, each grabbing six. Collins blocked five shots, and LoRusso tied Blake Dale for the team lead in steals with five. LoRusso’s four helpers were a team high.

Although the Royals fell just short of a state tournament appearance, the seniors who played their final minutes on Mohr Floor soaked in every bit of the post-game celebrations.

"It's truly, truly a blessing, and I wouldn't trade it for the world,” Mifflin said.

The future remains bright for Delmarva Christian boys’ basketball, as freshman Aarian Tucker, sophomore Gideons Woods and Barbrow joined Collins with all-conference honors.

“These guys would be happy to come practice on Monday, so we enjoyed it to the end, and we appreciate that,” coach Pat Woods said. “Obviously, the goal was to get into the tournament – and 12 wins isn't bad – but we needed to win more because of our strength of schedule, so hopefully we'll be able to play some tougher competition and see if we can make that work next year.”

A trusted eye confirmed the proof of optimism Woods has.

“Our trainer came over and said, ‘From the beginning of the season to the end of the season, you guys got significantly better,’” Woods said. “That's the goal.”