The season will continue for the Smyrna High boys’ basketball team.
The Eagles advanced to the second round of the DIAA state tournament with a come-from-behind, 52-44 victory over William Penn on March 3 at the Smyrna High gymnasium.
The visiting Colonials scored the first eight points of the game and led 15-10 after one quarter of play.
Smyrna continued to struggle in the second quarter as William Penn built up an 11-point advantage, though the Eagles trimmed it to 25-18 by halftime.
The Colonials led 30-20 early in the third quarter before the Eagles finally hit their stride.
Smyrna’s Amir Goher drew a foul as he scored a basket, then he hit the free throw to complete a three-point play.
From there, Smyrna senior Chris Oscar caught fire from beyond the three-point line. Oscar sank a trio of three-pointers on three straight Smyrna possessions and brought the Eagles to within 35-32.
“The ball just felt good coming out of my hand,” Oscar said after the game.
A lay in by Bradley Forrest-Jones and a free throw from Andre Gibbs knotted the game at 35-35 at the end of three quarters.
Early in the fourth quarter, Gibbs drilled a three-pointer that put Smyrna on top 38-35, the Eagles’ first lead of the game.
Matt Storck kept the Eagles rocking with a three-pointer of his own, and Smyrna led 41-37 with less than two minutes to play. It was Smyrna’s fifth three-point basket of the second half.
The game turned into a free-throw contest from there, but William Penn wasn’t going to catch the Eagles that way.
As a team, Smyrna hit 21 of 27 free throws over the course of the game, while the Colonials converted only 7 of 20.
The Eagles secured the victory with sharp free throw shooting and eliminated the Colonials, last year’s state champions who entered this year’s tournament as the No. 21 seed.
After the game, sophomore Andre Gibbs said the Eagles were too anxious in the first half, but were able to settle down in the second half and play their half-court offense.
The Eagles’ long-range shots also started to fall in the second half.
“That’s our game – we shoot the ball,” said Gibbs, who was happy to get the win. “We couldn’t go home in the first round.”
Smyrna High’s new gymnasium will be ready for next year’s basketball season, so Wednesday’s victory was the boys’ basketball team’s final game in the current gym.
That significance wasn’t lost on senior Chris Oscar, who was playing his final home game for the Eagles.
“We’re the last team to get a win on this court,” Oscar said. “I’ll probably remember that for the rest of my life.”
Smyrna head coach Mike Starkey said the team talked about keeping its composure at halftime.
“These guys have been in so many close, tight games. We reminded them of those situations,” Starkey said. “I’m proud of them. We’ve got good leadership.”
Chris Oscar and Andre Gibbs led the Eagles in scoring with 16 points each. Gibbs hit 11 of 12 free throws. Oscar made 5 out of 6 free throw attempts. Bradley Forrest-Jones had six points for Smyrna, while Amir Goher and Matt Storck each scored five. Derrick Boyd and Kossivi Woluko both chipped in with two points.
With Wednesday’s victory, the Eagles improved their overall record to 15-6.
In the second round of the tournament, Smyrna will go on the road to face Hodgson, the tournament’s No. 5 seed. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. on Friday.
SMYRNA, Del. —
