By Tim Mastro

HOCKESSIN — Frank Victory didn’t care about the seeds or the records.

The Caesar Rodney High boys’ basketball coach refused to consider the Riders an underdog headed into Thursday’s second round DIAA tournament game at Sanford.

Even when the Riders trailed by double digits, Victory still thought they had a chance.

Sure enough, Caesar Rodney battled back to wrestle the lead away from the Warriors with three minutes left.

But Sanford made enough plays, and free throws, down the stretch to hold the Riders off.

Fifth-seeded Sanford used eight unanswered points to secure a 55-48 victory over No. 21 Caesar Rodney on Thursday night. Sanford advanced to play No. 4 Howard Saturday at a time and location to be determined. Caesar Rodney ended its season at 13-9 overall.

“It wasn’t like a David against Goliath situation,” Victory said. “I felt completely confident we had every chance to win. My boys were prepared physically, emotionally and mentally. This stage was not too big for them. They went out there and showed it.”

The Riders took the lead with 3:17 to go when Craig Williams hit a layup, was fouled and made the resulting free throw for a 44-43 CR advantage. Sanford went back in front on the next possession however and stayed there.

The Warriors finished the game on a 12-4 run, including an 8-0 run. All of those Sanford points were scored at the free throw line. The Warriors did not hit a field goal in the final six minutes.

Dayon Polk made the two go-ahead free throws for Sanford. The Riders were then whistled for a five-second violation and missed a pair of three-pointers as the Warriors continued to convert at the line.

Caesar Rodney was able to close the game to 51-48 after a three-point play by Messiah Antwi but turned the ball over on the next possession as Polk buried four free throws at the other end.

The Riders set up the intense final few minutes by rallying from a 36-23 deficit early in the third quarter. They withstood a Sanford run which saw the Warriors make 6-of-7 three-point attempts during that timespan.

Caesar Rodney was looking for its second upset in a row after knocking off 12th-seeded Archmere in the opening round Tuesday 57-33.

“We definitely played our best two games of the season,” Victory said. “I was looking for this team. We knew with some new kids and COVID it would take a while for us to mesh and it would take until mid-February to get our mojo going. We expected to play our best basketball at the end of the season and they figured out how to do it.”

The Riders’ state tournament effort was inspired by Jensen “J.T.” Reed, a junior on the squad who was killed in a car accident a few weeks ago. The Riders wore shirts honoring Reed and his No. 5 during warmups and on the bench.

“We’ve battled some adversity, J.T. is not with us anymore and that’s hard,” Victory said. “These boys have fought through that and have learned life is not going to be easy. They took that on the court, in a hostile environment, and found a way to get back in this game. I am so proud of them. This is exactly where we needed to be.”

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