By Andy Walter

DOVER — A year had passed since Dover High last played Seaford.
But the Senators clearly hadn’t forgotten the painful two-point loss the Blue Jays handed them in the DIAA state tournament.

So Dover was pretty excited to get some measure of revenge by out-dueling Seaford, 60-56, to capture the Henlopen Conference boys’ basketball title before a packed gym on Saturday afternoon.

The Senators’ students rushed onto the floor to celebrate with the players at midcourt at the final buzzer as Dover claimed its third Henlopen crown in the last four seasons.

“After last year, losing to them in the playoffs, we had this game bulls-eyed,” said senior center Elijah Sessoms. “We knew everything was going to line up for us to get a chance to play them again. Today was just a game for everybody but yourself. It (last year’s loss) made this game mean a whole lot more.”

“This game was really personal for us,” said junior guard Amir Hite. “We lost to them in the playoffs last year. We put in a lot of work, we trusted our coaches. This win was definitely worth it.

“We came together when it really mattered. We just got it done. It was a great feeling.”

There was nothing easy about Saturday’s victory, though. The contest featured seven lead changes and 10 ties.

The Senators (17-3) didn’t take the lead for good until a three-point play from Lance Rainford put Dover ahead 50-47 with 6:48 remaining.

The Senators then went up by as much as six only to leave the door open by making only three of 10 free throws in the final minute.

The South champion Blue Jays (16-5) had their chances, finally closing within 59-56 on a three-pointer by Careen Bolden with 31.5 seconds still left. Seaford, however, missed its final three shots from the floor.

Sessoms, who had missed three foul shots in a row, finally made one with 16 seconds remaining to give Dover a more-comfortable four-point cushion.

“I’m thinking, I just missed the last three, I’ve got to make this one,” said Sessoms, who scored 14 points. “I’ve got to. ... It was a battle from start to end.”

The Senators were only 11-of-21 from the foul line in the game.

Hite finished with a game-high 21 points after sinking five three-pointers. He hit a couple big threes to get Dover’s offense started in the first quarter before hitting his last one to give the Senators a 55-51 lead with 5:08 left.

“That’s my job,” Hite said about his outside shooting. “I just did my job and we got the win.”

Eight different players scored for Dover in the game.

Seaford got double-figure scoring from Kashmeir Wise (14), Tyrese Fountain (12) and Aviyon Matthews (10). The Jays, who jumped out to a 12-4 lead to start the game, made 19-of-25 foul shots.

“I knew it was going to be a battle,” said Seaford coach Vince Evans. “Dover has a tough team, they have some good players. They play hard, we play hard. We just gave up too many second-chance opportunities and it caught up to us. Hopefully we can learn from this.”

For the Senators, Saturday’s victory made them feel they were a better team than they showed in last year’s tourney loss to the Blue Jays.

“We knew it was going to be a physical game today,” said Dover coach Stephen Wilson. “We knew that they were going to come in and battle. They’re a good team.

“We just wanted to show that we’re a good team. We wanted to be the best team in the conference.”

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.