By Andy Walter

CAMDEN — The Dover High boys’ basketball team doesn’t plan on digging itself an early hole.

Really.

But, when it does happen, the Senators don’t panic, either.

On Saturday morning, Dover spotted Caesar Rodney a 15-point lead and then stormed back to capture a decisive 63-48 Henlopen North victory over the rival Riders.

The Senators out-scored CR, 42-7, in one commanding 14-minute stretch as they downed the Riders for the third straight time.

The victory also clinched the North title for Dover (12-1 North, 15-2 overall). It was the Senators’ third division crown in the past four seasons.

“We never give up,” said Dover senior center Elijah Sessoms. “We all get together when we’re down and we just fight back together. We just tried to build upon the momentum throughout and it worked out for us.

“Being down by 15 in the first half and for us to come back, as a team, it really says a lot.”

“I never thought we were out of the game,” said coach Stephen Wilson. “We just had to withstand, do what we were taught, do what we were told and good things were going to happen.”

The contest turned in the second quarter after CR (7-5 North, 8-8 overall) jumped out to its 26-11 advantage.

When Amir Hite sank a pair of foul shots with only 0.9 seconds left in the first half, Dover trailed just 29-28. And the Senators only turned up the defensive pressure even more in the second half.

Dover took the lead for good when Hite started the third quarter with a three-pointer. That began a 19-0 run for the Senators.

By the time the Riders scored their first basket of the second half, there was only 3:17 left in the third quarter and the Senators led 47-29.

CR got off only two shots in the first five minutes of the third quarter as Dover forced eight turnovers. The Riders turned the ball over 23 times in the game.

“I feel like each one of us is great defensively,” said Sessoms. “Defensively, we match up great with teams.”

The Riders got 16 points from center Messiah Antwi and 14 from Craig Williams.

Offensively for Dover, Sessoms finished with a career-high 18 points as four Senators scored eight points or more. Dover was also led by Jaheim Harrell with 15.

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Sessoms is always happy when he can make a bigger contribution on offense.

“It feels great to take a load off of our guards,” said the Delaware football signee. “I feel like I can contribute to the team more than just boxing out and rebounding.”

“I’m not surprised — we’re looking for him,” said Wilson. “We’re looking for our big guys. We like to go inside-out. ... It’s a team effort, the things that we’re doing. We’re able to mix and match. You’ve got to pick your poison.”

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.