By Andy Walter

DOVER — It wasn’t like Dover High was flawless in the final minute.

Indeed, the Senators missed the front end of three straight one-and-one free-throw situations in the last 25 seconds that would have made things a little easier for them.

But Dover made up for it with defense and hustle to finally put away a 51-46 victory over rival Caesar Rodney in a Henlopen North basketball showdown on Tuesday evening.

The Senators (6-2) netted the final six points of the contest to avenge a 12-point loss to the Riders (5-3) in the second game of the season.

“To avenge a team we’ve only lost to once since 2018, with a young group and they have nine seniors, I’ll take that all day long,” said Dover coach Stephen Wilson. “Any win you can get with these young kids is a good win.”

Dover finally sealed the victory when Jaheim Harrell sank a pair of foul shots with just 3.7 seconds remaining. The free throws capped off a 23-point night for the sophomore guard.

Just as importantly, the Senators didn’t allow CR to get off a shot in the final minute. They forced a pair of turnovers, got possession on some loose balls and then forced the Riders to foul them by holding onto the ball.

The Riders, who hit only three three-pointers, were averaging 74.9 points per game before Tuesday’s contest. They hit five threes in the first meeting.

“Our defense was a focal point of what we wanted to do,” said Wilson. “We chased them off the three-point line. We wanted to not let them have standstill threes.”

Harrell had a big game for Dover. It was his three-pointer with 15 seconds left in the first half that gave the Senators a 29-28 lead at intermission.

But Harrell also made his share of key plays all over the court.

“He rebounded well, he assisted well, he trusted his big guys down low,” said Wilson. “He also defended well. He was tired tonight because he had to play both sides of the court.

“What I’m seeing right now is our guys are deciding to play both sides. That means we’re getting in better shape and our (weight) lifting is kicking in. We just out-willed them tonight.”

The Senators were still up just 39-38 going into the fourth quarter. There were four lead changes in the final eight minutes.

Trey Voshell’s drive put CR ahead 46-45 with 3:24 on the clock. Harrell, though, put back his own miss to give Dover a 47-46 lead with 2:49 remaining.
Elijah Sessoms (eight points) then scored off an offensive rebound a minute later to give the Senators their 49-46 advantage.

The Riders got a team-high 18 points from senior guard Brycen Williams, but 11 of those points came in the first quarter. He was limited to just four second-half points.

Nobody else reached double figures for CR.

“I think that had a lot to do with it,” said Wilson. “Holding (only) one person to double figures for them. ... that’s been a couple games that we’ve held them down defensively.”