By Andy Walter

DOVER — Dover High’s boys’ basketball players have had big expectations on them since the season started.

Most of the time, the Senators have delivered.

Dover coach Stephen Wilson thinks his team will be ready to play again tonight in its biggest game of the season.

The second-seeded Senators (21-2) square off with No. 3 Middletown (18-5) today at 6 p.m. at the Carpenter Center in the DIAA state semifinals.

Top-seeded St. Elizabeth (21-1) and No. 4 Salesianum (14-8) then meet in the second semifinals with the winners returning to Newark for the state title game on Saturday evening.

The doubleheader was declared a sellout by the DIAA on Wednesday shortly after tickets went on sale.

Wilson said his team seems to play up to the level of the competition.

“So far they haven’t proven me wrong that when the stakes are at hand, they compete — they compete at high level,” he said. “They’ve shown that all season long. I’ve got to be honest, I think they’re going to play well.”

Dover and the Cavaliers haven’t played each other since last year’s season opener when Middletown posted a 72-62 victory. In 2021-22, the Senators beat the Cavs twice, including a 70-44 win in the second round of the state tournament.

But both teams’ rosters have changed a great deal since those meetings.
Dover has added senior Dorell Little and his younger brother, Chase, from Polytech. Tarrance Williams, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, also returned to the district after playing on Salesianum’s freshman team last winter.

Middletown, on the other hand, picked up five transfers from Seaford: Akendre Matthews, Aviyon Matthews, Az’juan Matthews, Aizyon Matthews and Zion Mifflin. The five are brothers and the sons of former Seaford standout Andre Matthews.

As chance would have it, Wilson coached Andre Matthews when he was playing at Delaware State. Of course, Wilson is also a former Middletown head coach.

“There’s a lot of familiar faces,” said Wilson. “There are a lot of familiar people that are going to be there.”

The Senators have won 13 straight games since a 61-60 loss at St. Elizabeth on Jan. 20. Their only other setback was a 53-52 loss to Stephen Decatur, Md. on Dec. 30.

The Cavs started the season just 2-3 with all three losses coming against out-of-state teams. Middletown is 16-2 since then, with the two setbacks coming to St. Elizabeth and Howard.

During the regular season, Dover was the highest-scoring team in the state at 70.6 points per game. The Cavs averaged 61.4.

On defense, the Senators gave up 50.5 ppg while Middletown surrendered 51.0.

Of course, how quickly teams adjust to playing in the more-spacious Carpenter Center often seems to impact Final Four games. Wilson, though, said Dover has played in a number of different venues going back to summer-league games at Wilmington’s Chase Fieldhouse.

“It’s going to be more people obviously,” he said.

“To finish off their career on that stage, it’s kind of nice for them and their families,” he said about his players.

After playing two tournament games in three games, both squads have had a chance to rest up and get focused again over the past few days. Wilson presumes it will be a tightly contested game.

“Eventually you’re going to have to make plays,” he said. “It’s not going to be Xs and Os. It’s going to be who plays harder and executes. Both teams play hard but we have to play harder, smarter.

“You’ve still got to get the job done, man,” Wilson added. “You’re 32 minutes away from giving yourself a chance to say that we really are the best — not just saying but proving it.”

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Defending state champion Sallies is in the Final Four for the fourth-straight year with a 1-2 record in the semis over the last three seasons. .... The four semifinal teams this weekend have combined to win only six state championships, all of which have come since 2004. .... Dover is 13-5 in the state tournament since 2018. ... Wilson is trying to take Dover to the state finals for the third time. That would move him past former coach Denis O’Brien, who led the Senators to title games in 1972 and ‘77. ... Pat Kelly, in 2003, is the other coach who guided Dover to a title game.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at awalter@iniusa.org. Follow on X at @DSNsports.