Downstate Delaware girls' basketball teams still face uphill climb in DIAA tourney
EDITOR'S NOTE: The first round of the DIAA girls' basketball state tournament is being played on Wednesday night.
Cape Henlopen High has been a lock to make the DIAA state tournament in …
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Downstate Delaware girls' basketball teams still face uphill climb in DIAA tourney
By Andy WalterEDITOR'S NOTE: The first round of the DIAA girls' basketball state tournament is being played on Wednesday night.
Cape Henlopen High has been a lock to make the DIAA state tournament in girls’ basketball lately.
But Vikings’ coach Pat Woods remembers thinking that if it didn’t win its regular-season finale against Polytech, Cape might not make it this time.
It’s just the way the Henlopen Conference schedule and DIAA point system are set up.
“We were going into that last game against Polytech,. ...we were like, we might be out,” said Woods.
The Vikings, though, won the game and are back in the tournament for a sixth-straight year.
The girls’ tourney gets underway tonight with first-round games starting at 7 p.m.
For Downstate schools, it means another uphill climb in a sport where only seven Henlopen Conference teams have ever reached the finals in the event’s 50-year history. And just two teams below the canal have won the title.
Of course, since 1979, just six public schools have captured the girls’ state championship.
Those stats aren’t expected to change this year with six of the top eight squads in the 24-team field being upstate private schools.
While Delmarva Christian (18-1) is the No. 7 seed this year, the highest seed among the seven Henlopen teams in the field is No. 10 Dover.
Despite finishing the regular season 16-4, the Senators will have to play a first-round game in the tournament. They host No. 23 Wilmington Charter (11-9) tonight.
Henlopen South champion Woodbridge (16-4) is in the same boat. The Blue Raiders are the No. 11 seed and host No. 22 Early College (14-5) today.
Only two of the nine teams ahead of those two Downstate teams have more victories.
It all goes back to the DIAA point system, which awards one bonus point if an opponent has a record over .500 or two points if its record is above .750.
So with Henlopen Conference teams playing each of the other seven teams in their division twice, their point total is limited in large part by their own division.
This season, only three teams in the North had winning records.
“Anybody that plays in the Henlopen North kind of knows this game already as far as seeding and how the points play out,” Dover coach Jahi Davenport said after his team won the Henlopen Conference title on Saturday. “At the end of the day, all you’ve got to is lace up. You’ve just got to lace up.”
Woods said he’s pushed for Henlopen teams to face divisional opponents just once, like the Blue Hen Conference does. But, he said, while coaches seem to like the idea, it never gains any traction.
Other public schools in the state play 10 non-conference contests, Henlopen schools have room for only six.
“You just don’t have the freedom of scheduling a game that would be competitive for you, whether you’re strong or weak that year,” said Woods. “You just have so many lopsided games.
“It’s our own doing. We have to do the best we can with those six games. ... The reality of it is, everybody else looks at us and knows you guys are always going to struggle because of your conference schedule.”
As the No. 18 seed, Cape Henlopen (14-6) travels to No. 15 Saint Mark’s (12-8) tonight. The winner then has to go to No. 2 Ursuline (14-6) on Friday night.
The Vikings edged the Spartans, 44-43, in last year’s tournament. Woods said he has a good relationship with Saint Mark’s coaching staff.
But Woods also acknowledges the advantage that private schools have.
He and other public-school coaches mostly have to develop the players they have. Woods, though, said private schools often seem to fill a position need with players from other programs.
“I’ve had conversations,” said Woods. “In terms of recruiting and school choice, everybody knows. No one’s trying to hide anything.
“Like in Little League, you’ve got the Little League team that you get. Then you play all-stars and it’s like taking your Little League team against a travel team.”
Delaware is one of the few states where public and private schools play for the same state championship. Woods said coaches from other states are often surprised to hear that.
”I’m trying to explain to them, ‘We’re a small state, we have one division,’” said Woods. “So we have to try to beat those private schools. They’re just like, ‘What?’ They can’t believe that takes place.”
For now, Downstate teams will keep trying to do what they can in the girls’ basketball state tournament. Even if the odds are against them, that doesn’t mean they’ll stop trying to change things.
“We’ve just got to be humble and hungry, like all season,” said Dover senior point guard Ashtyn Torbert. “We’ve still got something to prove — get our respect. Just keep pushing.”
