By Andy Walter

Even years later, Gary Starkey would still dream about that game.

And it wasn’t even just about the nightmarish way in which it ended for Dover High’s boys’ basketball team.

It was the whole thing — the way the Senators were doing everything right, leading Wilmington by 17 points at halftime, and still managed to lose, 57-56, in the 1972 state finals.

“We knew we could beat them,” said Starkey. “We had them by 17 points. Strange things happen ... and it starts moving so quickly when you’re in the moment. Then, afterward, you go, ‘How did we let that slip away?’

“It’s amazing the impact it can have on a 17-, 18-year-old kid,” he said. “It’s been 50 years and I still remember it like it was yesterday.”

With that title game finishing not only their season but many of the Dover’s players careers, Starkey said the team has never really been together as a group since that infamous March night.

But that will change on Saturday when the 1972 Senators are honored on the 50th anniversary of their state runner-up season. The squad will be recognized during Dover’s 2 p.m. home game with rival Caesar Rodney.

Most of the guys from the team are expected to be there. That includes names like Gary Traynor, Tye Shultz, Tommy Ambrose, Steve Nottingham, Jim Solomon, Mike Balentine, John Griffin, Richard Curl and Starkey.

The winter of 1971-72 was one worth remembering for the Senators.

They lost just once in the regular season and their run to the state championship game was the first in the program’s history. Dover beat P.S. DuPont in the semifinals.

But as great as that season was, it is also defined by the way it finished.

“I don’t think you can leave that out, the way it ended,” said Solomon, who was a junior guard in ’72. “That’s part of it, you know.

“I just remember running out on the floor and celebrating. And then, the next thing you know, we were on the bus, sobbing. It was kind of devastating.”

The short version of what happened is that Wilmington missed a last-second shot. Dover — leading by one — got the rebound and made an insurance layup. But the Senators were called for traveling. Three seconds were put on the clock and the Red Devils sank a remarkable 20-footer at the buzzer.

Some people will tell you there was no traveling on the play. Others say there were definitely fewer than three seconds remaining.

“I looked up when they blew the whistle,” said Starkey, “and there was one second left.”

Starkey said some good things came out of the unfortunate situation. He said the team got letters of support from a number of different groups.

“The whole town was behind us,” said Starkey. “It was fantastic. The whole town was just so fired up about it. It was a pretty special time and a great group of guys. We were just so close.”

On the other hand, Starkey said it really feels like the way the Senators lost has played a part in them not getting together for the last 50 years.

“I don’t know why,” he said. “That was such a traumatic thing. People just kind of spread to the wind.

“It’ll be great,” Starkey said about seeing his old teammates. “That was quite the experience back then. It was an amazing run. We spent a lot of time together. That’s for sure.”

“I don’t know. This might close the book on it,” said Solomon. “I played another year but we never were together as a group after that. Everybody went their separate ways. Some of those guys haven’t seen each other since high school.”

Jeter fondly recalled

It had been almost five decades since Arnold Jeter was the head football coach at Delaware State University.

But the people who worked with Jeter, who died recently at the age of 82, still have fond memories of him.

Hired to lead the Hornets when he was only 28, the Ohio native was DSU’s head coach from 1967 to ’74. Jeter was DelState’s coach when the program moved up from Division II to Division I in 1971.

He went on to work on coaching staffs at Marshall, Wisconsin, Arizona and Rutgers.

Don Blakey and Jimmie Strong, who worked on Jeter’s DSU staff, wrote a letter remembering their former head coach.

They said that Jeter was “all about teamwork, brotherhood and learning.” They said he helped change the culture of the program.

“Coach Jeter was a salesman for his football program,” Blakey and Strong wrote. “If he got a foot in the door of a prospective player, he was able to convince a player and, most importantly, the parents, that Delaware State was the place to play football while getting an education. Additionally, Coach Jeter stayed in contact with his players long after they left his football program.”

Reed remembered

The Kent County sports community lost former longtime football referee Jeff Reed when he passed away at his Dover home on Dec. 18. He was 79.

Reed spent over 20 seasons officiating with the Capitol Officials and Delmarva Football Officials Association. He was also part of a group of four men who worked the chains on the sidelines at DelState games for three decades.

The brother of ex-Wesley College baseball coach Bob Reed, Jeff was a proud Alabama native who graduated from the University of Alabama. His car’s license plate read “Bama.”

Reed was also a part of Dover’s sports history. In 1955, he threw the first official pitch in Dover Little League’s first game.

“My father told me one thing he remembered was that most pitchers walk to the mound,” Reed remembered in 2005. “But I was so excited I ran out of the dugout at a dead sprint to the mound. I just got up there and stood. I had to wait until George Courtney, the catcher, came out.”

Blue-Gold’s Glenn retires

Tony Glenn, who for years has been the heart and soul of the Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game, has stepped down as the DFRC’s executive director.

Glenn held the post for 21 years. But his involvement with the game goes back to 1973 when the Conrad grad played in the game himself.

Glenn will continue to support the DFRC’s mission as a member of its board of trustees.

Jada Little is taking over as executive director. Her brother, Jordan, was a buddy in the Blue-Gold game before she participated as a band member for four years.

Little has been the DFRC’s director of operations.

Transfer or not

Despite having several of its top players put their names in the NCAA Transfer Portal, the University of Delaware football team has only lost two notable players so far.

While linebacker Colby Reeder (Iowa State) and kicker Ryan Coe (Cincinnati) have both moved on, quarterback Nolan Henderson, receiver Thyrick Pitts, safety Noah Plack and linebacker Johnny Buchanan all said they’re remaining Blue Hens under new coach Ryan Carty.

And it still remains to be seen what transfers Carty might bring in.

Delaware has made scholarship offers to Presbyterian receiver Jalyn Witcher, who had 80 catches for 1,120 yards and 10 TDs at the FCS program, as well as offensive linemen Derek Ferraro (Rice) and Chris Everhart (Marshall). The Hens have also offered high school senior Brendan Sorsby, a quarterback from Dallas.

Odds & ends

The Wilmington University of men’s basketball team features three former Henlopen Conference players. Randy Rickards (Cape Henlopen) leads the Wildcats with 13.3 points per game; Caleb Matthews (Smyrna) is averaging 8.9 off the bench while Nalik Veasley (Smyrna) has hit four of his first five shots ... Starting this week, Dover High is limiting attendance to two spectators per participant to try to limit the spread of COVID. ... The state of Delaware has four men’s/women’s NCAA Division I basketball teams — none of which have played a game this calendar year yet due to COVID protocols. The next scheduled game for any of the four is the Blue Hens’ men’s contest at Drexel on Tuesday.