By Andy Walter

SEAFORD — If St. Andrew’s was going to make a serious run at Seaford, this was their chance.

By netting the final eight points of the first half, the Cardinals had closed to within seven by halftime.

But the Blue Jays quickly put a stop to that.

No. 10 Seaford tallied 14 of the second half’s first 17 points and never looked back, finally posting a 70-46 victory over No. 18 St. Andrew’s in a DIAA state boys’ basketball quarterfinal matchup on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Jays’ third-straight double-digit tourney win sends them to the state semifinals for the first time since winning the title in 1997. Henlopen South champion Seaford (19-5) will face third-seeded Tower Hill on Thursday in the Carpenter Center at 6:30 p.m.

The Hillers out-lasted No. 22 St. Mark’s, 43-41, in four overtimes in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The Blue Jays never trailed in their quarterfinal contest. The Cardinals (15-8), however, whittled a 15-point Seaford advantage down to 26-19 at intermission.

“We thought that we were playing too laid back and too soft,” said Seaford junior Brent Ricketts. “We didn’t have any energy out there and we had our heads down.”

“Coming out in the second half, we basically said we had to turn it up a little bit more,” said sophomore guard Kashmeir Wise. “They felt like they were in the game. I knew they couldn’t match up with us so we just took it on the run.”

It was a three-pointer from Wise that capped Seaford’s 14-3 run and pushed the Blue Jays’ advantage to 40-22 with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

Then, late in the third quarter, Ricketts sandwiched a pair of three-point plays around a St. Andrews’ turnover to stretch the Blue Jays’ lead to 52-29. The

Cardinals never got Seaford’s lead under 15 in the fourth quarter.
Ricketts finished with a game-high 24 points for Seaford with Wise adding 17.

The Blue Jays have played the last two games without senior Tyrese Fortune, who injured his knee in their tourney opener. Seaford coach Vince Evans said there’s still a chance Fortune could be cleared to play on Thursday.

Senior Wesnel Romain helped picked up the slack by scoring 11 points.

“It’s a different game from night to night,” said Evans. “So whoever’s opportunity it is, step up and make a play.

“That last two or three minutes (of the second quarter), I think we got a little selfish trying to get a homerun shot instead of sticking with our offense. That’s what we reminded them of back in the locker room. It wasn’t going to be one shot or one play. It was going to be a series of stops and it was going to be a series of good offensive shots.

“We came out and threw the first punch and I think it kind of stunned them a little bit.”

St. Andrews had knocked off both Sanford to end the regular season and then No. 2 Caravel on Thursday night. The Cardinals, who got 21  points from Francis Koblish, had won nine of their last 10 games.

The Blue Jays forced St. Andrews into 20 turnovers on Saturday.

Seaford lost to Tower Hill, 56-25, in last year’s quarterfinals before beating the Hillers, 69-55, this year in the second game of the season. This time, there will be a trip to the state finals riding on the outcome.

Evans, who played on the Blue Jays’ state championship squad in 1997, said his goal was to return some of the glory to Seaford.

“I don’t know about this quickly, but that was definitely the goal when I took over the program,” said the fourth-year coach. “Getting the community involved, getting Seaford people involved back here ... just trying to bring a positive culture back to the Seaford community.

“It’s a great group of kids. They work hard, they play hard.”

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.