One of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association premier events has arrived. The boys’ and girls’ state basketball tournaments open up March 1 with eight boys games, and the girls will follow suit the next night. There will be just two nights with no basketball between then and the conclusion of the boys’ final on March 12.
All of the Catholic schools earned spots in the tournament from No. 1 (Salesianum) to No. 22 (Saint Mark’s) in the boys’ tournament, and on the gitls’ side, defending champion and fourth seed St. Elizabeth to 20th-seeded Padua.
The second rounds will be held Thursday and Friday, and the boys will play their quarterfinal games on Saturday. The girls will hold their quarterfinals on March 7. The semifinals are scheduled for March 9 (girls) and 10 (boys), and the finals are March 11 (girls) and 12 (boys). The semis and finals will be contested at the Bob Carpenter Center at the University of Delaware.
All first- and second-round games will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 each and are being sold online exclusively at gofan.co/app/school/DIAA through the quarterfinals. There is a service fee for each ticket.
Boys
Tuesday
No. 22 Saint Mark’s (12-8) at No. 11 St. Elizabeth (15-5)
No. 21 Caesar Rodney a(12-8) t No. 12 Archmere (12-6)
Thursday
Winner of No. 17 Laurel-No. 16 A.I. DuPont at No. 1 Salesianum (12-8)
Winner of Saint Mark’s-St. Elizabeth at No. 6 William Penn (14-5)
Winner of Caesar Rodney-Archmere at No. 5 Sanford (15-4)
Saturday
Quarterfinals, 1 and 4 p.m.
Girls
Wednesday
No. 20 Padua (8-11) at No. 13 Dover (13-6)
No. 18 Seaford (15-5) at No. 15 Archmere (12-7)
No. 19 Delaware Military (12-8) at No. 14 Saint Mark’s (15-5)
Friday
Winner of Padua-Dover at No. 4 St. Elizabeth (18-2)
Winner of Seaford-Archmere at No. 2 Sanford (17-2)
Winner of Delaware Military-Saint Mark’s at No. 3 Wilmington Charter (16-3)
Winner of No. 22 Wilmington Friends-No. 11 St. Georges at No. 6 Ursuline (12-7)