BEAR — Archmere’s boys basketball team fought back from a five-point deficit in the closing minutes of its game Jan. 6 at Caravel, sending the game into overtime. But the Buccaneers scored early in the extra session on a layup, then made enough free throws down the stretch to post a 61-54 victory.
Caravel held a one-point halftime advantage but started the third quarter on a 7-0 run. It started with a layup underneath from Amari Gordon, followed by a transition layup from Miles White following an Auks turnover. After Gordon made a free throw, John Clemmons added another field goal from in close to give the Bucs a 32-24 lead.
The Auks finally got on the board with two free throws from Jon Dearing midway through the quarter, and their defense began to pay dividends as they forced the Buccaneers into some turnovers. Matt Dellose helped get Archmere closer with a few mid-range jumpers, and Drew Duncan’s three-pointer at the buzzer cut Caravel’s lead to one after three.
The Auks went cold from the field to begin the fourth, and the Bucs used their height advantage to get multiple opportunities on offense. After Dearing drove and scored to make it 43-40 with about five minutes left in regulation, James Wingo answered with a third-chance hoop and harm that doubled the lead to six. The lead was five when Chris Albero made a pair of free throws, then intercepted a Bucs pass and found Dellose for a 10-foot shot that made the score 47-46 at the 2:12 mark.
The Bucs called a timeout and responded with a big three from Clemmons, but those would be their final points in regulation. The Auks rebounded a missed Bucs free throw, and Albero fed Dearing at the other end to cut the lead to 50-48 with 53 seconds left.
Heavy full-court pressure by the Auks resulted in a steal and a timeout. Archmere’s offense went to work, coming up with two offensive rebounds before Matt McCarthy was fouled as he attempted the tying shot. He made both ends of the one-and-one, sending the game to an extra four minutes.
Most of the offense belonged to the Buccaneers in overtime. Clemmons scored underneath early before the teams went into a scoring drought. The next points would not come until about 90 seconds remained as Clemmons made a pair of free throws. Gordon also scored twice from the line before Albero made two of his own, but the Bucs made five of the final six attempts from the charity stripe to seal the win.
Clemmons led four Buccaneers in double figures with 18 points. He was joined by White with 13, Wingo with 11, and Gordon with 10. Caravel (4-1) They visit Tri-State Christian (Md.) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
For Archmere, Dellose had 14 points, while McCarthy went for 13 – including three first-half three-pointers – and Albero added 12. The Auks fell to 1-1 and travel to Tatnall on Saturday for a 12:15 p.m. tip. According to websites4sports.com, attendance is limited to two spectators per home player only.
All photos by Mike Lang.
