Salesianum and Saint Mark’s both played in the DIAA boys quarterfinals on March 2. Saint Mark’s, the sixth seed, traveled to No. 2 Middletown, with the Cavaliers advancing after a 70-50 win. The Sals, seeded fourth, held off No. 5 Sanford, 50-45.
The Spartans won 12 of their first 13 games on the way to 16 regular-season wins, their highest total in at least 17 seasons. They had a first-round bye in the state tournament and defeated Appoquinimink in double overtime in the second round.
They will graduate seven seniors. Returning starters include leading scorer Alassan N’Diaye and point guard Mike Friend, along with key contributors Tariq Warner and Max Batten. The Spartans finished the season 17-5.
The Sals held off a fourth-quarter challenge from Sanford to advance to their fourth straight semifinals. The Warriors had cut the Sals’ lead to 46-45 on a three-pointer by Reeve Sysko, but Kareem Thomas made two free throws to get the lead back to three points. Sanford had two possessions with a chance to tie the score, but they could not connect, and Thomas made two more free throws with 2.7 seconds left.
Salesianum improved to 14-8 and will meet top-seeded St. Elizabeth on March 7 at 8 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.
Photos by Mike Lang.
