WILMINGTON – A sellout crowd filled Father Birkenheuer Gymnasium on Dec. 11 to watch Salesianum host Wilmington Friends in early season basketball. Despite the size, it didn’t get too loud until Paul Brown sank a free throw a few minutes in.
That made the score 7-0 Sals, and once the ball went through the hoop, the Sallies’ student section went nuts. The game was the school’s annual Silent Night, a charitable endeavor mixed with basketball. Students dress for the holidays but stay silent until the home team scores its seventh point. At that point, they resume their normal enthusiastic cheering, mixed with singing Christmas songs and, at the end of the game, belting out “Silent Night.”
On the court, the Sals jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first quarter. Dominic Downs and Latrell Wright each made three-point shots early, but the Sals’ shooting fell off as the players attempted to score that seventh point. Salesianum used its height advantage to dominate the rebounding, and they made six of eight free throws in the first.
Friends found some success inside as they cut the Salesianum lead to 14-10, but a three-pointer from Matthew Shelly toward the end of the quarter was just the beginning of the stretch that put the game away. The Sals scored the first 17 points of the second quarter, with Brown scoring one bucket after three Salesianum offensive rebounds, and Braelin Sosa added a slick layup in transition after a steal. Wright combined with Brown for an alley-oop to end the run, putting the team up, 34-10. Brown had 12 points in the second quarter alone, although he banged knees with a Quakers player in the third quarter and spent much of the rest of the game on the bench.
The outcome of the contest was not in doubt in the second half. The score allowed Sals coach Taylor Trevisan to get every player in. Henry Winn stood out in the second half, when he scored 12 points.
Brown had 16 points, all in the first half, and Sosa added 12. Twelve players scored for the Sals, who improved to 2-1. They play again Saturday at 11 a.m. aginst Riverdale Baptist (Md.) at home in the D1 Showcase.
For the Quakers, Winn led the way with 20. Friends (1-2) visits Delaware Military Academy on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
