Donte DiVincenzo and Adrianna Hahn, two high school basketball standouts at local Catholic high schools who both went on to star at Villanova University, were named Delaware’s boys’ and girls’ high school players for the decade of the 2010s, heading the all-decade teams for the state. The voting was done by a panel of coaches and writers.
DiVincenzo was a four-year member of Salesianum’s varsity team, leading the Sals to their first two state championships, in 2014 and ’15. He was first-team all-state both of those years and the player of the year as a senior. At Villanova, he was a member of two national championship teams, including his redshirt sophomore season in 2018. In the national championship game against Michigan, he came off the bench to score 31 points and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 Final Four. He was a first-round draft pick by the Milwaukee Bucks and is in his second season with the NBA team.
Hahn led Ursuline to two state championships in five seasons on the varsity and was the first player of either gender to earn first-team all-state honors four times. She was the state’s player of the year three times. At Villanova, her Big East honors included Sixth Player of the Year, all-rookie, and second-team all-conference, and she was on the Big Five second team on two occasions. She scored 1,503 points for the Wildcats.
Boys
First team: DiVincenzo; Trevor Cooney, Sanford; Ben Bentil, St. Andrew’s; Myles Cale, Appoquinimink; and Nah’Shon Hyland, St. Georges
Second team: Mikey Dixon, Sanford; Deon Jones, Sanford; Khalid Hart, Sanford; Andre Patton, St. Elizabeth; and Brian O’Neill, Salesianum
Third team: A.J. English III, Appoquinimink; Andre Horne, Hodgson and Newark; Kyson Rawls, St. Georges; Caleb Matthews, Smyrna; Jyare Davis, Sanford
Fourth team: Austin Tilghman, St. Andrew’s; Jordan Allen, Dover; O’Koye Parker, Howard and Caravel; Joe Cooper, Tatnall and Concord; and Lamar Hamrick, St. Georges.
Jordan Money, who graduated from St. Elizabeth, was the only Catholic high school player on the honorable mention list. O’Neill also made the all-defensive team, while DiVincenzo tied for fifth with five others for the final spot on that team.
Girls
First team: Hahn; Betnijah Laney, Smyrna; Maggie Connolly, Ursuline; Lauren Park, Sanford; and Julie Kulesza, Conrad
Second team: Stefanie Kulesza, Conrad; Alisha Lewis, Ursuline; Alison Lewis, Sanford; Ber’Nyah Mayo, A.I. duPont and St. Elizabeth; and Altia Anderson, Woodbridge
Third team: Kelly Perillo, Wilmington Charter; Andrea Hines, Sanford; Macy Robinson, St. Elizabeth; Olivia Tucker, St. Elizabeth and Sanford; and Olivia Gumbs, Caravel and St. Andrew’s
Fourth team: Allie Kubek, Sanford; Chrishyanah Alston, Sanford; Kayla Braxton-Young, Hodgson; Caroline Davis, Caravel; and Sasha Marvel, St. Thomas More and Caravel
Three Catholic high school players received honorable mention. They are Alanna Speaks and Alex Thomas of St. Elizabeth, along with Mary Abram of Ursuline. Abram and Connolly also made the all-defensive team.
The panel selected the Salesianum 2014 and Sanford 2011 teams as the best of the boys for the decade. The girls’ best teams were Ursuline in 2014 and Sanford in 2015.
The poll was conducted on behalf of Delaware’s Finest, a nonprofit group that supports Delaware high school basketball. It has conducted similar polls for the three previous decades. Dialog reporter Mike Lang voted in the poll.
