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Russell runs the show, leads Imhotep past Del-Val for AAA title

02/13/2015, 10:00pm EST

By Tom Reifsnyder

Daron Russell (above) led Imhotep with a game-high 16 points to secure the Class AAA title in a win over Del-Val on Friday night. (Photo: Tom Reifsnyder)

Tom Reifsnyder (@tom_reifsnyder)
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Trailing by just two points with mere seconds to play until halftime, the Del-Val Charter bench was on its feet as the Warriors were keeping pace with Imhotep Charter in a matchup for the Public League’s Class AAA title on Friday night at Ben Franklin High School.

However, Del-Val’s jubilation wouldn’t last much longer; no more than a few seconds.

In the blink on an eye, Imhotep senior guard Cananchet Jordan scurried up the court and, with only a second to spare, threw up a prayer in the form of a one-handed floater from just beyond the three-point arc.

As Jordan’s attempt found the bottom of the net, Del-Val found its momentum deflated.

From that point on, it was an uphill battle for Jason Harrigan‘s Warriors, who ultimately fell to Imhotep, 62-52, due largely to a backbreaking 15-4 run to end the third quarter.

In a game marred by fouls and turnovers, sophomore Daron Russell was the most consistent player on the court, scoring a game-high 16 points and keeping the Panthers under control on both offense and defense.

Russell (15.4 ppg) has been impressive all season, but today’s challenge was a bit different for the 5-foot-10 guard, who was without his usual backcourt mate, junior Jaekwon Carlyle.

“[Russell] leads our team everyday whether Jaekwon’s there or not and we expect that from him,” Imhotep head coach Andre Noble said. “He’s one of the better sophomores in our area, so we always tell him if you wanna be an elite guy, you gotta be able to do elite things; and he’s been doing elite things.”

Carlyle, who had dental surgery earlier Friday, was declared out by Noble due to soreness.

“He wanted to go but we didn’t wanna try to take a chance,” Noble said.

It appears that Noble made the right call, as Jordan stepped up in Carlyle’s absence, scoring seven points and making a significant impact on the glass with eight rebounds.

Jordan and Russell certainly played their part in the victory, but perhaps the biggest impact was made by Imhotep’s 6-6 senior forward DeAnte Robinson, who Russell called, “the best player on our team.”

After flying under the radar for most of the first half, it became clear that Robinson was saving his best for last as he dropped 10 of his 15 points in the final two quarters, highlighted by an incredible put-back slam that sparked the Panther’s third quarter spree.

But for Noble, big-time dunks don’t excuse defensive lapses.

“[Robinson] was solid,” Noble said. “We just need him to be better defensively at coming over and cutting off the lane; he didn’t do a great job of that.”

In the fourth quarter, Imhotep’s defense began to falter as Del-Val made one last push behind the exploits of sophomore Jermaine Lucas, who scored all 12 of his points in the final eight minutes of action.

Imhotep missed multiple layups and eight of its 21 free throw attempts as the Panthers allowed Del-Val to score 24 points in the fourth quarter alone, three more than the Warriors’ halftime mark of 21.

“I mean, they’re a good basketball team; that was the biggest obstacle,” Noble said. “And we’ve gotta get better at finishing.

“But I was really happy with how hard we played defensively. We really defended the basketball hard, our kids never quit…so I’m glad about how hard we played defensively for the most part.”

Imhotep would ultimately rally around the steady hands of Russell, who scored seven fourth quarter points to lead the Panthers (17-8) to a double-digit victory and a Class AAA title.

Devin Liggeons, a Wagner-bound senior who missed the majority of the regular season due to injury, scored 10 points for the Panthers while fellow senior Khalief Tinley and junior Nysir Marshburn each added six.

Seniors Semaj Motley and DaShon Giddings were the most consistent offensive threats for Del-Val (17-8), scoring 13 and 10 respectively. Fellow senior Karl Lewis struggled from the free throw line, going 2-of-6, and scored just seven points.

With the win, Imhotep is set to square off with Class AAAA Champions Martin Luther King, who defeated George Washington earlier today, on Tuesday in the Public League semifinals.

“We lost to MLK twice and to Constitution twice during the season and I don’t want it any other way but that we have to go and play Martin Luther King,” Noble said. “So we’re excited that everything worked out.

“We don’t wanna duck around them or them to get bumped; we wanna play them and see if we can pull off something special.”