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Del-Val works around whistles to top George Washington in Pub 'A' action

12/15/2015, 7:30pm EST
By Stephen Pianovich

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Delaware Valley Charter coach Jason Harrigan is concerned about a member of his team being overworked early in the season. That person doesn’t wear a jersey, though.

“My poor score keeper, he’s about to have a stroke,” Harrigan said. “He’s working overtime writing down foul, foul, foul.”

Harrigan was able to joke about it as, even after committing 31 fouls, Del-Val topped George Washington, 67-53, in a Public League ‘A’ affair that had no shortage of whistles on Tuesday afternoon. The win moved the Warriors to 4-1 on the young season and 2-1 in the Public League, where they also beat Math, Civics and Sciences and fell to Imhotep.

George Washington got 24 of its points at the foul line – including 10 of the team’s 18 in the first half – but Del-Val worked around the whistles and free throws to pull away in the fourth quarter. Only one Del-Val player fouled out Tuesday, but three more had four fouls, and it’s not the first time it’s been a problem for the team this season.

According to Harrigan, four of his players fouled out in the loss to Imhotep, and three hit the foul limit in the Warriors last game – a 12-point win against MCS.

“We have a problem with fouling overall,” Harrigan said. “And that’s something we have to fix as coaches and as a team. I think today, our defensive philosophies were good. But once they got momentum and we kept fouling, they got a lot of offensive rebounds and got back in the game.”

Luckily for the Warriors, they dominated the first and fourth quarters. Del-Val held a 12-point lead after one quarter, and early in the second frame, the squad was up 26-6. A lot of those points came in transition, and that’s where Makhi Morris made his mark early.

Morris, a senior guard, scored 12 of his game-best 16 points before halftime, and he finished the game with two of Del-Val’s three 3-pointers. Waheem Lowman added 14 points for the Warriors, and Harrigan noted the high-scoring duo has been vital in having the team off to a 4-1 start.

“They have been our scorers,” Harrigan said. “They’re our slashers, they’re our energy guys. They love to get out on the break and run. They’ve been very consistent for us.”

Every Del-Val starter scored at least nine points with senior Dwayne Coleman notching 12 points and Semaj Motley and Antwain Butler each finishing with nine points. Most of the Warriors’ success came in the first and fourth quarters, but the Eagles made a game out of it on their home court.

George Washington outscored Del-Val, 23-14, in the third quarter, and made it a four-point game late in the third quarter.

The Eagles spread out their scoring with junior guard Saheed Fagan-Haynes leading the way with 12 points. Point guard Denelle Holly added 11 and forward Jahi Randall scored 10 points for first-year coach Kyle Sample.

Though George Washington trailed by just five entering the fourth quarter, Del-Val starter the final frame on a 15-4 run to put the game away. Harrigan’s message to his team before the fourth quarter: “Stick to the script.”

“We have a gameplan that we went over and over,” Harrigan said. “Our guys kind of got away from that when we had some different starters out and had guys in different positions. Guys got a little frazzled, but we just want to stick to the script and have everyone do their job.”

For the rest of the season, Harrigan is hoping those jobs don't include as many fouls.


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