Year End Review and Informal Awards

March 11, 2008

by Jim Charles

The News Journal posted their final rankings today.  This gives us a chance to see how DGB.com did in its pre-season picks.

News Journal Final Five                                     DGB.com Pre-Season Top Five

1.  Ursuline                                                             1.  Ursuline

2.  St. Elizabeth                                                     2.  St. Mark's

3.  Hodgson Vo-Tech                                          3.  St. Elizabeth

4.  Sanford                                                              4.  Padua

5.  St. Mark's                                                           5.  Caravel

 

I didn't do nearly as well as the previous season.  I failed to predict the development of the Hodgson program.  I thought Sanford would be missing too much with Paris Waterman's graduation.  On the other hand, I gave way too much credit going into the season to Padua.  Caravel was probably a game away from a Top Five finish.  Perhaps just a basket away.  They lost their first playoff game to Middletown by a single basket.  Middletown, in turn, lost in the Elite Eight by one point to Hodgson.  Three points separating three very good teams.

Year End Awards

Now listen -- we don't want a lot of grief over these picks!  This is all very informal and done sincerely, but also for fun.  It's a lot of subjective opinion.  There's no way that everyone will agree with all of these award winners.

If we had to name a Player of the Year, it's gotta be Elena Delle Donne.  Yeah, she missed 10 games.  And yeah, we'd be giving her the honor as much for "lifetime achievement" as for her performance this season.  But, she was the focal point of Ursuline's drive to the championship this year, and perhaps no player in the state can take over a game like she can.

For Coach of the Year, we would go with Chris Jones at Hodgson.  Here's a guy who works a game well -- both game strategies and use of lineup.  He knows his players.  Knows what each girl can do in a given situation.  And he comports himself with class and dignity.  He acts like a Coach of the Year should.  Most importantly, look at the results.  Sure, the girls themselves deserve most of the credit for going out there and delivering.  And this website has shown no shortage of praise for this team.  But we are not convinced that Hodgson would have accomplished everything they did this year with a different coach.  Props also to Asst. Coach Steve Colella who contributed his own knowledge and experience to the Hodgson cause. 

No one does JV like DGB.com does JV.  For JV Coach of the Year, we have a tie!  It's just too hard to decide between these two, so why not give them both the credit they deserve?  We're going with Ursuline's Ken Jackson and St. E's Gretchen Loose.  Both of these fantastic youth leaders should be varsity head coaches.  And maybe they will be someday.

JV Player of the Year is Kelly Gimlett of Archmere.  Admittedly, we only saw Archmere's JV team twice this season, but this player is the real deal.  She's got height, aggressiveness, and can put the ball in the basket.  This is pretty much a "can't miss" varsity player for the future.

And here she is...

CYM (7th/8th Grade) Coach of the Year:  Dan McDermott, IHM

CYM (7th/8th Grade) Player of the Year:  Meghan Carter, Ursuline Academy

We'll close out with some crazy, but sincere awards in wacky categories:

Best Gym:  St. E's Center

Best Lighting:  Wilmington Christian

Best Fans:  Caravel Academy

Best Dressed Coach:  Jeff Flanders, Tower Hill (game day)

Best Handout Program:  Senior Night, Ursuline Academy

Best Blowup at an Event After a Game:  Kayla Miller, "I got a knife in my hands!!!", Ursuline Academy, Senior Night (She was cutting a huge cake and the lights went out.  You had to be there.)

 

Maybe next year, we'll expand these awards to a "people's choice" section where you guys get to vote.  And we're also looking -- seriously -- at having an end-of-season DGB.com banquet at a popular eating establishment.  Wouldn't that be cool?

In the meantime, DGB.com is NOT shutting down for the off-season!!  We will be covering AAU tournaments and spotlighting the teams and girls from Delaware.  This is a year 'round website!  Keep visiting us!

A big thank you to the 70 or so people who visit this website every day!  We've tried, in our own little way, to help make girls basketball in Delaware a big deal.  By visiting the site on any kind of regular basis, all of you help in this effort, too!

Jim Charles