Sanford Wins It!
Warriors Best in State in 2010!
By Jim Charles
Additional material by Dennis Leizear
(posted 03-13-10)
Your 2010 State Champion Sanford Warriors
Basketball games can be funny things. Take the State Championship Game at The Bob on Friday night, for example. Subtract the first 8 minutes, and you’d have a 31 – 30 Sanford win. Still the same winner, but a razor thin nail biter. As it was, the Warriors prevailed – adding all 4 quarters together – 51 – 36 in a score that could’ve labeled the game a walk for Sanford. Whether it was in Coach Thompson’s gameplan or not, what Sanford did was come roaring out of the blocks (a fitting analogy given Sanford’s speed) with a 20 – 6 first quarter. Once that margin was established, both teams settled in and simply exchanged basket for basket the rest of the game. For the runner-up Smyrna Eagles, you have to think they’d love a “do over” with the first quarter.
Discarding that analysis of the game in terms of quarter breakdowns and looking instead at the contest in its totality, you cannot fail to give Sanford their due. Three key players (Naiesha Brown, Andrea Hines & Anjaleace White) came through, all scoring in double digits. Sanford also was dominant on rebounds as a team, winning the war of the boards 46 – 33, and individually by having two players (Brown & Hines) with 10 or more, while Smyrna’s best rebounder, Betnijah Laney, could muster just 9.
And speaking of Laney, what an effort from Amber Genwright and Naiesha Brown who were assigned, most of the time, to defend her. Rarely was Betnijah actually doubled, except in the final strides to the hoop. Genwright seemed particularly effective on Laney despite the size differential, Laney coming in at 6’ 0”, Genwright at just 5’ 3”. What Amber may lack in verticality, she makes up for in cat-like quickness and agility. Laney did come up with 15 points, a nice total for most players, and a figure that led her team. But Smyrna needed more from her.
When you get to the last rounds of a state championship tournament where the teams are very closely matched up, what decides who wins and who loses can be simple things like protecting the basketball. Again, advantage Sanford. The Warriors turned the ball over 9 times to Smyrna’s 14. These giveaways resulted in 13 additional points for Sanford but just 4 for the Eagles. Individually, no Sanford player turned the ball over more than twice.
There is a strong push in society in recent decades to play up the team aspect of basketball while diminishing the role of individual players to the success of the team. DGB.com believes in a more realistic approach. A team doesn’t get to be known as good or great without good or great players. And those individual efforts should not go unnoticed. What a team does or doesn’t do is the sum of all the efforts of its players. For the Delaware Girls Basketball State Tournament, one player came out above the rest: Sanford’s swing player, Naiesha Brown.
Let’s look at Brown’s tourney numbers: Vs. Tower Hill, 19 points; vs. St. E’s, 11 points; vs. Ursuline (semi-finals), 27 points; vs. Smyrna (finals), 22 points. That’s 19.75 ppg over the tournament. Over the last three rounds, the only games for which comprehensive stats are available, Brown averaged 13.3 boards per game, 2.7 steals per game, and 1.3 blocks per game. This is the story of a player who was literally doing it all. Playing a complete game. But, the crowd at The Bob didn’t need stat sheets or post-game articles by the News Journal or this website to understand what they saw. Chants of “MVP! MVP! MVP” rang out in the air both when Naiesha went to get her championship medal and a little later when she climbed the ladder to cut off a piece of the net. To many in the local hoops scene, Naiesha Brown is no stranger. She has long been known as a strong and capable player. However, her performance in the 2010 season and post-season have finally served to put her name right there in that highest tier of players in Delaware.
Another Sanford player that holds a special place with DGB.com is junior, Andrea Hines. We first came across her as a freshman member of the St. Elizabeth’s JV team. What we saw was a truly explosive talent. She won an iPOW Award then and there – even to this day, a true rarity as we don’t iPOW very many JV players. We have followed her progress ever since and we share in her joy and sense of accomplishment at becoming a State Champion. In the Title Game, Hines double-doubled with 12 points, 10 rebounds. Between scoring and rebounding, she somehow found time in her busy schedule to also set up teammates with 8 assists! Andrea should be extra proud of that last number as no other player in the tournament from the quarter-finals (Elite Eight) through the Championship Game matched that total for a single game.
Smyrna returns all but 1 member of its current roster next year. They showed the state just what a formidable lineup they have. Led by the all-everything duo of Betnijah Laney and Crystal Ross, both juniors, the Eagles put on a great show at The Bob over the course of their three games there. They have a nice player mix of height, carrying 4 players at 5’ 11” or taller, plus some nice, agile, smooth-shooting guards. Look for them at The Bob again next year.
Sanford brings back all but 2 players next year. Returning will be standout juniors, Hines and Brown. Anjaleace White, who we still can’t believe is only a sophomore, will only continue her development into one of the best forwards in the state. With Sanford, you always have to consider incoming freshmen and 8th graders. Of course, we have no idea who any of them might be at this early stage, but there is usually a surprise name or two in the group. Guess we’ll just have to wait for summer league to know anything more. One thing is a lock, however. Sanford will defend their title next year in good shape.
DGB.com thanks the University of Delaware staff for their indispensible assistance by providing voluminous game statistics from the quarter-finals on. Also, thanks to “friend of the website” Dennis Leizear for his own observation or two that made its way into this article.
Crystal Ross attempts a shot over Andrea Hines. Ross would score 10 points on the night.
Naiesha Brown right after securing a defensive rebound. Nai-EESH, as we call her, was outstanding in the Finals and Semi-Finals, turning in double-doubles both nights.
A key contributor to the Semi-Finals, Smyrna's Jackie Jenkins had a tough Finals scoring 5 points.
Another shot of Jenkins. On a team with posts like Laney and Ross, you need good backcourt players like Jenkins to help set up the forwards. We look for another solid year out of Jackie next season.
Sanford's Amber Genwright blocks the layup attempt from Smyrna's Quontay Hicks.
Betnijah Laney shoots over Alexa Webb. Also in the picture, Sanford's Olivia Peeke (#33), Smyrna's Quontay Hicks (#13) and just in the frame, Sanford's Danielle Fleming (#50).
Andrea Hines with the ball. Andrea would fall 2 assists short of a triple-double this night!
Andrea again, with a baseline move to the hoop.
...And Andrea passing off. Probably setting up another assist!
Soph Anjaleace White. White's youth helps keep Sanford balanced for the next couple of years.
Brown & Hines
Naiesha Brown being interviewed by the News Journal.
A slightly different "take" of the team photo at the top of this page.
The Sanford Lady Warriors defeat the Smyrna High School Lady Eagles, 51 - 36 to bring home the school's first State Title since 1994. Game played March 12, 2010.
To chants of "MVP! MVP! MVP!", Sanford junior, Naiesha Brown (22 pts, 15 reb, 3 steals - game leader in all 3 categories) climbs the "ladder of success" to get her little souvenir on the night. This from the State Title game, girls basketball, State of Delaware. Game played March 12, 2010. Sanford 51, Smyrna 36.
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Girls
Varsity Basketball
Friday, March 12, 2010 7:00PM
Game SummarySANFORD-White
5-8 0-1 10, Brown 9-16 0-0 22, Genwright 1-7 0-0 2, Hines
4-12 4-6 12, Webb 0-3 0-0 0, Peeke 1-4 0-0 3, Fleming 0-3
0-0 0, McMillan 0-3 2-2 2, Yung 0-0 0-1 0, Frank 0-1 0-0 0,
Glass 0-0 0-0 0, Pembroke 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 0-1 0-0 0, Todd
0-0 0-0 0. Team 20-58 6-10 51. |