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Despite losing 80 percent of their scoring from a year ago, the Squires apparently aren't in the mood to rebuild -- not if Austin Brady or Ryan Tompkins have anything to say about it.
The seniors, who combined to score 22 points, excelled in nearly every facet of the game in Delone's 52-35 triumph over Columbia in the first game of the Hanover High Tip-Off Tournament.
"We worked hard in practice over the past week and it showed tonight," said Brady, who had 12 points and four assists.
In the late game, Hanover rolled
The Crimson Tide (0-1) returned one starter off their District 3 Class AA quarterfinal appearance from a season ago -- where they lost to Delone, 62-44 -- but they proved to be no match for the Squires (1-0).
Brady, Tompkins and Chad Becker were the lone three seniors returning from a team that went 18-8, reached the District 3 Class AA semifinals and qualified for the PIAA tournament last year.
But Brady, who received a late start after football season went into the first week of basketball practice, was the only starter back.
"Even though we lost a lot of seniors, this game showed we had players who could step up," said Tompkins, who scored 10 points and had five rebounds.
A largely inexperienced group was given its first varsity start on Friday, including freshman point guard Brett Smith and junior forward Cody Kump. Tompkins and Mark Staub were mostly filler players last season.
Still, they didn't look out of place one bit, especially Smith, who only had one turnover in his debut.
They executed to precision in a first quarter that saw them spark two big runs of 9-0 and 8-0 before leaving with an 11 point cushion after one period, 21-10.
"Once we had a couple steals we started to feel confident and the defense got better," Brady said.
Smith was especially stoic for Delone, as he commanded the offense with confidence and converted on two insanely difficult floaters, which were years beyond his age.
After facing a 4-2 deficit early, Delone unfurled a 9-0 run with 4:18 left on the clock, receiving a three-pointer from Staub and three layups that put the lead to seven, 11-4.
"We were patient, didn't force anything and passed the ball," Tompkins said of the opening stanza.
The Crimson Tide answered with a long jump shot by Tre Simmons, but the Squires answered with another 8-0 run, ending the spurt after Brady hit a nice pull-up jump shot from the left foul line extended.
A three-pointer by Brady with a minute left in the first half gave Delone an 18 point lead, 34-16, before a Tompkins layup with six seconds left put it to 20 at half.
"I think we ran well in the first half," said Delone Catholic head coach Jim Dooley, whose Squires outscored the Crimson Tide 17-8 in the second period.
The offense settled down in the second half, as the Squires managed 14 total points in the remaining 16 minutes, but that was a result of a mostly half-court offense, which saw Delone hold the ball in the late stages of both the third and fourth quarters.
In the late game, Hanover managed to bypass an awkward first quarter against Fairfield, which saw the Hawks score eight points and go into the second frame up one point, 8-7.
But Hanover opened up considerably in the second quarter, outscoring the Green Knights by 23 points, 25-2, before finishing Fairfield off with an 18-6 fourth quarter.
"We came out slow, but we got the jump done," said Ben Connor, who scored a game-high 20 points. Hanover had trouble converting on turnovers in the first quarter, when Fairfield coughed it up 11 times.
Brandon Wentz scored 10 points and the bench scored 24 points, including 11 from junior Harry Shultz.
cmull@eveningsun.com
