Cold fourth sinks Delco Christian at Church Farm
WEST WHITELAND » After three periods of tight, intense basketball between Church Farm and Delco Christian, which saw neither team grab a lead larger than five points, the Griffins broke the Bicentennial League contest wide open with a devastating fourth-quarter run to take a 52-32 win Monday night at Church Farm School.
It marked the third win row for the young Griffins.
Church Farm (7-6, 4-4 Bicentennial) were led by 6-foot-10 junior and Division 1 prospect Jon Bol Ajak, who tallied a game-high 18 points to go along with 14 rebounds and three blocks. Ajak also altered many Delco Christian tries inside the lane with his massive wing span.
Senior Abdul Ogunsanya chipped in with 15 points and six boards as the Griffins controlled the paint on the smaller Knights (7-6, 4-6).
“The run was set up by us getting stops,” Ogunsanya said. “At Church Farm is it always defense, and that did it for us tonight. We had a lot of energy in the fourth period and everybody got into the game tonight.” in a
Church Farm harassed the Knights into a nine for 45 shooting nightmare and kept all Delco Christian shooters not named Eric Lewis at bat. Lewis was the only Delco Christian player in double figures with 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
Despite all that, the Knights only trailed 32-29 after three quarters as they played good post defense against Ajak. But the Griffins came out firing in the fourth quarter, putting together a 20-0 run that turned a close affair into a blowout.
The blitzkrieg started when Ajak beat his man on the baseline and threw down a slam. After a Knights miss, Messiah Lee buried a long 3-pointer for a 37-29 Griffins lead. Delco Christian could not muster any offense, and after a Knights’ miss on a runner, the Griffins stormed down the floor and Jimmy McEvoy buried another three, and the Griffins were off to the races with a 40-29 advantage.
“I think after the slam everybody got a lot of energy,” Ajak said. “And then Messiah and Jimmy hit those shots right after one another and we were really into the game at that point and that did it tonight.”
Delco Christian shot just one for 12 in the final frame, and the Griffins took full advantage as Najeh Mahama scored on two consecutive trips down the floor, leading to a timeout by Delco Christian coach Mike Walker.
The Knights turned the ball over six times in the final stanza.
“They hit some shots right after one another and we were defending the post and they had open looks,” Walker said. “Then, we had an offensive-minded lineup in the game but we could not get anything going and that is a bad combination and it put us out of the game. We could not hit shots and they hit theirs.”
In the Catholic League: ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 70, ST. JOSEPH’S PREP 59 » Keyon Butler poured in 24 points, and Justin Anderson added 17 as the Patriots started a tough week with a big win away from home.
AJ Hoggard added 16 points for Carroll (11-4, 5-1).
In the Ches-Mont League: SUN VALLEY 72, OXFORD 39 » Vinny DeAngelo tossed in a game-high 18 points, and Shair Brown-Morris and Connor Boyd contributed 10 points, the latter a careerbest, as Sun Valley won its eighth straight game.
Marvin Freeman added 11 points for the Vanguards (10-4, 5-3), who outscored Oxford after halftime.
In nonleague action: CHESTER CHARTER SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS 72, MOTIVATION 48 » Akeem Taylor scored a gamehigh 33 points, and Devonte Morris paired 19 points with eight rebounds as the Sabers (5-10) remained unbeaten in four games in their home court this season. CONESTOGA 53, ACADEMY PARK 44 46-19 » The host Knights (4-10) held a 20-15 lead at halftime, but were outscored by 15 points the rest of the way. The Pioneers kept possessions alive with a slew of offensive rebounds in the second half.
Kamrohn Roundtree totaled a team-high 12 points, five rebounds and six blocked shots for the Knights, who committed 18 turnovers. Tahriq Marrero tossed in 10 points.