BEAR – With just one senior on the roster, 19th-seeded Caravel was playing with house money heading into Wednesday night’s DIAA boys basketball tournament first round battle with Hodgson.
Junior guard Okoye Parker cashed in when the Buccaneers needed it the most, scoring nine of his game-high 18 points in the final five minutes to lift Caravel over the 14th-seeded Silver Eagles 46-40.
“We’re playing a bunch of freshman and sophomores so they composure they had in the fourth quarter was impressive,” Caravel head coach Mark Tobin said. “They played within their skill set, maintained the ball and made the free throws down the stretch, which was key.”
“From the beginning, we were doubted by many people who said we couldn’t do it,” Parker said. “I think we all had the courage to say ‘Let them doubt us because we’re coming to win.’”
The Silver Eagles (15-6) stretched their largest lead of the game to eight points (27-19) on a Keenan Williams lay-up two minutes into the third quarter, but the Buccaneers (15-6) got timely scoring Dwayne Earl, Brandon Sengphachanh (12 points) and sophomore forward Joe Lange, who’s just getting back into the lineup after being injured much of the season.
“He’s just now getting floor time, so the fact he’s getting on the floor and playing well is a testament to him,” Tobin said. “He wants to be part of this team and his hard work shows.”
“I was able to sneak into the open spots and my teammates gave me great passes and I made the lay-ups,” Lange explained.
In the fourth quarter, however, it was Parker who had the final word. He drained a healthy three-pointer with 5:40 to go to give the Buccaneers the lead for good at 33-32. After an L.J. Stansbury lay-up cut the lead to two points, Parker made two huge free throws and followed it up with a breakaway thunder dunk that proved to be the exclamation point.
“Without my teammates, I wouldn’t be able to do it. They believe in me,” Parker said. “They pick me when I’m falling down and tell me I’ve got this.”
“All teams need one,” Tobin said of Parker’s ability to score when needed. “He does a great job for us of getting to the basket and creating offense.”
Caravel will now move on to face Salesianum, the third-seeded team in the tournament, in the second round on Friday night.
L.J. Stansbury led Hodgson with 15 points.
Caravel’s Brandon Sengphachanh (left) and Joe Lange fight for a rebound with Hodgson’s Nasir Galloway (second from left) and Dawson Grinnage in the second half of Caravel’s 46-40 win at Hodgson in the opening round of the DIAA state tournament Wednesday.
Caravel’s Trevon Alderman (top) moves for a loose ball that Hodgson’s Keenan Williams tries to gather in during the first half of the Bucs’ 46-40 win at Hodgson in the opening round of the DIAA state tournament Wednesday