Royals open season with tough loss to the Riders

The Delmarva Christian boys’ basketball team opened the regular season with a 69-56 loss to a tough Caesar Rodney team Dec. 5 in Georgetown. 

The game was the debut of new head coach Pat Woods, who had praise for his team despite the 13-point defeat. 

“Obviously I’m disappointed because it’s not the outcome we were wanting,” said Woods. “The second quarter was the difference in the game. And it came down to our ability to gain and maintain possession of the ball.”

CR outscored the Royals 23-12 in the second stanza. There was just a two-point disparity the rest of the game.

Woods was pleased with his team’s pressure defense.

“On a positive note, we showed we are able to be disruptive in defense and make some plays,” he said. “I think we just have to do a better job of creating advantages for each other with off-ball actions, and be better at rebounding. Our attitude and effort was excellent, and we stayed together the entire time, so I can always rock with that.”

The Royals were led by Andrew Collins with 16 points and four blocks. Junior Noah Barbrow dropped 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Junior Landon Jackson snagged 12 rebounds.

“We would have liked to win,” said Collins. “They were a good team. It was the first game, and we came out a little slow. It’s a good game to build off of, a good warmup.”

Freshman point guard Aarin Tucker scored 11 and grabbed six boards. 

“I think overall we played really well,” said Tucker. “The second quarter killed us. Without the second quarter, we were even. We’re going to continue to fight. If we can control the boards more, we’ll be OK.”