Newark’s Michael Drumgo-Sharpe (No. 14) is mobbed by teammates after hitting a game-winning shot as time expired in the fourth quarter of Newark’s 52-51 win over A.I. du Pont High School in Greenville on Tuesday evening.
GREENVILLE – Newark had to travel the length of the court trailing host A. I. du Pont by one point with 5.2 seconds left in the teams’ Blue Hen Conference Flight A battle Tuesday night.
The Yellowjackets set a pair of screens for Michael Drumgo-Sharpe, and he coolly made a fadeaway jumper over three Tiger defenders as time expired to give Newark a dramatic 52-51 victory.
“That was a set play. I just came off a pick and just believed in myself,” Drumgo-Sharpe, who had a team-high 15 points, said. “Like I said in the interview after the game against William Penn where I had an unbelievable I shot, ‘I don’t believe in pressure.’ I believe in myself. Big-time players make big-time plays, and late shots in gym is what gets you here.”
Drumgo-Sharpe’s winner capped off a frantic final minute between to the two divisional rivals. With a minute left in the game, Drumgo-Sharpe gave the second-ranked Yellowjackets (11-2 overall, 4-0 Flight A) a 50-49 lead when he made one of two free throws.
The scored remained that way until the final 20 seconds when A.I. du Pont (10-4, 3-2) drove to the basket, but its initial shot missed. Julius Inge, who scored a game-high 20 points, was in the right spot, however, collecting the rebound and scoring on the put back to give the Tigers a 51-50 lead with 11.8 seconds remaining.
Newark turned the ball over on the ensuing possession with 8.3 seconds left, giving A. I. du Pont the ball, and Inge was fouled on the in-bounds to send him to the free-throw line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end, and the Yellowjackets grabbed the rebound and quickly called timeout to set up the final play.
“I called a time out, and all I wanted to do is have two good screens because Mike is a very confident player. He had some game winning shots for us before in the summertime, and he stays in the gym after practice to put up 100 shots,” Newark head coach Shannon McCants said.
“At the end of the day, I drew up some screens, but he had to make the big shot. I don’t think too many people could make that shot under that much duress.”
The Yellowjackets started the first quarter strong from the floor, making three three-pointers in route to a 17-11 after eight minutes, but they could never pull away from the Tigers as their lead never was more than seven points.
A.I. cut its deficit to 31-27 at halftime and decreased it even further by the end of the third quarter at 39-37, and the Tigers took its first lead of the game at 43-42 on an Anthony Oyekan field goal with 5:50 remaining.
Even though he expected A. I. du Pont to battle throughout the game, the way the Tigers hung around before taking the lead made McCants uneasy down the stretch.
“That was a tough Flight A win. I knew it was going to be tough. I think, coming in, they were 10-3, and we’re 10-2,” McCants said. “They beat us last year. (A. I. du Pont head coach Tom Tabb) knows me. I know him. I told the guys it was going to be a tough game. I just felt weird the whole game, like ‘this doesn’t feel right.’ We got lucky at the end. It was a typical Flight A dog fight.”
Even though the Tigers fell on the final play of the game, Drumgo-Sharpe’s winner was not the cause of their defeat, but rather how they started the game.
“I told them ‘I can accept losing on a shot like that because that’s a once-in-a-lifetime shot.’ You can’t get mad. We played great defense that possession,” Tabb said. “What I told them was ‘we didn’t lose the game in the last quarter. We lost the game in the first half because we played sloppy.’”
A.I.’s Julius Inge puts up a shot in the fourth quarter of Newark’s 52-51 win over A.I. duPont High School in Greenville on Tuesday evening.
Newark’s Michael Dumgo-Sharpe drives to the basket in the third quarter of Newark’s 52-51 win over A.I. duPont High School in Greenville on Tuesday evening.
Newark’s Kineph Turner puts up a shot as A.I.’s Nasir Comeger defends in the second quarter of Newark’s 52-51 win over A.I. duPont High School in Greenville on Tuesday evening.
A.I.’s Julius Inge (No. 1) cuts through a group of Newark defenders in the first quarter of Newark’s 52-51 win over A.I. duPont High School in Greenville on Tuesday evening.
