DV boys’ basketball beats Port

Well I was blessed to see both the Delaware Valley High School JV and varsity boys’ basketball games.

So here we go, first the JV team against Port Jervis. In the first period this was flat out the very best that I have ever seen the JV team play. They did everything right, with total defense and good offense. They dashed out ahead to a 16-3 score.

In the second period, their defense was still sterling and they controlled the boards by rebounding. The scoring dropped off a little but they still had a commanding lead of 29-16.

DV bolted out in the third period and even with substitutions took a 43-20 lead. Port swarmed in defense, but just couldn’t stop Delaware Valley, which won 56-39.

After this convincing victory by the JV boys, the varsity team would wind up feasting on Port as well.

Let it be said that this Port team is a good team. In fact, they seem better than last year. However, DV is also better than last year. Overall, they are taller, faster, and make better passing decisions.

Port is taller also. Last year Carroll Dolshan was the tallest player on the team. Now there are several players taller than him, so we could expect a tight battle here.

That is exactly what we got in the first half. In the first period DV threw the ball away three times, which were very costly turnovers. Still, we had DV up 12-11.

In the second period it was a see-saw game going both ways. At the end of the period, DV started to pull ahead at 31-22, but at this point you couldn’t feel comfortable as Port had a very physical and swarming defense and was playing very well.

Throughout the game up to this point and including the third period, the officials were calling many mystery fouls. There were more traveling calls in this game then I have seen in all the games that I viewed this year combined. They were called equally against both teams, so players on both teams were perplexed. Both benches were worked up as well. The period saw DV up 50-31.

In the fourth period, once DV gained a lead of 25 points deep, you could start to feel assured of a win. DV won by a score of 65-36.

Port’s Dolshan played a good game and committed some blocks, but he only managed four points. Port player Eligah Campel was on fire with some three pointers. He hit six in a row before finally missing one. Then he missed three foul shots.

On the DV side, Isaiah Berrios had another outstanding game. He scored 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. He also drew the toughest assignment — covering the biggest player on the opposite team, Carroll Dolshan. Berrios held him to those four points and harassed him the entire game. This is the Berrios that I remember enjoying watching the last three years. It’s as if he decided, enough is enough, I’m taking charge here. I’m going all out defense, rebounding and scoring and he did just that.

Two other players who really impress are 6’3” sophomore Sam Wood and freshman Trey Newton. Both play with a maturity well beyond their years and are solid players to watch. They are powerful rebounders, solid on defense, and great scorers.

Of course, Tyler Lombardo and Logan Olsommer are steady players who are always dangerous. They both take a lot of heat off the rest of the team allowing them the scoring opportunities. Drop your guard on these two and they will kill you.

Trey Newton and Berrios both scored 14 points leading the way.

For those unaware, there is a big rivalry between DV and Port. It means a lot to win these games.