Bad Knight for Darlington
By Don Gearhart
It was a bad night for both the Darlington girls and boys basketball squads against the Crestwood Knights. The girls more than got doubled in a 64-31 shellacking. The boys lost a hard-fought game by a 63-49 margin.
Girls:
The Lady Falcons jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the game but Crestwood came up with four free throws and a basket to go ahead 5-4. By the time the first period was over, the Lady Knights had forged a 14-8 advantage.
A plethora of turnovers plagued Darlington as the second period progressed and Crestwood took advantage and headed into the locker room with a 29-14 edge. Darlington’s cause was hindered considerable when Ari Mcphail went to the floor with an apparent lower leg injury.
Without the sure-handed ball control from Mcphail, Darlington’s turnover woes continued in the third period. Meanwhile, Crestwood continued to build their lead and led 43-20 at the period’s close.
Crestwood outscored the hosts 21-11 in the final period to capture their 17th win of the season.
London Vaughn led all scorers as she tallied 23 points on a variety of shots including a trio of 3-point shots. Tashiaha Farmer and Javiah Martin each contributed 12 points in support. Darlington got six points from Autumn Joseph.
The only bright spot for the Lady Falcons was their 10-12 show at the free throw line. Crestwood was 16-26 from the line..
Boys:
With revenge on their minds due to last second loss to the Knights earlier in the month, Darlington jumped ahead 2-0 on Chuck King’s loose ball pickup for the score. Crestwood tied the score when Justin Rembert drove to the hoop for a score, then tickled the twines on a 3-point shot to give Crestwood a 5-4 advantage. Darlington regained the lead at 12-11 on a Maleek Taylor dunk before the Knights responded with the last four points of the period to lead 15-12.
Darlington stayed within striking distance in the second period. Michael Green led the charge with six points and Stevon Williams chipped in with four. The squads headed to the locker room with Crestwood leading 31-27.
The Knights sprinted out to ten-point run to start the third stanza to lead 41-27 before Green finally got the Falcons on the board with 4:30 gone in the period. That ten-point run was the difference as Darlington only scored four points in the quarter and were on the short end of a 45-31 score.
The teams played to a draw in the final period with each team scoring 18 points. Darlington was never able to get closer than a ten-point difference. The game was a clean one as Darlington was 5-5 from the free throw line and Crestwood was 6-9 in what was a very low number of free throws in a varsity game.
Rembert led the Knights with 19 points and Aaron Coleman scored in double figures with ten points. Green led Darlington, as well as all players, with 21 points.
