I was an hour late for work last week, which can only mean one thing (aside from the fact that I forgot about daylight-saving time again): Spring sports are upon us.
Unfortunately, Bill Murray couldn’t stop Punxsutawney Phill in “Groundhog Day,” or the dancing gopher in Caddy Shack, for that matter, so we’re doomed to suffer through six more weeks of winter until the inevitably not-as-good Hollywood remakes can save us.
But while I try to figure out how to rewind all the clocks in my house and we wait to see whether or not the baseball team is going to have to play their first game in the parking lot behind Hocker’s, let’s rewind and reflect on the some of the “Sportscenter”-worthy moments from the 2014-2015 winter sports season.
Cue “I got you babe” by Sonny and Cher on that alarm clock that I can’t figure out how to reset.
We’ll kick off our top moments on the mats with a young IR wrestler who nearly took down the state’s No. 1 seed at the DIAA Individual State Tournament.
Facing Cape Henlopen senior J.J. Currie, Indian River sophomore Zeke Marcozzi had already pulled off two major upsets in the 160-pound bracket, knocking off both the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. However, Marcozzi wasn’t finished there, battling Currie tough through the third period — which is when he made his move.
“I figured, he’s beating me, I’m a sophomore, he’s a senior — go for something big,” said Marcozzi of being down 6-4 in the third period.
While the shot he took didn’t quite land the way he would have wanted and Currie would advance to the finals, Marcozzi got his redemption by taking the win in the Consolation Finals, using a move intended for Currie instead on No. 3-ranked Erik Lundberg out of Sanford.
“I went for it, and it happened for me [that time],” Marcozzi said.
The points from putting Lundberg on his back turned out to be the only ones in that match, as Marcozzi earned a well-deserved third-place finish for the entire state.
Larry the Menace
Marcozzi wasn’t the only Indian with a new nemesis this year, as Delmar’s Larry Ennis spoiled an upset victory and, ultimately, a bid to the playoffs in a game that actually would have made “Sportscenter” if only someone had filmed it...
It was the game that wouldn’t end. It was the game that the Indian River boys’ basketball team won twice, only to inevitably lose in a triple-overtime thriller.
After an Indians comeback with the clock ticking, Ennis took an inbound pass with just seconds left, and dribbled up the court to sink a desperate three-pointer at the buzzer. The shot tied the game at 67 and forced overtime, during which the Indians took yet another three-point lead with just seconds left.
This time, Ennis took the pass and a barely made it past half-court before launching his shot — silencing a lively crowd with another miraculous buzzer-beater, to force double-overtime. The Wildcats would eventually go on to lock in a win during the third overtime, leaving both Indian River players and fans as physically and emotionally drained as his game-saving shots.
“What a great game,” said a bewildered coach Mike Fabber after the game. “Of course you want to win it, but that’s an amazing game to be a part of.”
Held in check vs. Tech
While the boys’ basketball team had Larry Ennis, the girls’ team had Sussex Tech spoiling upset victories with buzzer-beating three-pointers. Despite a one-point loss at the inaugural Tip-Off Classic, head coach Matt Mayette still remembers one of the moments in the game as a highlight of the season.
“Taylor knocked down a three-pointer in the corner, out of a timeout, to take a lead for the first time in the game with about four minutes to go in the fourth quarter,” Mayette recalled of the senior point guard and First-Team Henlopen South selection.
After gaining the lead and the momentum, the Lady Indians fought throughout the final minutes only to fall to the Lady Ravens by one point on a last-second three-pointer.
Yeah, we’re gonna
need a bigger bus
After a season that saw another Henlopen South championship for both the boys and girls, the Indian River High School swim team is going to need to start reserving a bigger bus to haul qualifying swimmers to the DIAA state championships at the University of Delaware.
In all, 10 swimmers made it to the state preliminaries, with four relay teams and two individuals advancing to final rounds — with the girls’ teams setting school records in the medley and 200 freestyle.
“The way they rallied around each other and the joy they experienced was contagious enough to get other coaches and schools to root for them,” said head coach Colin Crandell. “It was very cool to be a part of that.”
Also at the state preliminaries, the boys’ team hit their best time of the year in the 200 freestyle relay, and at the finals, junior Lauren McCoy set a new school record in the 100-meter backstroke.
Freshmen break out
Height and physicality have been an area of disadvantage for the Lady Indians’ basketball squad over the years, but the team got a look into the future solution to that problem with breakout games from freshman forward Tashara Houston and freshman center Latayja Atkins early in the season.
In their first match against Laurel, Houston posted 16 points and an astounding 19 rebounds, with Atkins following the board domination with 11 of her own and nine points.
So, with that final wintertime memory, I’m going to smash the metaphorical alarm clock spouting Sonny and Cher and bringing us back, as we move forward to warmer weather and some new sports moments for upcoming spring season.
For several of the promising young squads at Indian River, there is hope that next season will build on some of the momentum established this past winter. I certainly have more faith in them to do just that than I do in Bill Murray’s abilities to overcome fuzzy rodents that like to dig holes.