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Note: To view the latest breaking news, please click the button at the top of the menu to the left. If the button is not present, it is because there has been no breaking news published yet this week. DEA wins State!
Njie scored 13 of his team high 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of thunderous dunks during a 15-6 run that brought the estimated crowd of over 700 DEA fans to a near frenzy. Njie's explosion came in the aftermath of Bethesda's post player Anterius Roberts picking up his fourth foul. "I think that the big turning point of the game was when Roberts picked up his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter," said DEA Head Coach Stacy Sikes. "We started feeding the ball to Dawda and he took over the game after that. Njie's gold medal performance will undoubtedly be legendary at a school that had never won a state title in football, basketball or baseball until Saturday. The significance of this accomplishment and what this means to DEA, founded in 1969, certainly did not go unnoticed to Sikes who had the honor of leading his alma mater to the state championship. "I can't put into words what this means to the team, school and all persons involved with DEA over the past 37 years. I am privileged to be a part of this wonderful group of guys that knew from the first day of practice that this was their ultimate goal. I am truly proud of each and every kid on the team and the role that they played in winning the state title," Said Sikes. The victory certainly was not easy for an Eagle team that found themselves trailing 19-11 at the half to a team that had dealt them their only two defeats of the season. Bethesda, 23-6, stayed in the game right until the end. A pass inside to Jared Flowers who scored on the left low block with 16 second left proved to be the winning points. When the final horn sounded, DEA fans rushed the Centennial Center court to celebrate. There were other heroes beside Njie as well. Clifford Byrd took care of the ball all night running the point and finished with 13 points including a pair of threes. Flowers was a presence around the basket on both ends and he finished with seven points. Logan Salter also scored seven and made some pinpoint passes that led to Eagle scores. "This was certainly a game of two halves," said Sikes. "We were very tight in the beginning and it showed with only 11 points in the first half. I though that defensively we did a pretty good job, especially on their two main threats holding one of them to nine points and the other to ten." Anterius Roberts scored the 10 points for Bethesda and Alonzo Shields, who nailed DEA twice on buzzer beaters this year, was held to nine. Darnell Mitchell led the Blazers with 20 points. "It was another super game," said Sikes following the fourth meeting between the two schools which ended with a twotwo split. "But I'm so proud of our team. They have been so unselfish all season. We had four players average in double figures during the season. People couldn't double because we had other people who could score." With the win, DEA finishes the season with 29 wins and just two defeats. The semifinal game was nothing like the championship game as DEA rolled to an 86-50 win over First Presbyterian Christian Academy, also a region 2-A school. "We were able to get rolling early in this game," said Sikes whose team led 41-14 at halftime. "I told the players before the game that the best way to get loose in a big game is to come out and play aggressive defense which they did. It was great to give every single player the opportunity to play in front of a large crowd in the Final Four." Dawda Njie led DEA with 20 points followed by Jared Flowers with 19 and Logan Salter with 16. Clifford Byrd with nine, Casey Clark with eight, Joseph Sparks with seven, Brandon Blount with five and John Mark Sweat with two also scored in the win. Joey led all scorers with 23 for First Presbyterian while Michael Brown added 11. The state championship brought to the end the high school playing days of seven DEA seniors, Dawda Njie, Clifford Byrd, Logan Salter, Jared Flowers, Greg Glover, Casey Clark and Justin Smith. Other team members are juniors Joseph Sparks, Brandon Blount and John Mark Sweat and sophomore Hudson Johnson. Coach Sikes' assistant coaches are Daniel Flowers and Adam Callaway.
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