Warriors top Bishops as depth emerges

It’s 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday and Charlie DeLongchamps is one of the only varsity players in the gym. A little more than 12 hours ago, he played more minutes in a single game than he had all season. About six hours from now, he’ll have the best game of his varsity career. But right now, DeLongchamps is alone on a practice court hidden behind a wall of bleachers getting shots up —100, then 200, then 50 more just to be safe. “It’s no coincidence,” Wando coach Chris Warzynski said. “You put in the extra work like he does and eventually it’s going to pay off.” DeLongchamps scored a career-high 12 points to help Wando top Bishop England, 47-41, Saturday on Daniel Island. The Warriors junior forward scored Wando’s first seven points of the game and only missed two shots all night. He entered the game having taken just three shots the entire season. “He was ready when his number was called and we needed it, especially early in the game,” Warzynski said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had our full team together. We need everyone we have right now and these guys are all stepping up.” Both Bishop England and Wando were forced to dig deep into their benches as the Bishops were down two starters and the Warriors were without three. That opened opportunities for guys like DeLongchamps, and Bishops junior Patrick Antonelli, who was averaging four points per game before pouring in a career-best 21 against the Warriors. DeLongchamps and Antonelli dueled early. DeLongchamps hit a three out of the corner to open scoring; Antonelli then answered with one of his own. DeLongchamps responded with another three, then a free throw about 30 seconds later. Antonelli fired right back with his second three and added a third before the opening quarter expired with the Bishops ahead, 15-11. All 15 of Bishop England’s first-quarter points came off three-pointers. Antonelli finished 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. His three midway through the second quarter was the Bishops’ only field goal of the frame. Bishop England went 12 minutes through the second quarter and into the third without another made field goal, until Antonelli buried another from distance in the final minute of the third quarter — coincidentally, 16 seconds after DeLongchamps hit his third three. Wando seized a two-point edge by halftime and stretched it to a six-point cushion entering the fourth as the Bishops searched for offense. “(Bishop England) was hitting a lot of shots early on. We really had to dig down deep to try to slow that down,” Warzynski said. “That’s that toughness we talk about, especially on defense. We have to have it.” Antonelli scored two quick baskets to pull the Bishops within four, 42-38, with less than two minutes to play. Bishop England held possession three times in the final minute but missed a shot, gave away a turnover and missed the front end of a one-and-one to seal its sixth straight loss in the rivalry series with Wando. The Bishops shot 41 percent from the field, just slightly below their season average. Wando, though, connected on 48 percent — a sharp uptick from the 39 percent it was making this season. Now comes region play. Bishop England (9-5, 1-0) is ranked sixth in Class AAA, while region mates Manning and Georgetown are ranked third and fourth, respectively. The Bishops will host Waccamaw on Tuesday before welcoming Academic Magnet on Friday. Wando (9-5) opens region play against AAAAA No. 4 Berkeley on Tuesday and will travel to Stratford on Friday. “These last couple games were pivotal for us, they really were,” Warzynski said. “We set out to finish our non-region with a winning record. We wanted to be playing well at this point because we know the region schedule is going to be a battle every single night.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bishop England High School Athletics

WARRIORS TOP BISHOPS AS DEPTH EMERGES

FRANKIE MANSFIELD

Moultrie News | 1/10/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Frankie Mansfield