High-octane offense leads Skipjacks to sweep
FREDERICK – It's not that the Skipjacks are suddenly unbeatable. Teams may just have to get near triple digits in order to do it.
Chesapeake College beat Jamestown Community College, 106-92, on Friday and downed Delaware Technical and Community College-Stanton, 95-89, on Saturday in a men's basketball mixer at Frederick Community College. Geran Pope recorded his second and third double-doubles of the young season to lead the Skipjacks, who placed five players in double figures in each game.
"The guys are slowing but surely working into it," said Chesapeake head coach Joel Dearring, whose Skipjacks (2-1) have taken off since scoring just 32 points in the first half of a 79-77, season-opening loss to Allegany College of Maryland. "I think we're coming together."
Pope had a team-high 24 points and game-high 14 rebounds in the win against Jamestown, following up with 18 points and a team-high 14 rebounds against Del Tech. Pope is averaging 18.7 points and 14 rebounds per game so far this season, and shot .654 from the field (17-for-26) over the weekend.
"There were some games last year I'm not sure we had 14 rebounds all game," said Dearring when asked about the early impact made by Pope, who was selected for the mixer's all-tournament squad. "He's doing very well. He deserved to be on the all-tournament team."
Jahmante Jackson (five rebounds, three assists) scored 23 points for the Skipjacks in the win over Jamestown. Kevin Bonsu (12 points, seven rebounds) and reserves Dion Bivens (19 points, five rebounds, five assists), and Jeff Rogers (10 points) also reached double digits in the win over Jamestown.
Jamestown's Tyreek Jewell had a game-high 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds while teammates Calvin Sterling (27 points) and Davonte Dunham (16 points) joined Jewell in double figures.
Chesapeake blew out to a 52-37 halftime lead and then just exchanged baskets with Jamestown in a second half that saw 109 points scored.
The Skipjacks trailed Del Tech, 44-37, at the half before exploding for 58 second-half points.
Akanni Salako scored 22 points to lead the Skipjacks over Del Tech. Pope, Louis Simpson (16 points, five rebounds), Chad Church (11 points, 11 rebounds), and Jackson (10 points, six assists) also scored in double digits while Bivens added nine points and seven rebounds.
Dearring said the Skipjacks actually had opportunities to score a lot more than they did in each game at Frederick.
"The thing is, we had 50 turnovers in those two games," said Dearring, whose squad only turned the ball over 10 times in the loss at Allegany. "We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball."
Notes: Eight Skipjacks have already enjoyed double-digit scoring games. Pope is the only Skipjack to have scored in double digits each game while Salako, Jackson and Bivens have already done it twice.
"Anybody who can score has the opportunity to do it," Dearring said of his team's up-tempo offense. "The guys are buying into it, and that's half the battle."
The Skipjacks play their next three games on the home court of Community College of Baltimore County-Essex. Chesapeake plays Nassau Community College Friday at 5 p.m. and Community College of Beaver County Saturday at 1 p.m. in a mixer, then takes on Essex next Tuesday at 7 p.m. to complete a season-opening, six-game road trip.