Late in their District 6-AA game against rival Tyner, Howard came up with a new play.
There wasn’t an official name to it, but basically it was called “Give the ball to C.J. Deloney and let him do his thing.”
Deloney finished with a game-high 16 points, eight in a crucial fourth quarter when the Rams had fought back in the game, to lead the Tigers to a 56-47 victory, cutting Tyner’s district lead in half.
“This was a big game, a cross-town rivalry,” Deloney said. “We came into the season as underdogs, but tonight we played like Coach knew we could; we executed.”
“Deloney just took it to us tonight,” Tyner coach Gerald Harris noted.
Said Howard coach Walter McGary: “We just told C.J. to take charge. I know post moves; I told him to go to work on them, and I’m proud of the way he played. We isolated for him and he did his thing. We needed it.
“We needed it bad.”
A fired-up Howard team led wire-to-wire, taking as much as a 13-point lead in the third quarter before the Rams (12-3, 8-1) used the inside presences of posts Michael Bradley and Reggie Gilmore to claw their way back in, going on a 14-4 run to close to within 43-41 after a free throw by Gilmore and a putback by Bradley.
That’s when Deloney took over, leading an 11-1 run with six big points. Reginald Hemphill then punctuated the win with a dunk in the final moments.
Hemphill and Calvin Ross each scored 12 points. Gilmore led Tyner with 16 points, adding seven rebounds, while Bradley had a triple-double with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks.
“I told the guys that we shouldn’t lose to anybody twice,” McGary said. “If we hustle, have confidence and work hard, we’ll be good. The guys are beginning to realize that Tyner is a good team. They’re big with shooters.”
“Howard was just more aggressive than us tonight,” Harris said. “They knocked us out of our rhythm and our guards didn’t know what to do. The second half we played great; tonight was all about the fact we couldn’t guard anybody.
“Howard played great and did everything they needed to do to win.”