Salesianum downs St. Elizabeth, returns to title game looking to repeat as champs
There is not enough time between halves of a basketball game to change who you are.
But there is enough time to get a reminder of who you are.
For Salesianum's Kareem Thomas, that halftime nudge came from teammate Justin Hinds. Thomas had produced a quiet opening salvo, hitting one of three first-half shots. Hinds told Thomas to "keep on going."
"He knows that I'm the best player in the state," Thomas said. "I just have to play like that and I have to think that mentally. That's really what it was. It was just a mentality coming out of halftime."
On a court filled with many of Delaware's best Thursday night, Thomas stood out in the final 16 minutes. The Dartmouth-bound senior scored 19 of his game-high 24 points after the talk with Hinds. He hit two of three 3-point attempts and led a late run to the charity stripe, knocking down 11 of 13 free throws as Salesianum put away top-seeded St. Elizabeth 65-51 in the semifinal round of the DIAA Boys Basketball Tournament.
The Sals (15-8) will play for their second straight state title against Dover at 6 p.m. Saturday at the University of Delaware's Carpenter Center. No. 2 Dover (22-2) defeated No. 3 Middletown (18-6) 59-53 Thursday to advance.
Salesianum trailed 29-27 at the start of the third quarter when Thomas began "hunting his shot." In the quarter's first minute, he converted an old-fashioned 3-point play and made two free throws after drawing a foul in transition.
A few possessions later, he buried a 3 in front of Salesianum's bench that put the Sals ahead 37-32. That's the moment where Thomas felt he had it going.
His backcourt running mate Isaiah Hynson, no stranger to heroics at the Carpenter Center, closed the third quarter with a contested midrange make. He asserted himself at the start of the fourth, scoring the Sals' first five points in the quarter. Then Thomas hit a corner 3 that gave Salesianum an 11-point lead, its largest to that point in the night. The margin never swung below nine over the final five minutes.
"Everybody has equal opportunity to go make a play," Salesianum coach Taylor Trevisan said. "They take one guy away and the next guy steps up. That's what those two did specifically."
The frontcourt of R.J. Johnson and Justin Hinds sustained Salesianum in the first half when Thomas and Hynson scored a combined 7 points on 1-8 shooting. Hinds made three 3-pointers in the first quarter, contributing to Salesianum's sharp 8-14 mark on the night. Johnson proved to be a handful in the low post, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Trevisan said Johnson was not a focal point of Salesianum's offensive approach entering the game, but once the team saw how St. Elizabeth was reluctant to help off of Thomas, Hinds and Hynson they found ways to get Johnson more one-on-one opportunities.
Salesianum minimized the impact of St. Elizabeth forward Aiden Tobiason as well as anyone has in recent weeks. Tobiason had averaged 20.4 points in his previous five games. Trevisan said Salesianum focused on "staying attached" to him. They didn't expressly try to deny the ball, but they were conscious of Tobiason shaking loose and finding space to get off his shot. As good as he is with the ball in his hands, he's a skilled mover off the ball.
With a rotating cast of Hynson, Hinds and Zachary Swartout serving as Tobiason's primary defender, the Sals limited him to four first-half attempts. Tobiason finished the game with 19 points on 7-13 shooting.
Both teams were scoreless until the 3:48 mark of the first quarter when Hinds hit his first 3. Salesianum led by as many as nine in the first half, but St. Elizabeth mounted a 13-2 run keyed by an effective press to close the second quarter trailing by only two. The Sals led 45-40 after Hynson's shot at the end of the third quarter and pulled away midway through the fourth.
Hynson (13) and Hinds (10) joined Thomas and Johnson in double figures.
"A lot of people say that one of us has to take a backseat for us to both play well," Thomas said, referring to Hynson. "Neither of us have to take a backseat. It's kind of just like feed the other guy.… It's good for both of us to have each other on the court."
Added Hynson, "For me, it's just whoever's got the buckets going in that night.... Whoever has the matchup, that's who we're going to."
Salesianum's senior class has played in the semifinals every year of their high school careers and has reached the championship game in three consecutive seasons. Salesianum lost to Tower Hill in 2022 before defeating William Penn a year ago for the school's first basketball title since 2015.
Their experience playing at the Carpenter Center the past two postseasons affords Salesianum a comfort advantage playing on the larger court of the "Bob" and firing against its unsettled shooting background. More than 4,000 tickets for Thursday's semifinals sold out in a matter of minutes. Salesianum and St. Elizabeth enjoyed large cheering sections.
"It's the standard," Johnson said. "We're not phased by any of the hype."
Salesianum entered the tournament seeded fourth after a disjointed 12-8 regular season. The Sals lost five games to out-of-state opponents, including two by single digits, then dropped contests against St. Elizabeth, Middletown and Dover. Three starters did not play in the Dover game following a postgame incident at Saint Mark's.
The team did not put a lot of weight into their Jan. 7 84-77 loss at St. Elizabeth and won't fret the loss to Dover at reduced strength. Trevisan believes Salesianum is playing like a different team compared to the beginning of the season.
"We rebound from adversity much quicker," Trevisan said. "That run that St. E's went on at the end of half, we responded. Earlier in the year — I don't want to say folded — but we wouldn't have found the answers as quick."
Brandon Holveck is a high school sports reporter. Contact him at bholveck@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Salesianum defeats St. Elizabeth to advance to DIAA boys basketball final
