The

6th-ranked Hodgson Silver Eagles (9-1) rallied from a 10-point third quarter

deficit to knock off the 5th-ranked William Penn Colonials (8-4) 53-48 on

Saturday afternoon in New Castle.

It

was a gritty win for the Silver Eagles, who held a 34-29 edge on the glass, but

shot just 32 percent from the field. William

Penn shot 40 percent from the floor, but they scored just one point during the

final two minutes of the game as they relinquished the lead for the first time

since the 1:20 mark of the first quarter.

"It

was a character win," Hodgson coach Ed Sobocinski said.

"We had a couple of those last year and they helped propel us into the

final four.

yes"> We have a senior group and a lot of them have been with us

for four years, and played varsity for four years.

They have heart. They've

always had heart and they definitely persevered today."

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William

Penn took a 35-25 lead on a jump shot by James Pee with three minutes

left in the third quarter, but Hodgson rebounded, reeling off a 28-13 run over

the final 11 minutes.

Following

Pee's jumper, Hodgson got a lift off the bench from Akin Beathea (six

points, three rebounds, one steal, one block), who jump-started the Silver

Eagles' run with a pair of baskets.

Junior guard Nafis Richardson pulled Hodgson within 38-37 by

hitting a three-pointer just before the buzzer at the end of the third quarter.

William

Penn jumped back in front by five at the start of the fourth quarter, but

Hodgson eventually rallied to tie the game at 47-47 when Beathea made a steal

and threw down a one-handed dunk with 1:58 remaining.

The

Colonials moved back in front on a free throw by Lewis Toler, but Hodgson

went ahead for good when center Will Morris picked up a loose ball,

following a missed three-pointer by Richardson, and laid it in for a 49-48 edge

with 55 seconds left to play.

"I

just tried to hit the boards for my team, because we needed them," Morris

said. "We knew we had each

others' backs and that we'd find a way to win."

Following

a technical foul that was called against the Colonials' bench, Richardson

drained two foul shots to push the lead to three (51-48) and William Penn never

recovered.

"It

was all of us," Richardson said after scoring 15 of his team-high 17 points in

the second half. "We shot bad as

a team, but the bench players came in and gave us some big points.

Akin gave us that energy and that spark.

That's exactly what we needed. I

was off and my teammates picked me up and led the way."

Richardson

also had five assists, five steals, and two rebounds, while Morris registered 14

points and seven rebounds, and Tre Davis added 12 points, eight rebounds,

one steal, and one block.

Pee

led William Penn with 17 points, six assists, five rebounds, and two steals, and

Brian Oliver chipped in with 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and

one blocked shot.

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The

loss ended a rough week for the Colonials, which lost three straight games to

Christiana, Middletown, and now Hodgson, respectively.

HODGSON

53 WILLIAM PENN 48

HOD

8 11

18 16 – 53

WP

11 11 16

10 – 48

HODGSON

[22]

Richardson 4-15, 8-11, 17 [34] Davis 5-15, 1-2, 12 [2] Beckham 1-7, 0-0, 2 [44]

Morris 6-11, 2-5, 14 [10] Neal 1-3, 0-0, 2 [30] Jamal Merrell 0-3, 0-0, 0 [52]

Jamil Merrell 0-3, 0-0, 0 [20] Beathea 3-5, 0-2, 6 Totals 20-62, 11-20, 53

3pt

FG 2-19 (Richardson 1-6, Davis 1-7, Beckham 0-4, Jamal Merrell 0-2)

WILLIAM

PENN

[3]

Pee 7-16, 2-2, 17 [25] Oliver 3-9, 6-6, 13 [33] Walker 2-3, 0-2, 4 [24] Toler

1-4, 1-2, 3 [40] Adams 1-3, 3-5, 5 [15] Skinner 3-7, 0-1, 6 [55] Brokenbrough

0-0, 0-0, 0 [5] Robinson 0-1, 0-0, 0 Totals 17-43, 12-18, 48

3pt

FG 2-6 (Pee 1-2, Oliver 1-2, Robinson 0-1, Skinner 0-1)

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