Sports
Northeast Eagles Swoop into Playoff Action
The Eagles will face Stephen Decatur on Friday night.
Playoff basketball begins Friday night for the Eagles as they get set to take on the Stephen Decatur Seahawks from Berlin, MD.
Despite finishing the season with a 2-20 record, the Eagles feel that the Stephen Decatur matchup is a good one.
Northeast is recognized as the home team in the contest, but due to renovations at the school leaving the team without a gym, they will host the Seahawks at Chesapeake High School.
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In an email to Patch, Northeast head coach Roger O’Dea said that the Eagles have made the three-hour bus trip to Stephen Decatur before, and know it can be difficult. He said the team is excited to get a shot at the Seahawks in Pasadena.
“The players love the matchup,” O’Dea said.
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According to O’Dea, Stephen Decatur, a Worchester County school finished the season with a 9-13 record. O’Dea said the Seahawks average around 53 points a game and gave up an average of 58 points a game.
“This has given the boys a lot of confidence,” O’Dea said. “We know that if we can execute our offensive sets we can score in the 60s. If we can come out and play good, hard defense—we have a good chance of winning a playoff game.”
In order to achieve their goal of 60 points, the Eagles will try to get the ball into the hands of the team's leading scorers—seniors Marcus Dentley and Brandon O’Malley.
“One thing that we have been concentrating on is our quick hitters on offense,” said O’Dea. “We are focusing on trying to get the ball in the hands of our two leading scores as much as possible, and giving our team the best chances to score points on our offensive sets.”
Throughout the season, Northeast has struggled on defense when they lost control of the tempo of the game. O’Dea said they will focus on creating traps on defense tonight.
“Defensively we are focusing on being aggressive and trying to create turnovers, along with diving and securing every loose ball,” O’Dea said. “We are doing this either from pressing or simply by creating trapping opportunities.”
Northeast will tip off against Stephen Decatur Friday at 7 p.m. at Chesapeake High School.
