Harkins already looking ahead after setback
HAMBURG — Wyatt Harkins, Delaware County Christian School’s junior guard, was captain of the Knights’ basketball team this winter.
He spent a lot of time last summer training with C.J. Scott, who has been an assistant coach at Harcum College.
Harkins also loves to play golf, and was a member of his school’s team in the fall.
“Golf takes up about three hours every afternoon then,’ said Harkins, a West Chester resident. “So a lot of times I would go work out with C.J. before I came to school. He really knows how to help you with whatever it is you need to work on, whether it’s your shot, game situations and so much more.’
Harkins began thinking about his next training session and his next workout with his AAU team, the Jersey Shore Warriors, shortly after Delco Christian dropped a 67-64 decision to District Three top seed Millersburg in a PIAA Class A second-round game at Hamburg Area High School Tuesday night.
Millersburg (19-10) earned a quarterfinal round matchup against Math, Civics & Science of the Philadelphia Public League Friday night. Delco Christian (15-14) put the finishing touches on a season than began with losses in 10 of the first 13 games and ended up with a remarkable run that had the Knights claiming the District One title and advancing two rounds into state play.
“We learned what happens when everyone plays together and knows their role,’ said Harkins, who scored 15 points, made three steals and added a pair of assists.
“Instead of seeing what each individual could do, we saw what the team could do. Now that we’ve done this, we’ll be back together again next year and want to keep going even further than this.’
All eight of the players coach Don Davis called on Tuesday were underclassmen (four juniors, four sophomores).
“That says something for the future of DC basketball,’ Davis said. “To go on the run that they went on and get this far … Take nothing away from Millersburg, because they are a fine team. But we just didn’t play our best tonight.
“That’s part of learning, especially when they were all juniors and sophomores.’
Junior Grant Fischer (20 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals) was 5-for-7 from the floor in the opening half, scoring 13 points as DC built a 28-26 lead. Harkins scored 11 of his points after halftime, with seven coming in overtime.
DC sophomore Danny Browne (15 points, four rebounds, two steals, two assists) hit a field goal with 31 seconds left in the fourth period to tie the score, but Fischer’s steal with three seconds left was wiped out by a walking call, one of 24 Knights turnovers.
Junior Christian Keiter (15 points, nine rebounds, two steals) put Millersburg ahead with the first shot of overtime, and the Indians hit six fouls shots in a row as three Knights fouled out.
“We weren’t in sync the whole night,’ Davis said. “The ball pressure wasn’t there.’
The coach was delighted that his team was where it was Tuesday, and he hopes the experience will pay dividends next winter.
“It was a great season, one to be proud of,’ Davis said.
Millersburg coach Todd Wingard was pleased with the way his team came back, especially when the Indians were eight points behind late in the second period. “(Delco Christian) did a fantastic job with their man-to-man defense,’ Wingard said. “They didn’t let us get into any kind of offensive flow.
“But our kids never quit. It might not have looked pretty, but they got the job done.’
