All is Merry and Bright
The Dolphins are heading back today to the championship games of the Lt. Nick Brantley Memorial Scholarship Tournament. Both the girls’ and boys’ teams have a chance to be tournament champions. The games will air tonight on WOVV 90.1 (livestream it at wovv.org) beginning around 6:15.
The week started early for the Dolphins – at 6:30 a.m. on Monday morning to be exact – as they gathered to board the Swan Quarter ferry. Both teams were slated to play Pungo Christian Academy that afternoon.
The Lady Dolphins beat Pungo by 13 points, but not enough to satisfy their coach, Adam Burleson.
“We could’ve done a lot better against Pungo,” said sophomore Katie O’Neal.
The girls all agreed. Why? I asked their coach.
“He’ll say it’s because we were too worried about our hair, what we were going to eat, and our text messages!” said several girls at once.
“It’s true!” laughed Coach B., “but seriously, they came out a little slow in the first game. It’s the beginning of the season, but I think now they’re getting it together.”
“We really picked it up in the second game,” said sophomore Lucy O’Neal.
“Only in the 2nd half,” said Abby Morris, another sophomore. She likes to keep the girls grounded in reality. “We were losing in the first quarter. We weren’t even really playing.”
“Eleven girls got hurt in that game,” Katie added. “We injured a lot of girls.”
Victory went to the Dolphins, who beat Lawrence Academy 44 – 19. Winning the 2nd game guaranteed them another game on Friday, a 1st or 2nd place finish, and a trophy. They are hoping to get the big one for the championship.
“This will be a good test of the team,” Coach B. said. “Southhampton is supposed to be good at re-bounding, and a strong team. Everyone’s looking forward to it.”
High School boys’ coach David Allewalt said he thinks the Dolphins have a good chance of winning the tournament.
They beat Pungo easily (74 – 48) in the first game, but had to work really hard to secure their victory over Lawrence Academy. It was very close (49 – 44) and represented “a total team effort.”
“Lawrence Academy usually wins their conference,” Coach Dave said. “So this was a huge win for the boys. We were the better conditioned team. We played an up-tempo game, up and down the court. It was the best defensive performance from the boys that I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
He expects tonight to be great, too.
“We’re going to play with lots of intensity, play smart, and protect the basketball,” he said, citing that limiting the number or turnovers per game was a worthy goal for the Dolphins.
Coach Dave says the Southhampton team is “hardworking.” He expects they will also play in an intense style similar style to the Dolphins.
Junior Andrew Tillett agreed to be quoted saying, “Yes, I’m excited about the game today.”
Charles Temple is the Athletic Director for Ocracoke School. He was especially impressed with the boys on Tuesday night.
“Andrew was in foul trouble and sat on the bench for a while, and the team just hunkered down and got to business to win it,” he said.
Charles gives credit to coach Dave for knowing about the tournament, and working to get the Dolphins invited. They were happy to be included and excited about the event, even when the getting the teams there became a scheduling headache.
“We had plans to come home after the games, and play late games so the kids would only miss half a day of school. But, of course, the road put that plan in abeyance,” said Charles.
Having to take the Swan Quarter ferry makes every away game an overnight trip. Luckily, Island Realty donated a house in Nags Head for the teams on Monday and Tuesday nights. Ridgecroft Academy offered Ocracoke students a room and computer lab to use so they could get their homework done during the day.
The kids arrived home triumphant on Wednesday afternoon, greeted by all their school friends. After a good night’s sleep and a homecooked meal, they’ll head off this morning on the 10 a.m. boat. Tonight they’ll stay at a Holiday Inn Express at a special discount rate.
Eight teams were competing Monday for the tournament title. The tournament was divided into two brackets, which played at either Lawrence Academy in Merry Hill, NC or Ridgecroft Academy in Ahoskie, NC. Ocracoke’s bracket was comprised of teams from Pungo Christian Academy, Albemarle School, Ocracoke and Lawrence Academy.
Lt. Nick Brantley, who was a star athlete at Ridgecroft in his high school years, was killed in a helicopter accident during a Navy training exercise. He was only 26. Not only gifted athletically, Brantley was also a hardworker, and outgoing person, and an excellent student. The tournament named in his honor provides two scholarships of up to $5000 to one boy and one girl each year.
Funds for the scholarships come from the tournament admissions and concessions sales, as well as business sponsorships.
Each participating school was asked to nominate two students for scholarship consideration. Ocracoke’s nominees are senior Diana Perez and junior Andrew Tillett. They were asked to turn in a resume, letters of recommendation from teachers and community members, and a 300-400 word essay about how they are similar to Lt. Nick Brantley.
Andrew wrote about his online and honors classes that he takes to expand his learning and boost his GPA, and about his involvement with Boy Scouts. Diana wrote about the extra work she’s done to graduate a year early, and about her senior project shadowing Dr. Erin Baker at Ocracoke Health Center. Diana plans to pursue a degree in the medical field, most likely at East Carolina University. They’ll both be interviewed Friday afternoon by a board that includes Brantley’s parents, Keith and Joyce Brantley, the sports editor of the local newspaper, and Joe Murray, whose eponymous realty company is a major tournament sponsor.
