The 2021-2022 Delbarton Basketball team is off to a solid start, with wins over Pope John, Chatham, West Morris Central, and Randolph. In this article, I will be highlighting the team’s start to the season. 

For the first two games of the season, Delbarton faced Pope John and Chatham away, defeating Pope John by a score of 61-47 and Chatham 59-52. 

In the Pope John game, senior captain Skyler Venezia recorded 22 points and co-captain Derek Lagios chipped in with 12 points and three assists to allow the Green Wave to muster a second-half surge and  outscore Pope John by 10 in the second half. 

In the Chatham game, junior Julian Radossich played his best game of the season (so far) recording a season-high of 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Delbarton fell behind 11-3 at the end of the first quarter, but quickly rallied and outscored Chatham 56-41 in the next three quarters, giving the Green Wave another victory. 

After two wins in a row, Delbarton stumbled over  a roadblock in Morris Catholic. Despite Senior Skyler Venezia scoring 20 points, the Green wave lost 57-41 after a strong second-half Morris Catholic performance.

The Green Wave would rebound against Randolph 68-47, with strong performances throughout the entire game. Skyler Venezia and Julian Radossich again led Delbarton to victory. Junior Mike Vaccaro and senior A.J. Gubler also had strong supporting performances to lead to a complete team effort. 

After the Randolph victory, Delbarton would face West Morris Central twice. In the first game, Senior Skyler Venezia scored 12 points while Junior Mike Vaccaro had eight, as the Green Wave stuck with West Morris Central for the first three-quarters. West Morris Central; however, performed strongly in the fourth quarter, giving them a 19-9 quarter edge and an overall 54-43 win. The Green Wave fared better in the second game, as Senior Skyler Venezia scored 26 points and Julian Radossich and Mike Vaccaro both hcontributed six. Unlike the first game, the Green Wave overcame a third-quarter deficit and rallied in the fourth quarter, leading to a 50-40 Delbarton victory. Junior Paul Brady quipped after the game that the West Morris Central win was “probably our biggest of the year thus far as WMC [West Morris Central] was the preseason favorite in Morris County. “

After the West Morris Central win, Delbarton faced arch-rival Mendham. Delbarton had a strong team effort, with Julian Radossich scoring 15 points. Despite the well-rounded performance, Delbarton lost a nail-biter, 52-49 at Mendham. 

Delbarton then faced Randolph again, where Delbarton defeated Randolph by a score of 63-56. Derek Lagios scored a career-high of  24 points, while Mike Vaccaro scored 14 points. Delbarton had a prolific first quarter, scoring 19 points compared to Randolph’s 9. Delbarton held the lead for the next three quarters en route to a 63-56 final score.

Following the second Randolph victory, Delbarton faced the in-town rival of Morristown.  Delbarton suffered through an abominable first quarter, as Morristown outscored Delbarton 15-3. While the Green Wave attempted to mount a comeback, it was unsuccessful, as Morristown held on to win 47-44. 

So far, the Delbarton basketball team has six wins and four losses. The schedule looks promising, with three upcoming rivalry games against Pope John, Mendham, and Morristown. Look for upcoming Delbarton basketball posts in the Delbarton Courier!