Mount Vernon Basketball

De Lancey Likes a Challenge
--By B.J. Koubaroulis, Special to The Washington Post

If Mount Vernon can snap visiting Yorktown's five-game winning streak in tonight's battle for first place in the Virginia AAA National District, the Majors will likely need a big effort from guard Marquel De Lancey.

"Just knowing that there is a team out there with a better record than us, he's going to be motivated to play," Majors Coach Alfonso Smith said of De Lancey, a 6-foot Old Dominion-bound senior who leads the National District in scoring with 20 points per game. "Yorktown is in the position we want to be in (first place). . . . He sees it as a challenge."

Led by Simon Kilday's 14.9 points per game, Yorktown (8-6, 5-0) has won seven of its past eight, including four straight against district competition.

The Patriots have the Northern Region's fifth-best defense, holding opponents to an average of 54.2 points per game, but they have yet to face a high-octane offense like Mount Vernon's.

The Majors (8-6, 4-1) are fourth in scoring among Washington area teams, recording a Northern Region-best 72.5 points per game behind De Lancey, junior forward Robert Coleman (14.6) and sophomore forward Skylar Jones (10.7).