Prep notes: Turf Bowl brings top field hockey teams to UD

Delaware’s high school field hockey teams love playing on the super-slick, Astro Turf-12 surface at the University of Delaware’s Rullo Stadium, and more than half of them will get their chance in the Turf Bowl this weekend.

The 18th annual event will feature 34 of the state’s 50 teams, including four currently ranked in The News Journal’s top five — No. 2 Delmar, No. 3 Tower Hill, No. 4 Milford and No. 5 Padua.

The three-day festival will have four games on Friday, seven on Saturday and six more on Sunday, all focused on raising awareness of pediatric cancer.

St. Georges will kick things off against Appoquinimink at 3:30 Friday, followed by Mount Pleasant vs. Concord at 5, Brandywine vs. Smyrna at 6:30 and Wilmington Friends vs. Wilmington Christian at 8.

Saturday’s action begins with Newark Charter vs. McKean at 10:30 a.m., followed by Woodbridge vs. Delmar at noon, St. Andrew’s vs. Tower Hill at 1:30, Ursuline vs. Padua at 3, Newark vs. William Penn at 4:30, Caravel vs. Caesar Rodney at 6 and Milford vs. Lake Forest at 7:30.

Sunday’s games will crank up at 12:30 with St. Andrew’s vs. Sanford, followed by St. Mark’s vs. Charter of Wilmington at 2, St. Elizabeth vs. Brandywine at 3:30, A.I. du Pont vs. Tatnall at 5, Delcastle vs. Delaware Military Academy at 6:30 and Dickinson vs. Hodgson at 8.

Football at UD

Delaware Stadium will be busy as well on Saturday with three high school football games.

The annual Red Clay Day will kick off with Dickinson vs. McKean in a Blue Hen Flight B game at 1 p.m. Charter of Wilmington will take on A.I. du Pont in a Flight A matchup at 4, with Division II playoff contenders Delaware Military Academy and St. Elizabeth squaring off at 7. Admission is $5, and is good for the entire day.

Diamond State Classic

Two Delaware teams — host St. Elizabeth and defending DIAA champion Ursuline — will go toe-to-toe with six of the nation’s top girls basketball teams in the 26th annual Diamond State Classic, to be played Dec. 27-30 at the St. E Center.

The four-day event will feature 20 teams competing in four brackets. St. E and Ursuline will play in the Saint Francis Healthcare Cup — the tournament’s eight-team national bracket.

Action kicks off at 9:45 a.m. Dec. 27 with St. Mark’s vs. Wilmington Friends, followed by Cape Henlopen vs. Perryville (Md.) at 11:30 in the opening-round games of the New Castle Insurance Cup.

Then the national bracket rolls out, with Cumberland Valley (Pa.) meeting St. Rose (N.J.) at 1:15 and Monsignor Scanlan (N.Y.) going against Ventura (Calif.) at 3. After the tournament’s opening ceremonies at 4:45 and the annual Special Olympics game at 5:30, Ursuline will tip off against Redondo Union (Calif.) at 6:15 and St. Elizabeth will meet Roland Park Country School (Md.) at 8.

The four-team Delaware Cup will begin on Dec. 28, with Howard taking on William Penn at 12:30 p.m. and Padua playing Institute of Notre Dame (Md.) at 2:15. The four-team First State Orthopaedics Cup will also start later that day, with Caesar Rodney going against Hodgson at 5:45 and Caravel squaring off against Damascus (Md.) at 7:30.

Rounding it up

— William Penn’s annual Friday Night Lights home game will be played Friday, as temporary lights will illuminate Bill Cole Stadium for a 7:15 kickoff against Mount Pleasant. The Colonials are selling advance tickets during school lunches Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and tickets will also be available at the gate.

— The A.I. du Pont boys soccer team snapped a 22-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over Brandywine on Tuesday.

— Howard High will hold a basketball alumni day from 2-6 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Howard gym. All former Howard boys and girls basketball players and alumni are invited. Cost is $20 per person, which will include basketball games, a social event and food. Deadline to register is Nov. 20. For more information, contact Mark Sills at (302) 389-8558 or marksills3603@comcast.net or Tena Gladney at (302) 571-5770 or tena.gladney@nccvt.k12.de.us.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.