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Sussex Tech's 14-game winning streak came to an end Friday night, Feb. 5, 1999, thanks to a familiar nemesis.

Seaford, which until Friday had dealt Tech it's only high school boys' basketball defeat of the 1998-99 season, got the best of the Ravens again with an impressive 80-63 victory in front of a standing-room-only crowd in its home gym.

The win moved the Blue Jays (12-3 conference, 13-3 overall) within a half-game of Tech in the race for the Henlopen Conference Northern Division title.

The Ravens (12-2, 15-2) suffered their first defeat since Dec. 11, a 70-67 loss in Georgetown to the same Seaford.

"Seaford just played better than us tonight," Tech coach Jerry Kobasa said. "They did a good job, you've got to give them credit. They just beat us."

Tech led by two points at halftime but fell apart in the second half, getting outscored 25-13 in the third quarter and 22-15 in the fourth. The Ravens were plagued by a string of costly turnovers and forced shots and had no offensive rhythm in final 16 minutes.

The first meeting between the teams in December turned into a highlight film featuring two of the top players in Delaware - Tech's Brian Polk and Seaford's Andre Matthews. Both players finished that game with 29 points.

On Friday, however, Matthews clearly got the upper hand, scoring 26 points to lead four Seaford players in double figures. Polk finished with 16 points but scored just four after halftime.

"Matthews is, I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of the best players in the state," Kobasa said. "His leadership to that team is fantastic. Besides being a great player, he's an excellent leader. I've got a lot of respect for him."

Donnell Smack and Courtney Griffin had 12 points each for the Jays while Jason Vincent finished with 10. Brandon Palmer had 18 points and Larry Bryant 10 for Tech.

Tech led the game 35-33 at halftime and held a 39-37 advantage early in the third quarter before Seaford took control. The Jays outscored the Ravens 19-6 over a four-minute span to open a 56-45 lead with 1:44 left in the period.

Smack put in two layups, one of which he converted into a 3-point play, during the run while Jason Cook sank a layup and short jumper. Griffin put back a missed shot to give Seaford a four-point lead midway through the quarter and punctuated the run by stealing the ball and racing downcourt for a short jump shot.

Tech's lazy passes and sloppy ball handling constantly fed Seaford's fast-paced attack.

A free throw by Palmer and a layup by Polk momentarily got Tech within eight at 56-48 but Griffin drained a shot from just inside the 3-point arc to give Seaford a 58-48 lead after three periods.

"We looked out of it in the third quarter," Kobasa said. "They played good and we didn't.We didn't execute well in the third quarter."

Seaford quickly extended its lead early in the fourth quarter, getting layups from Griffin, Smack and Matthews to open a 64-50 lead with 5:15 to play. The Jays would go the next three minutes without a field goal but the best Tech could do was twice get within nine at 66-57 and 68-59.

After a put-back by Matthews made it 70-59, Seaford scored its final 10 points of the game from the foul line to seal the victory. The Jays outscored Tech 12-4 over the game's final minute and a half.

Seaford's 80 points were the most surrendered by Tech this season and at times the Ravens seemed powerless to stop drives to the basket by Matthews and Smack.

"We had people that were supposed to be in certain positions and were not there. If they're where they're supposed to be, that's not supposed to happen," Kobasa said. "We had a lot of people that didn't do what they were supposed to."

The evening got off to a promising start for Tech, as Polk scored the first seven points of the game on a 3-pointer, a 15-foot jumper and two free throws. The Ravens raced to an early 9-2 lead and held a 21-17 advantage at the end of a fast-paced first quarter.

Matthews, however, kicked his game into high gear early in the second period, driving the lane for a score, converting a put-back into a 3-point play and sinking a baseline jumper as part of 10-2 run that put the Jays ahead 27-23 with 5:08 left in the first half.

But Tech responded with a 9-2 spurt of its own. Polk capped the run with a scoop layup that broke a personal 13-minute scoring drought and gave Tech a 32-29 lead. His NBA-range 3-pointer from up top a few minutes later extended the Raven lead to 35-31.