Boys Varsity Basketball finished the regular season 20-3 overall and 13-1 in the Ivy League. Dalton won four conference games by four points or fewer en route to its first league title since 2019. 

“To have that much focus for 14 games is incredibly hard,” boys coach and Director of Athletics Teddy Frischling ’89 said. “You feel it and it’s exhausting. I don’t think we were the favorites to win it. We’re undersized, but we’ve clicked and played to our strengths. We did the right things for the ball to bounce our way.”

Dalton suffered its lone league loss at Poly Prep on January 16. The Tigers then edged the Blue Devils 54-50 at Dalton two weeks ago. 

Riverdale and Ethical Culture Fieldston School tied for second place in the Ivy League at 11-3. Dalton won the two Riverdale games 63-58 and 47-46, respectively. The Tigers topped Fieldston 63-61 with a last-second defensive stop on the road. Dalton also beat Fieldston 82-72 on Warren Hines Night when senior Noah Khalid scored 43 points. Frischling noted Khalid’s fellow seniors all made drastic improvements this season. 

“It’s a different team than last year’s team, so it’s impressive to graduate so many kids and then win the league,” Frischling said. “It was great getting those contributions from the other seniors Daya Singh, Reese Carter and Alexander Mash, who didn’t play as much last year.”

Dalton landed the No. 6 seed in NYSAIS and is headed to No. 3 seed Long Island Lutheran Regional at 5:00 PM.

Girls Varsity Basketball clinched its fifth straight outright Ivy League title with a 39-24 triumph versus Hackley on Senior Night. Dalton survived a competitive three-way battle with Fieldston and Poly Prep. After four consecutive seasons with an undefeated conference record, Dalton lost at Fieldston 43-35 in the second Ivy game. The Tigers then rattled off 10 straight league victories for an 11-1 Ivy record and 17-5 overall regular season.

“It’s nice because in hindsight, there’s a part to it that it didn’t have to be this way, but we had to win all the games,” head coach Sam Bergen said. “With Poly beating Fieldston twice, we had to beat Fieldston the second time just to put ourselves in position, then beat Poly twice. All those games against the top teams almost became elimination games, and that’s not easy.”

Dalton defeated Fieldston 46-28 in the Warren Hines Night rematch. The Tigers trailed 9-3 early but opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run and pulled away. At Poly Prep, Dalton overcame a 12-point deficit in the last four minutes as senior Kellen Calloway connected on the game-winning free throws with .8 seconds left for a 43-42 final. The Tigers then bested the Blue Devils 50-38 at Dalton. 

“It speaks a lot to this team because of how much we had to figure things out over the course of the season and get better, and the fact they did all those things,” Bergen said. “It shows their character, work ethic, competitiveness and care. That’s what we can feel the most proud about is how far we’ve come.”

No. 2 seed Dalton faces No. 7 seed Hackley for the second time in a week. The game tips at 5:00 PM at the Spence Athletic Center.