Burton drains two free throws to sink Lake Forest 50-49
Ja’Vaughn Burton sank two free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining to propel the Cape boys’ basketball team to a come-from-behind 50-49 victory over visiting Lake Forest Dec. 19 in Lewes.
“I was praying I’d get another chance because I knew I wasn’t gonna mess up again,” said Burton, who had misfired on a three-point try that would’ve put Cape in front on its previous possession. “Coach told me, ‘You’ve got this.’ I also got confidence from my teammates, and I just knocked them down.”
With Cape down 49-48 and nine ticks left on the clock, sophomore guard Kay’von Jackson caught an inbound pass near midcourt and found Burton on the right wing. The junior off-guard was hacked across the arms by a defender as he made a move toward the hole and began a shooting motion.
“J-Roc” made the most of his golden opportunity, calmly connecting on both tries without even glancing the rim to give the Vikings a much-needed win.
Senior forward Sh’Kai Chandler tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Cape (2-2, 1-2 Henlopen North), which overcame a slow start and poor shooting to gut out a W. Burton added 10 points and eight boards.
Lake Forest looked ready to run Cape out of its own house early on, racing to a 9-0 lead in the first four minutes of play. The Vikings responded in the second quarter, tying the score at 21 on a three-pointer by senior guard Collin Mallet, but the Spartans built their lead back up to 12 late in the third. Down 42-30 and facing the prospect of falling to 1-3 with Slam Dunk to the Beach looming, Cape needed a run. It got one just in time, as senior forward Sam Luciano-Solomon rattled in a 12-foot jumper and Burton scored back-to-back buckets in the lane to trim the deficit to six heading into the final frame.
After Jackson opened the fourth quarter with a deep three-pointer, Chandler netted five quick points on a corner three and a lay-in to pull the Vikings to within one with 3:26 left. Senior guard Jaysem Vazquez drove for a deuce to give Lake some breathing room, but Chandler struck again from 15 feet out to set up the final sequence.
“We came out with more energy [during the run],” said Chandler, who poured in nine consecutive points for his team in the fourth period. “We played better defense, boxed out and executed our plays. We haven’t been coming out with a lot of energy in our games. We need to come out with that energy at the beginning of the game.”
Vazquez posted game highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Spartans (1-3, 1-1 Henlopen South), who never trailed until the final two seconds.
Cape head coach Shemik Thompson was happy to escape with a win but, like Chandler, lamented his team’s lack of early energy.
“We dug ourselves another hole and we had to climb out again,” Thompson said. “Execution-wise, today’s goal was to come out and be aggressive. We did that in the fourth quarter. We just have to do it for the other three.”
Thompson credited the comeback to a change of pace.
“We weren’t pushing the ball up the floor in the first half,” Thompson said. “I think we had two possessions where we beat [Lake] up the floor before they could get in their zone. We wanted to push the ball up the floor in the second half, and we did that primarily in the fourth quarter, which got us back in the game.”
The Vikings shot below 35 percent from the floor for the fourth straight game, including an abysmal 8-for-32 (25 percent) in the first half, but they earned extra possessions by forcing 18 Lake Forest turnovers.
Jackson finished with season bests of nine points and three assists for Cape, knocking down three shots from long range, while Mallet went for six points on two three-pointers.
The Spartans kept the Vikings alive by giving away points at the charity stripe, missing all five of their free throws in the fourth quarter and going 5-for-16 overall.
For the sixth consecutive year, Cape will celebrate the holiday season by hosting Slam Dunk to the Beach. The Vikings kick off the tournament Friday, Dec. 27, when they take on St. Raymond (N.Y.) at noon.
