Cape boys’ basketball powers past Central 75-46
When he helmed the Cape Henlopen boys’ basketball program from 2011-19, Steve Re’s teams distinguished themselves with in-your-face defense, crisp ball movement and endless energy on both ends of the court. From a basketball purist’s perspective, Re’s Vikings were a joy to watch.
After a successful run with the Beacon Middle girls, Re returned to the Big House sidelines Dec. 13 for Cape’s season-opening clash with Sussex Central.
The Vikings played like he never left.
Cape ran Central out of the gym, dominating every facet of play in a 75-46 walkover that sent a message to the rest of the Henlopen Conference: This team is for real.
“It feels great to be back, especially when we play like that,” Re said. “Coming in, our focus was on containing dribble-drives, contesting shots and just making things as difficult as we could [for Sussex Central]. We defended really well and, even more important than that, we rebounded well. We really crashed hard, with four or five guys not just crashing, but putting bodies on people and doing the job of boxing out. Offensively, we shared the ball and got good looks. We had, what, 15 assists?”
The Vikings looked to be in late-season form offensively, moving the ball with purpose and pace on the way to 17 assists. Buoyed by the quickness and flashy fast-break finishing of senior point guard Drew Zimmerman, Cape pushed the tempo to generate plenty of transition points.
The Vikings shot 46% from the floor and held the Knights to an anemic 29% clip at the other end, a number that surely pleased the defensive-minded Re. Cape forced Central into 19 turnovers, many of which they converted into points within seconds.
Zimmerman recorded team highs of 17 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals to pace Cape, which used a 23-6 first-half flurry to create separation and was never seriously challenged thereafter. Zimmerman poured in 10 straight points for his team during the run, including a deep three-pointer and an athletic three-point play in traffic.
The Vikings led 32-21 at halftime and held a 53-36 advantage after three periods before flirting with the mercy rule in the fourth.
Zimmerman starred offensively, but focused on the Vikings’ defensive effort after the win.
“Every day in practice, we always start off with defense,” he said. “We just take pride in picking each other up on defense, and it showed [tonight]. We played with a lot of energy and intensity."
Cape got 12 points, nine boards and three helpers from junior off-guard Tyrone Tolson, a transfer from Dover who turned heads with his suffocating perimeter defense. The Vikings got serious offensive punch from their big men, as senior center Odin Potemski tallied a career-high 13 points and junior forward Jack Schell added 10 off the bench in his varsity debut. The duo combined to shoot 10-for-10 from the floor, and Potemski brought the crowd to its feet with a banked-in three-pointer that punctuated a third-quarter run.
Cape has struggled mightily in the rebounding department for the last several seasons and was outmuscled on the glass by five boards per game last year. The Vikings bucked that trend against Central, grabbing 45 caroms to the Knights’ 31.
Senior forward Tajear Freeman collected nine rebounds to go with his six points off the bench for Cape (1-0, 1-0 Henlopen North), while senior guard Timmy Hitchcock enjoyed a career night with six points, two assists and two steals in just seven minutes of action. Sophomore guard Jayden Dukes (five points), senior forward Dylan Fannin (four points, three assists) and senior wing Trey Leggins (two points) rounded out the scoring.
The win was Cape’s 16th in its last 17 meetings with Central.
