Cape boys run clock on Sussex Central on Senior Night
Senior wing Sh’Kai Chandler led four players in double figures as a suddenly scintillating Cape Henlopen boys’ basketball team celebrated its Senior Night in style, storming past Sussex Central 73-36 Feb. 13 in Lewes.
Cape came to play from the opening tip, embarking on an early 19-0 run that stretched well into the second quarter. After Chandler started the party by hitting consecutive three-pointers on the Vikings’ first two possessions, senior guard Kris Rushin raised the roof with two one-handed breakaway slams. Cape held Central without a field goal for the first 10:02 of game time, forcing the Knights to miss their first 14 shots from the floor.
“Ball movement put me in a position to score,” Chandler said of his tone-setting three-balls. “Once I hit a couple, everybody started hitting.”
Indeed they did. The Vikings widened the margin to 27-4 when freshman guard Drew Zimmerman stole an inbound pass and dropped in a floater midway through the second. The lead ballooned to 37-7 on a Rushin lay-in at the 10-second mark, and only a 25-foot buzzer-beating three-pointer from senior guard Isaac Pettit got the Knights into double digits at intermission. Central shot a woeful 14 percent from the floor in the first half, managing just three made field goals.
The rest of the game was little more than a formality, with Cape maintaining a lead of 30 or more points for most of the second half.
Head coach Shemik Thompson was proud of the way his charges rose to the occasion.
“They just really wanted to come out and play good basketball today, more so than other days because of the significance of [Senior Night],” Thompson said. “Instead of being caught up in the moment, they just let it come. We wanted to come out today and make a statement, especially considering the past couple games that we’ve had. Some of them were close and some should’ve been closer than what they were. It definitely feels good to get a win and make a statement today.”
Thompson also had a message for his outgoing seniors.
“I’m happy to see those guys make it through the season healthy,” Thompson said. “They fought hard, they practiced hard and I’m proud that I got the opportunity to coach those guys. I hope that they take the lessons that they’ve learned all throughout high school and take them forward to wherever they go so that when they get there, they know they came from a decent program that prepared them.”
Chandler capped off his four years in Lewes with a 16-point night, adding five rebounds, three assists and three three-pointers. The Vikings (6-12, 5-9 Henlopen North) also got 13 points and five assists from junior off-guard Ja’Vaughn Burton and a 12-point, five-rebound effort from senior guard Collin Mallet. Rushin stuffed the scorebook with 11 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals, while senior forward Sam Luciano-Solomon scored all nine of his points after the break. Luciano-Solomon ended the game on a high note, knocking down the first three-pointer of his career – on his birthday, no less – just before the buzzer.
Rushin said circumstances inspired his team to play at a higher level.
“We wanted to get the W on Senior Night for sure,” he said. “We turned the intensity up, and the ball movement was better. We’ve worked on sharing the ball, and we did that tonight.”
Rounding out the Cape scoring were freshman forward Dylan Fannin (eight points and six rebounds), Zimmerman (two points and five assists) and sophomore forward Sean Wick (two points).
Pettit led Sussex Central (4-14, 1-13 Henlopen North) with 16 points.
The Vikings established new season bests in points (73), field goal percentage (.569), assists (17) and turnovers (10). They also won the battle of the boards for the first time all season, outworking the Knights 31-21 on the glass, and limited Central to 12-for-44 shooting (27 percent).
Cape will close out its 2019-20 campaign with a trip to Delcastle Tuesday, Feb. 18. Varsity action kicks off at 5:30 p.m.
