Cape girls’ basketball wins Henlopen North title
The Cape girls’ basketball team won its fifth straight Henlopen North title Feb. 9, with a 62-43 victory over Polytech on Senior Night. The Vikings have won 57 straight Henlopen North contests.
The last time Cape lost a Northern Division game was a 50-53 loss to Polytech in the 2018-19 season.
Freshman Amalia Fruchtman led the Vikings with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Sophomore guard Faith Re tallied 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore Hayden Hudson garnered 12 rebounds, giving her a total of 151 this season.
Junior Mya Maull and senior Jo’Anna Lee scored seven points each. Kayden Borge Williams, Lulu Rishko, Grace Totten and Megan Smith teamed for 10 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
The Panthers kept it close, actually leading by seven points for a bit, but the tenacious Vikings took the lead for good in the second half en route to the 19-point victory.
“It means a lot to win this game for the seniors coming from behind like that,” said Maull. “It lets us know that if we’re down in an important game, we can come back.”
Mostly known as a defensive standout, Lulu Rishko contributed on the offensive end with five important points in the comeback, hitting a lefty lay-in to bring the bench to their feet.
“It was really fun to have our seniors start the game. They played great,” said Rishko. “As a team, we didn’t start off too strong tonight – Polytech played really hard – but when the chips are down, we always turn it on. When we need to respond, we do.”
“We always turn it up in the second half,” said Re. “We work on coming on from the jump, but sometimes we need to get going.”
The team showed its talent performing a dance to “Let it Go” from “Frozen” before the game to help release the pregame jitters.
“That was a spur-of-the-moment dance,” said Fruchtman. “I think it got everyone’s emotions out and got the nerves settled down before the game. It was fun.”
“I love this team,” said coach Pat Woods. “They work their tails off in practice so they can have fun on game day.”
The Vikings will host Caesar Rodney Tuesday, Feb. 14, and Smyrna Thursday, Feb. 16.
Cape boys fall
Polytech overcame a career-best 30-point outburst from Cape senior guard Drew Zimmerman and used a late run to defeat the Vikings 77-72 Feb. 9 in Woodside.
Cape controlled most of the action and led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter, but the Vikings couldn’t put away the Panthers. Cape held a 66-60 advantage after Zimmerman converted a lay-up with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter, but Poly stormed back, ending the game with a 17-6 run.
Zimmerman played the game of his life for Cape (11-6, 9-4 Henlopen North), hitting 12 of his 17 field goal tries, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and dishing out seven assists. His 19 first-half points helped the Vikings build a 41-28 advantage late in the second frame.
Senior guard Kyle Gamber, who finished with 24 points, keyed Polytech’s comeback with two three-point plays late in the fourth quarter.
Senior wing Trey Leggins scored 11 points for Cape, which outshot the Panthers 54% to 44% on the night and turned the ball over just 11 times. Senior center Odin Potemski added 10 points and seven rebounds, while senior forward Dylan Fannin tallied eight points and six boards.
Polytech improved to 14-3 on the season and earned its 11th win in its last 12 games.
