Cape girls’ basketball falls to Sanford in quarters 53-27
The No. 10 Cape girls’ basketball team’s season came to an abrupt end March 7, with a 53-27 quarter-final loss to Sanford.
Cape could not get its scoring going, as the No. 2 Warriors used a pressing man-on-man defense to stymie the Vikings’ lethal offense.
“When it comes down to it, [Sanford] can just defend well one-on-one,” said Cape coach Pat Woods. “When it comes down to it, we’ve just got to square people up, stay on balance and knock down shots. They are just phenomenal on defense. If we had made a couple of lay-ups in the beginning, it would have been a different half. It would have changed a lot of things and been good for us mentally. That’s just jitters, I think.”
Morgan Mahoney led the Vikings with 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
“It’s been great playing on this team,” said an emotional Mahoney, who will attend Millersville University in the fall. “These are forever family friends, and I will miss them a lot.”
Mehkia Applewhite tallied six points and two rebounds. Ella Rishko scored four points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
“There’s nothing like playing on this team,” said Rishko. “They were ready for us. Nobody did anything wrong. [Sanford] prepared the way they prepared and we prepared the way we prepared, and that’s just what happened.”
Senior Lauryn Head played big underneath, snagging four rebounds to go with three points.
“It was fun all four years,” said Head. “I wouldn’t want to play on any other team.”
Seniors Julia Saleur and Kelly Bragg, and junior Ja’Onna Lee teamed for four points, while adding four rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Junior Azareya Kilgoe led the Warriors with 16 points. Senior Amiya Carroll tallied 10, while Dallas Pierce and Abby Meredith each garnered eight.
“Obviously we are disappointed because we’ve once again left a box unchecked from our team goals [play at the Bob Carpenter Center],” said Woods. “But we did had a lot of great experiences this year. Our non-conference schedule was as tough as it’s ever been. Paul VI – Virginia state champs. Westtown – Pennsylvania state champs. Calvary Christian – Florida state runner-up. Caravel, Ursuline, Sanford – Delaware final four. We played in front of a multitude of college coaches, met Dawn Staley, played in the ‘Remember The Titans’ gym, dealt with a lot of conflict and adversity and learned how to overcome it in order to accomplish collective goals – that’s a great life lesson. We try to develop as people and as a team, and I think we did both. 18-6 is the worst record we’ve had since I started here with this senior group – hard to believe. They’ve accumulated a record of 72-15, won four division titles, three conference titles, made the quarterfinals twice and the final four once. It was very hard work. But it was worth it.”
Saleur, Mahoney and Applewhite will represent Cape in the senior Blue-Gold All-Star game Saturday, March 19.
