Cape girls’ basketball falls to Woodbridge in quarterfinals

The Cape girls’ basketball team’s Cinderella season came to a close March 6, as the Vikings fell 48-34 to Woodbridge. Nearly 1,100 fans watched as the two best teams in the Henlopen Conference battled in a see-saw game that featured many lead changes.

The game couldn’t have been closer in the first half, as the two division champs traded leads with the score tied 25-25 at the halftime break. The second half was all Blue Raiders, as they held Cape to just nine second-half points and shut them out in the fourth quarter when the Vikings’ normally hot shooting went cold.

“We couldn’t make our shots in the fourth quarter,” said Cape coach Pat Woods. “We were a half from a final four. We didn’t play our best game, obviously, but that’s the scars you’ve got to get in order to be there. To get where we want to be in the program, you have to go through hard times. This is one of those hard times. They don’t get easy.”

Sophomore Faith Re led the Vikings with 10 points and four rebounds.

“I think we were tired and mentally checked out a little bit,” said Re. “We just couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game when we were down. I think we got in our head that we couldn’t come back in the fourth quarter, but we could’ve come back. It was a mental fight and we just didn’t lock in during the second half.”

Junior guard Mya Maull scored nine points, four assists and a pair of rebounds. Senior Ja’Onna Lee and junior Lulu Rishko teamed for seven points and 10 rebounds. 

Freshman forward Amalia Fruchtman tallied six points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.

“I think we all just wanted to win so bad that we were just driving in to the hoop and we just abandoned all of our execution, all of our plays,” said Fruchtman. “We just wanted to make a shot, get a lead and win. That just isn’t the way you play basketball; you have to execute and play as a team.”

Sophomore Hayden Hudson continued her record-breaking season under the basket, snagging 17 rebounds and blocking five shots.

Seniors Payton Keeler and De’Asya Jones led the Blue Raiders with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

“I’m proud of this team,” Woods said. “I’m proud that we got here.”