Leggins, Cape boys get big road win at Milford
Whenever the Cape Henlopen and Milford boys’ basketball teams square off, the parking lot fills up faster than a Taylor Swift Ticketmaster queue. The local rivalry between the Vikings and Buccaneers has always been full of fire, and when the two talented squads met Jan. 5 at a packed Milford Central Academy gym, the game took on a state tournament feel.
Trey Leggins stepped up and met the moment.
Cape’s senior wing scored a season-high 20 points, snatched 11 rebounds and keyed a late run with a flurry of buckets as the Vikings earned a 67-49 victory.
“It felt amazing to play in front of a big crowd like that,” said Leggins, who poured in 10 points in a 4:22 stretch to help Cape break open a tight game. “Most of the guys know each other. I’m from Milford, and I know a ton of people here. I was actually guarding my cousin, Jayden [Norman], most of the night. It was a really fun atmosphere. Coach [Steve] Re made sure we were locked in for this one, dialed in. We had a lot of pride to play for.”
Milford led 36-35 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, but Leggins went on a personal 7-0 run over the next 56 seconds to put his team in front. After he drilled a three-pointer from the left wing, Leggins converted a difficult scoop in traffic, pickpocketed a Buccaneers guard and finished at the rim. The Vikings suddenly held a 42-36 advantage that they would never relinquish.
Milford closed the gap to a deuce early in the fourth, but a lay-in from senior forward Dylan Fannin and another Leggins trifecta catalyzed a 23-7 Cape run over the final six minutes. Junior forward Jack Schell scored six points during that closing stretch to finish up an 11-point, seven-board night.
The Vikings (6-2, 4-1 Henlopen North) got 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds from senior point guard Drew Zimmerman and eight points from Fannin. Junior guard Tyrone Tolson added seven points, while senior center Odin Potemski chipped in six points to go with two blocks.
Cape played with NBA-level efficiency, shooting 51% from the floor, amassing 20 assists and limiting its turnover count to just 14. The Vikings also outworked the smaller Bucs on the glass, pulling down 38 rebounds to Milford’s 24.
Re was all smiles after his team secured its best eight-game start to a season since 2017-18.
“It was a pressure cooker, a game when every possession mattered,” Re said. “It was a super team win. The more we can have success with [our system], and the more guys share the ball and the more guys feel good about themselves, the more locked in they get. When guys get touches and we stay together, that’s a huge thing, and we did that tonight. Guys made timely shots, we got timely stops and I think we only gave up like three offensive rebounds in the second half, which had been an issue for us. I thought Dylan Fannin showed up huge for us tonight. We’ve been waiting for a game like that from Dylan. He’s been practicing hard and has been more locked in to our game plans. Defensively, I thought Lamar [McCoy], Jayden [Dukes], and Kam [Trammell] just wore [Milford] out on the perimeter by pressuring them up and down the court. We were trying not to wear out Drew and Ty on that end, and just let the young guys do the work. They forced them into a lot of poor shots in the second half. Jack Schell and Odin showed up big too.”
Cape led for all but a few seconds of the first half and never trailed by more than a point after the break. Its stout defense, particularly on the perimeter, forced the Bucs into long jumpers and limited them to 26% shooting in the second half.
Leggins has been on a tear since Re inserted him into the Vikings’ starting five Dec. 22, averaging nearly 16 points on 58% shooting over his last five games.
Cape visits Sussex Tech Tuesday, Jan. 10. The Ravens are 2-6 on the season.
