Sussex Central basketball outlasts the Vikings
Slow starts have hampered the Cape Henlopen boys’ basketball team since its season began, and that bad habit cost the Vikings once again in a nail-biting 57-53 loss at Sussex Central Jan. 26 in Georgetown.
“It seems to be our Achilles' heel at the moment,” said head coach Shemik Thompson after his team fell behind by 15 points at the half and nearly completed a miraculous comeback. “We had five turnovers and one shot in our first six possessions. When we played [Sussex] Tech, we started slow - same thing against Polytech. [Caesar Rodney] jumped out to a 29-point first quarter. Coming out slow is a huge issue for us, and we don’t have enough offensive firepower to do that and come back.”
The Vikings’ malaise continued throughout the first half, with the Knights pushing their lead to 30-15 at the break. Cape looked disorganized on some trips and disinterested on others, coughing up the ball 11 times before intermission and gifting Central all manner of open looks on the other end.
The Vikings shook off the cobwebs in the second half and made a manic fourth-quarter run behind the hot hand of senior wing Ja’Vaughn Burton, who scored 17 points after the break. Cape still trailed by six points with about three minutes left in the final frame, but a transition lay-in from senior guard Nate Sivels and a three-point play by junior forward Zimere Bolden trimmed the deficit to 54-53 at the 41-second mark. Burton had a chance to put his team in front on the Vikings’ next possession, but his contested runner clanged off the rim, and the Knights sealed the deal from there.
Thompson stayed hopeful after the loss, Cape’s first to Sussex Central since 2014.
“We’re doing too much,” he said. “We’re trying to force things instead of being patient. We have a bunch of things to work on, but the bright side is that we have a lot of games to play and can still figure things out.”
Burton finished with a game-high 27 points on 12-for-20 shooting for Cape (1-4, 1-4 Henlopen North), which suffered its fourth consecutive setback. The news wasn’t all bad for the Vikings, as they shot a season-best 48 percent from the floor and outrebounded Central 24-22.
Sivels registered six points and four steals for Cape, which also got four points apiece from sophomore forward Dylan Fannin and junior guard Hank D’Ambrogi.
Senior guard Chase Boyle, a Mariner Middle alum, paced Sussex Central (4-1, 4-1 Henlopen North) with 15 points and six rebounds, while Dontae Spencer and Jeremiah Wilson added nine points each.
Cape hosts 4-1 Dover on Friday, Jan. 29, with the tip scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
