Cape boys clobber Sussex Central 76-33

Senior forward Ian Robertson scored 20 points and hit three three-pointers to lead the Cape Henlopen boys’ basketball team to its sixth straight win, a 75-33 cakewalk over Sussex Central Jan. 19 in Lewes.

The Vikings (10-2, 6-1 Henlopen North) also got 17 points and five rebounds from senior forward Randy Rickards, while sophomore wing Sh’Kai Chandler matched his career high with 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting and knocked down a pair of threes. Cape connected on an absurd 65 percent of its field goal tries against the undersized, overmatched Golden Knights and limited Central (2-8, 1-7 Henlopen North) to 28 percent shooting.

Victory was never in doubt for the Vikings, who jumped out to an 18-5 lead on a thunderous Rickards dunk seven minutes into the first quarter and never let Central see the light of day. Cape extended its advantage to 35-11 when Chandler and Robertson hit back-to-back bombs midway through the second period. The lead swelled to 45-18 at halftime and 72-26 after the third frame, during which Chandler lit up Central for nine points in a four-minute stretch. Coach Steve Re pulled his starters late in the third, and the “mercy rule” running clock was put into play for the final eight minutes.

Sophomore guard Skylar Johnson stayed red-hot on the offensive end for the Vikings, scoring eight points and hitting four of his five field goals. Johnson has averaged 10.7 points on 58 percent shooting in his last three games. Junior forward Jack Dennis came off the bench to deliver season highs of seven points and five rebounds, electrifying the home crowd with a baseline dunk in the second quarter. Cape also got four points, three assists and four steals from sophomore guard Kris Rushin, and a three-point, five-board night from sophomore swingman Jo Jo Kirby. Senior guard Izaiah Dadzie closed the Vikings’ scorebook with one point.

Re was all smiles after the win, the Vikings’ eighth in a row over the Knights.

“They did what they were supposed to do,” said Re, whose team is off to its best start through 12 games since the 2008-09 campaign. “I was impressed with the rotation guys coming into the game and playing with really good pace and energy. That was a great experience for those guys to get a lot of minutes.”

Robertson liked the way his team asserted itself from the opening tip.  

“We came out strong,” Robertson said. “We didn’t come out so strong in the last game against Delcastle, but we came out with the right energy tonight and just took it to [Central] the whole game.”

Cape took care of the ball, committing just nine turnovers for the second straight game. The Vikings also impressed with their ball movement, as they tallied 18 assists on their 28 field goals.

Junior guard Ryhlee Matthews scored 10 points to pace the Knights.

Cape will return to action Thursday, Jan. 25, when it hosts 8-4 Indian River.