Cape gets schooled by the Warriors
Sanford avenged last season’s loss to Cape Henlopen with a 68-31 drubbing of the Vikings in the teams’ Slam Dunk to the Beach showdown Dec. 27 in Lewes.
Six-foot-nine sophomore big man Nnanna Njoku scored 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting to pace the Warriors, who led for all but 35 seconds and mercy-ruled Cape in its own house. Sanford, with size advantages at every position, dominated down low from the outset and used its length to cripple the Vikings’ offense. Cape shot a woeful 27 percent from the floor and committed 25 turnovers in the defeat, the Vikings’ most lopsided loss in head coach Steve Re’s eight years at the helm.
“I thought we played hard,” Re said. “We just couldn’t match [Sanford’s] size and athleticism ... That’s the same team we beat last year, but you take away two of our [6-foot-6] guys who are now playing college basketball and that’s the difference. We’re a young team, and it’s a step-by-step process for us. The first step is playing hard and trying to play together, which I thought we did tonight.”
Junior forward Devin Harris added eight points and six rebounds for Sanford (2-2, 0-0 Independent), which got whatever it wanted offensively and hit 62 percent of its field goal tries. Junior swingman Jyare Davis, a top 100 prospect nationally, contributed six points and eight boards.
Cape got a career-high 17 points from sophomore forward Ethan Pires, who hit three three-pointers on the night.
“We played hard, but we just got uncomfortable with [Sanford’s] size,” Pires said. “We can play with big teams like this – we just have to stay together.”
Freshman guard Kay’von Allen chipped in with five points for the Vikings.
Cape (3-2, 2-1 Henlopen North) squares off with New Jersey powerhouse Hudson Catholic at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 29.
