Cape’s JV achieves perfection with 17-0 season
A Cape girls’ basketball program has clinched an undefeated season for the second time in less than a week. The JV team at Cape Henlopen defeated Padua Academy 43-34 in its final game of the season Feb. 22 and a previously unbeaten Caravel Academy squad 30-28 the night before.
“It took a ton of hard work to go undefeated,” said Cape coach Noelle Alicea. “This was an interesting season. We had a lot of girls swinging back and forth from varsity and JV. It takes a toll on the girls that are swinging, and it takes a toll on the girls that are specifically JV or varsity. With that, everybody kind of buckled down and focused. We learned different plays, and we learned some of the same plays. So it required a lot of attention, a lot of focus and a lot of hard work. Day in, day out, they came in and gave it their all.”
One of the swing players, freshman Amara Fruchtman, said she has enjoyed the success of the JV team.
“It’s just fun to play with the JV. It’s such a good environment,” Fruchtman said.
Before they could claim perfection, the Vikings needed to upend Ursuline Academy for the third time this season, topple a previously unbeaten Caravel Academy squad and take down a 15-win Padua team.
“The whole purpose of JV is to improve and get better,” Alicea said. “To know going into the last week of the season that you’re gonna play the three toughest teams is an honor and a privilege. That’s something you don’t always get, so I told them to buckle in, it’s going to be a hard week, but you’ve worked hard. You deserve it, but you need to lay it all out there.”
Maya Yngve and Sydney Whetzel led the way for Cape in their showdown against Ursuline. Scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively, the girls pulled away from a tie at the half to win the first game of the week 38-25.
“We all like to support each other, and everyone’s friends with everybody. It’s just good vibes and I love playing with them,” Fruchtman said.
Playing without Fruchtman, Yngve and Whetzel scored eight points each in the Vikings' come-from-behind 30-28 victory over Caravel. This time, Jurnee White led Cape in scoring with 11 points, connecting three times from deep.
“Maya Yngve and Jurnee White were two girls we expected to come out and help us this year just like they did last year,” Alicea said. “Maya is a wonderful shooter, always throwing up three-pointers and crushing it. Jurnee is always attacking the basket and scoring. This year, we also had Harper Mamele inside. She is a freshman and she played in the post this year. We’re hoping to see what she can do on varsity later on. I think the biggest player I was most impressed with was Sydney Whetzel. Sydney is a force to be reckoned with, as she is hustling every single play and for every single rebound. She was the grit that brought this team to 17-0,”
In the finale against Padua, White topped her team in points again with 11, adding six rebounds, two assists and a steal to the stat sheet. Yngve connected twice from deep on her way to 10 points, tying Fruchtman for second on the team. Yngve registered five rebounds, four assists and two steals as well. Whetzel led the team in rebounds with 16, nine of them offensive. Harper Mamele tied Fruchtman and White for second on the team with six boards but led the team in steals with six and had three blocks on the defensive end.
Padua kept things close until the third quarter, but the Vikings' relentless press led to easy buckets and the pair of threes from Yngve. The 43-34 victory was helped in large part by 23 offensive rebounds and 13 steals.
“It feels like a relief, especially since it was really scary going into some of these games,” Fruchtman said. “This one was one of the more intense games, and it’s a relief to know all our hard work paid off.”
