Balanced Vikings bounce Delcastle, 67-51
The Cape Henlopen boys’ basketball team won its fifth straight game and improved to 6-0 on the road this season with a 67-51 demolition of Delcastle Jan. 16 in Wilmington.
Fresh off a 74-51 drubbing of defending state champs Smyrna four nights earlier, the Vikings avoided a letdown thanks to 18 points and six rebounds from senior forward Randy Rickards and a 15-point, eight-rebound outing by senior forward Ian Robertson.
Cape broke open a close game with an 18-4 second-quarter run, highlighted by six points from sophomore guard Skylar Johnson and a buzzer-beating dunk from Rickards. Delcastle never closed the gap to single digits, as the Vikings (9-2, 5-1 Henlopen North) coasted through the second half and finished their four-game road trip unbeaten.
Johnson scored all of his career-high 13 points in the first half, wowing the crowd with a pair of three-pointers and a nifty reverse layup at an impossible angle. He added eight rebounds and three steals on the night.
Senior guard Izaiah Dadzie contributed 11 points and drilled three three-pointers, while sophomore guard Sh’Kai Chandler tallied six points and two assists. Sophomore guard Kris Rushin and junior forward Anthony Smith closed the scorebook with two points apiece.
After a woeful 6-for-24 start from the floor against the long, athletic Cougars, the Vikings found the range and hit nine of their next 10 shots to create separation. Cape shot a solid 44 percent from the field overall.
The Vikings valued every possession, committing just nine turnovers, while Delcastle lacked a true point guard and coughed the ball up 19 times.
Cape head coach Steve Re wasn’t all that enthused with the Vikings’ effort, particularly early on.
“We showed a lack of maturity at times tonight,” Re said. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get it together from the onset, but we did get it together. When you’re dealing with a lot of younger players, you’re going to have those bumps in the road. Hopefully we learn from this.”
Re wasn’t all doom and gloom, though.
“We didn’t play our best and still came away with a big win,” he said. “Once we started following the details of the game plan, we really took over the game. Izaiah was great tonight keeping us level. Jack [Dennis] brought great energy off the bench when we sorely needed it. Skylar continues to get better and better, and so does Kris. Jack and Kris tonight really flipped the switch for us.”
Robertson noted a lack of pep from his team in the early going, but said the Vikings righted the ship quickly.
“It was a hard game to get into after [the Smyrna game],” he said. “This was low-energy compared to that one. [Delcastle] are really long on defense, which made it weird trying to get lay-ups. They were blocking a lot of stuff. The first quarter was a little shaky, but once we got settled in, we were fine.”
Rickards saw plenty of positives, too.
“We put up a lot of points tonight against a tough defense, and that shows everybody that we can score against anyone,” he said.
Senior guard Darien Spurlock led the Cougars (4-6, 2-0 Blue Hen A) with 16 points and four three-pointers, while junior forward Kimoni Biuwovwi added 15 points, and 6-foot-8 sophomore Odunayo Ogunbo swatted away seven shots.
