Cape wakes up and beats Concord 69-50

Junior forwards Randy Rickards and Ian Robertson both recorded double-doubles as the Cape boys’ basketball team used a late surge to turn back a pesky Concord squad 69-50 Feb. 10 in Lewes. 

The Vikings extended their winning streak to four games courtesy of a 26-4 fourth-quarter run that saw Concord miss 14 straight field goal attempts. Ahead 41-39 with 7:41 left in the fourth, Cape clamped down defensively and held the Raiders without a bucket over the next six-plus minutes of game time. Freshman guard Cory Barnes poured in nine points during the run, including a nifty reverse lay-in and a bull-in-a-China-shop drive for a three-point play that brought the crowd to its feet.

Rickards led all scorers with 13 points on the night, as he also ripped down 10 rebounds and handed out three assists. Robertson owned the paint to the tune of 11 points, 13 boards and three blocks, while Barnes played through the flu and finished with 10 points, five assists, four steals and a pair of blocks.

Cape improved to 12-5 on the season, its best mark through 17 games since 2008-09, while Concord fell to 3-14.

Vikings head coach Steve Re was pleased with his team’s balance.

“When we play the right way, we’re really tough,” said Re, whose squad has won eight of its last nine games. “Everybody contributed tonight - every single person. Concord is a prideful program - they’re always tough. They execute well and they’re better than they looked on the record sheet, so this was a good win.” 

Nine players scored for the Vikings, who shot 45 percent from the floor and connected on 8 of their 19 three-point tries. Cape got nine points on three three-pointers from senior guard Rasheed Woods, who has gone 14-for-27 from long distance since entering the starting lineup Jan. 20. Senior guard Jerry Harden added nine points of his own, tracked down four rebounds, and drained two huge threes with the game in doubt late in the third period. Freshman guard Sh’Kai Chandler added to Cape’s balance off the bench, tallying eight points and ringing the bell twice from downtown. 

The Vikings came out flat in the first half, when they made just nine of their 25 field goal attempts and were victimized by the Raiders’ three-point shooters. Concord off-guard Matthew Arrabal knocked down three shots from deep in the first quarter, and a Joseph McHugh trifecta gave the Raiders a five-point lead late in the second. Woods canned a three-pointer on Cape’s final possession of the half to pull Cape to within two points, 26-24 at intermission. 

Re attributed his team’s lackluster start to fatigue, as the Vikings were still recovering from an intense come-from-behind win at Dover Feb. 7.

“I think that Tuesday night [game] was totally draining,” he said. “We had a chalk session Wednesday and went light [at practice] yesterday. That took a lot out of us not only physically but also emotionally … but we got it together.”

Rickards acknowledged that the Vikings were indeed drained. 

“We’re all exhausted, but we still had no reason to come out flat like that," he said. "We came out in the second half with a lot more energy.” 

Cape found the range in the second half, when it went 15-for-28 from the floor (54 percent), focused on getting to the basket and amped up its energy on both ends. Barnes, Harden and Chandler combined for 27 points in the half after being held scoreless over the first 16 minutes.

Re made a critical tweak to the Vikings’ defensive approach in the second half.

“Pressing with some type of zone press wasn’t gonna work because they’re just too disciplined,” he said. “They kinda cut us up in that, so we just had to man up. We just started going full-court man-to-man and made them work, and that turned the tide.”

McHugh paced Concord with 10 points and 12 rebounds, but he hit just three of his 17 field goal tries. Arrabal chipped in with nine points for the Raiders, who shot 31 percent from the floor on the night and just 23 percent from two-point range. 

Senior forward Robert Mitchell (four points), freshman guard Kris Rushin (three) and junior guard Caleb Jones (two) also scored for Cape. Rushin’s points were the first of his career at the varsity level.  

The Vikings return to action Wednesday, Feb. 15, when they visit Henlopen Conference front-runner Smyrna. The Eagles defeated Cape 54-43 Jan. 6 behind 12 points from 7-foot-1 center Azubuike Nwankwo, but Rickards said the rematch will be “something to see.”