Cape boys' basketball beats Polytech Panthers  73-59

The Walmart greeter said, “See you later!”  Austin Brooks, his hand extended, is the first guy players meet when they exit the court for a little bench time. He is a popular player among his peers.

At Cape’s New Little Big House Dec. 17, Brooks saw first-half action, and the lefty buried his mid-range jumper, igniting the crowd. Brooks was on the court when the game ended, hitting his “Sweet J” to seal the deal for a 73-59 win over the Polytech Panthers. The crowd exploded.

Cape improved to 3-1 on the season and coach Steve Re admitted, ”I looked at our first four games of Sussex Tech, Smyrna, Milford and Polytech and knew coming out, our record could have been any combination adding up to four, so 3-1 is pretty good. I wish we could have gotten Milford. I hear they gave up a 20-point lead at CR and lost.”

Cape’s leading scorer Tyreik Burton, saddled with three early fouls, watched most of the first half from the bench, but the sprinter hit the track running in the second half and finished the game with a personal best 31 points, which included four 3-point goals.

Jon Jon Warren, who had a put-back slam on an offensive rebound in the first half, finished the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds, his second consecutive double-double.

And Solomon “Yum Yum” Cox had his best game as a Viking, scoring 11 points and pulling down five rebounds.

“We are a different team when Solomon plays like that," Re said. “He has been pressing a little too much; heck, he’s related to half the people in the gym.”

Polytech fell to 0-4 on the season. They were paced by Juwan Gray with 16 and Devaughn Mallory with 10.

Cape plays at Arundel High School Friday, Dec. 20, then at the Wicomico Civic Center in the Governor's Challenge Dec. 26 and 28.

“We play Edmonson and City College, two teams that combined for over 40 wins last year," Re said.  Merry Christmas.