Cape basketball lets close game slip away to Milford
The Vikings and Buccaneers battled back and forth for 31 minutes Feb. 4, and game came down to the last few seconds to decide a 38-36 Milford victory.
Both teams started out in a crazed fog where points were hard to come by, as the first stanza ended with Cape holding a narrow 4-3 lead. Milford got in rhythm first, garnering 15 points in the second quarter to take an 18-12 halftime lead.
The Vikings shot just 17% from the field in the first half and turned the ball over 15 times. They outscored the Bucs 24-20 in the second half, shooting 27% from the field, but couldn’t hold a lead in the final minutes.
“We missed so many easy shots in the first quarter,” said Cape coach Steve Re. “And it carried on throughout the game. To get on a run, you have to get into a rhythm. We had no rhythm all night. We had a six- or seven-point lead, and we let it slip away in the important last few minutes of the game. Unfortunate turnovers and bad decision-making. It’s the second game in a row that physicality from the other team bothered us. We didn’t move the ball fast enough; that’s all there is to it. We just didn’t make fast enough decisions.”
The Vikings were led by Jameson Tingle’s 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Damian Robinson put up eight points and 10 rebounds. Junior Braxton Figgs crashed the boards for four rebounds while playing tough under the basket.
“It’s hard to win a game when you can’t hit shots,” said Figgs. “Everyone has off nights. Defensively, if you can hold a good team like Milford to 38 points, I think you can play with anyone. If you can take energy to the offensive side of the game, we should win. We were able to run our offense, but we couldn’t make shots. When you see the ball rim out two, three, four times, it’s hard not to lose confidence. I think we’ll bounce back. A tough loss like this can go both ways. We can either win out like I know we can, or you can struggle. I think we can turn it around.”
The Vikings’ JV defeated the Bucs 32-29 to move to 9-6, while the freshman squad downed the Bucs 61-24 to go 7-3.
Dan has worked for the Cape Gazette for more than 30 years as a photographer and reporter, covering high school sports and happenings around eastern Sussex County. He won a photography award from the National Newspaper Association, and numerous awards from the Maryland, Delaware, D.C. Press Association. A Delaware native, Dan graduated from Cape in 1972 and returned as a teacher and coach in the 1980s. He retired from the classroom in 2016. He was inducted into Cape High’s Legends Stadium in 2016. In his spare time, Dan enjoys spending time with his wife, two sons, grandchildren and dogs.
