Cape boys grow up in 89-81 loss to CR
Just four days removed from a forgettable loss to Polytech, the Cape Henlopen boys’ basketball team showed marked improvement in all phases of the game and put a scare into Henlopen North frontrunners Caesar Rodney before falling 89-81 Jan. 19 in Lewes.
Senior wing Ja’Vaughn Burton continued his torrid start to the 2021 season, matching his career high of 32 points and adding seven rebounds for the Vikings, but his effort wasn’t quite enough to pull Cape out of a 19-point third-quarter hole.
The Riders and Vikings stayed virtually even through the first frame, but CR put together two mammoth runs – 17-0 early in the second quarter and 16-0 midway through the third – to take command.
Point guard Brycen Williams netted 21 points and knocked down three three-pointers to pace the balanced Riders. The senior poured in eight points during his team’s third-quarter surge, taking the air out of the gym with two dagger threes just when Cape looked ready to pounce.
CR also got 17 points and eight rebounds from senior big man Juan Jordan and a 12-point, 10-board night from senior forward Jaelin Joyner. Jordan keyed the Riders’ big second quarter, scoring six unanswered points down low at one point to force a Vikings timeout.
Down double digits most of the night, Cape wouldn’t quit, as the team answered every CR burst with one of its own. Trailing 80-69 with 2:18 left in the fourth period, the resilient Vikings closed the gap to five points on a 25-footer by senior guard Nate Sivels. Caesar Rodney slammed the door soon after, though, thanks to clutch buckets from Joyner and Trey Voshell.
Sivels finished with career highs of 17 points, seven assists and three three-pointers for Cape, while junior sharpshooter Brody Pedersen notched career bests of his own with 17 points and five threes.
Head coach Shemik Thompson saw plenty to like about the Vikings’ effort.
“We definitely played better than we did in our home opener,” Thompson said. “We still have some things to work on – being more consistent in running our sets and being more disciplined. With that said, our turnovers were down, we moved the ball around, and we were more competitive.”
Burton agreed with his coach.
“This was a positive step,” said Burton, who has averaged 31 points and eight rebounds through three games. “We knew they were gonna come in thinking it’d be easy, but we played hard. We dealt with their press and attacked. We have good guards in [Sivels] and Kay’von Jackson who handled [the press] well and got to the hole.”
Jackson scored all seven of his points in the second half for Cape (1-2, 1-2 Henlopen North), while junior forward Zimere Bolden matched his career highs with six points and 11 boards. Sophomore forward Dylan Fannin rounded out the scoring with two points and grabbed eight rebounds.
A few nights after shooting a ghastly 2-for-26 (8 percent) from three-point range against Polytech, the Vikings connected on 11 shots from long range, their most in any game since January 2019. Cape’s 13 turnovers were also a season low.
The Vikings will return to action Friday, Jan. 22, when they travel north to take on Smyrna.
