Cape girls’ basketball caps regular season with win over Knights
The Cape girls’ basketball team ran past the Golden Knights of Sussex Central 62-27 Feb. 13 to end the regular season with a record of 17-3.
The Lady Vikings scored 19 points in the first quarter, making liberal substitutions, missing shots and not pressing the Lady Knights. They took a 28-10 halftime lead into the locker room.
“I thought our first-half play was tragic,” said Cape coach Pat Woods. “I told the team that we were playing badly and we have to pick it up. We can’t play like this. They played hard in the second half.”
And pick it up they did, scoring 28 in the third quarter, finishing the game with a running clock, playing four sophomores and a junior the rest of the way.
Abbey Hearn led all scorers with 27 points to go along with six rebounds, five steals and three assists. Dania Cannon came up one assist short of a triple-double by notching 12 points, 12 steals and nine assists.
Sophomore Mehkia Applewhite scored 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Ella Rishko had four points and four rebounds.
Cape’s substitutes came in a played tough defense on the Golden Knights.
Junior Abigail Ikechi-Konkwo and sophomore Lauryn Head played close defense on the Knights, making a strong contribution to the victory.
“I feel good about my performance tonight,” Head said. “I love playing with these seniors. I love playing in fast motion. If we keep playing together like we did in the second half and keep communicating, we’ll be OK.”
“Our practices are high level and have a lot to do with us being prepared for each game,” Ikechi-Konkwo said. “It’s like we’re playing the No. 1 team in the state every practice and that’s what keeps us playing so hard.”
Sophomore Morgan Mahoney is looking forward to moving on to the conference championship and state tournament.
“It was a rough start tonight,” she said. “The second half we let loose. We just have to continue practicing hard. We are ready. We are definitely ready.”
Central’s Ja’Marah Hopkins led the Golden Knights with 12 points.
The Vikings will face Woodbridge in the Henlopen Conference Championship Friday, Feb. 28, in Dover. It’s a rematch of last year’s championship, when the Vikings defeated the Blue Raiders 56-42.
