Sussex Tech’s Reinacher beats Cape boys on four-point play
Senior guard Erik Reinacher sank a 24-foot, buzzer-beating three-pointer while being fouled and converted the free throw with zeros on the clock to give Sussex Tech a wild 55-54 win over host Cape Henlopen in boys’ basketball action Jan. 11 in Lewes. The win snapped the Ravens’ 20-game losing streak.
Cape led 50-39 when senior guard Brody Pedersen canned a corner three with 4:03 left in the fourth quarter, seemingly putting the game out of reach for the underdog Ravens. Tech had other ideas, staging a remarkable comeback by going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc over the final three minutes.
Sophomore wing Isaiah Ayers began the barrage with a pair of long-balls on consecutive possessions. Junior guard Jamaal Jones kept it going with another bomb, cutting the deficit to 52-49 with 1:32 remaining. After a turnover from the Vikings – their third during the run – junior forward Jameel Watson netted a mid-range jumper to close the gap to one. Cape’s Drew Zimmerman then hit two clutch free throws to extend his team’s lead back to three, setting up a final sequence for the ages.
Tech looked lost on its final trip down the floor, as the Ravens played hot potato and nobody seemed willing to hoist the final shot. Coach Damon Ayers frantically called a timeout with 3.7 ticks left, allowing Tech to set up a sideline in-bounds play. After two quick passes, the ball found Reinacher, who threw up an off-balance rainbow from the left wing that swished through just as the final horn sounded. Cape senior forward Zimere Bolden was whistled for contacting Reinacher on his follow-through, sending the senior guard to the free-throw line with the game on his fingertips. Reinacher buried the free throw to silence a roaring student section, ending a 20-game Sussex Tech losing streak that dated back to pre-COVID times.
The Ravens had connected on just three of their 14 three-point tries prior to their game-winning 16-4 run.
Reinacher’s heroics overshadowed a standout performance from Zimmerman, who scored a career-high 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting and kept Cape afloat with one timely bucket after another.
“This was a tough one to take,” said Zimmerman, who added six rebounds, five steals and three assists. “We gotta play hard from the jump ‘til the clock hits zero no matter who the [opponent] is.”
The Vikings couldn’t buy a basket early on, allowing Tech to take a 12-5 lead a minute into the second frame. Zimmerman responded by pouring in 10 points over the next 2:32, highlighted by a deep three. His double-clutching lay-in “and one” gave Cape its first lead of the night at 17-15.
Zimmerman enjoyed a similar spurt early in the fourth, scoring six unanswered points in a 41-second span to put the Vikings ahead 45-37.
Cape head coach Shemik Thompson sounded stunned after the last-second defeat.
“This is what we get when we don’t come ready to play,” Thompson said. “No intensity at all in the first half. Up 11 with four [minutes] to go, and we had no sense of time and score. We took three ill-advised shots and turned it over twice [in the closing minutes]. We just didn’t execute at all. We had so many chances to run the clock down – all we had to do was run our offense. We weren’t focused today.”
The Vikings (2-3, 2-2 Henlopen North) got 11 points and a pair of three-pointers from senior guard Kay’von Jackson, while junior forward Dylan Fannin added eight points, five boards and two threes of his own. Bolden (four points, five rebounds and five assists) and junior guard Ronnie Lofland (four points, three steals) also left their marks on the game.
Jones finished with 15 points to pace Sussex Tech (1-4, 1-2 Henlopen North), which also got 12 from Ayers. Reinacher, meanwhile, scored all four of his points in the final tenth of a second.
Tech outgunned Cape from the floor, hitting 42 percent of its shots to the Vikings’ 37 percent. The Ravens survived a 20-turnover night by connecting on seven three-pointers and grabbing 13 offensive rebounds.
Cape visits Polytech Thursday, Jan. 13, with the opening tip set for 7 p.m.
