Vikings put scare into Dover in 71-62 defeat

The Cape Henlopen boys’ basketball team came within a few possessions of upsetting Henlopen North frontrunner Dover in the squads’ Feb. 18 matchup, falling 71-62 despite a game-high 19 points and five three-pointers from Brody Pedersen.

Pedersen’s right wrist was a flamethrower early on, as the sweet-shooting senior drilled three 25-footers in the first quarter to keep the Vikings within five points. The Senators used their superior size and bruising physicality to widen the gap as the first half wound down, corralling bunches of offensive rebounds and hitting one easy put-back after another. Dover also piled up points in transition, taking every opportunity to fire long passes downcourt and beat the retreating Cape defense.

The Senators led 41-31 at intermission and 55-42 with 0:50 left in the third period, but the Vikings rallied in the waning minutes. Junior guard Drew Zimmerman closed the third by scoring five points in a 10-second span, as he canned a three, made a steal, and converted on the fast break. After senior wing Zimere Bolden and junior big man Odin Potemski began the fourth with buckets in the paint, Pedersen struck again from NBA range to pull Cape to within three at 57-54.

Sophomore guard Tyrone Tolson answered loudly for Dover, getting to the hole on consecutive trips for a lay-in and an old-fashioned three-point play to stamp out the Vikings’ momentum. Up 62-56 with four minutes on the clock, the Senators made enough plays down the stretch to seal the win.

Bolden established a new career scoring high for the second time in as many nights, pouring in 15 points to go with four steals and two assists. He scored 14 in a loss at Appoquinimink Feb. 17. Zimmerman connected on two three-pointers on the way to 14 points, adding six boards, three assists and two steals. Potemski (four points, seven rebounds) and junior forward Dylan Fannin (five points, five boards) contributed valuable minutes as well.

For the second game in a row, the Vikings were undone by the extra possessions they surrendered. Cape allowed the Senators to collect 19 offensive rebounds and committed 14 turnovers, six of them in the all-important fourth quarter.

Head coach Shemik Thompson praised Dover for its bang-bang transition play.

“Dover does an excellent job of getting the ball down the floor quick,” he said. “Once they get the board, they’re not even really looking to see who’s [downcourt]. The ball’s just gone, and we’re trying to play in front of it instead of behind it. When we slowed them down and made them run half-court sets, we were fine.”

Thompson expected a better showing from his team on the glass.

“We just didn’t get enough rebounds,” Thompson said. “We gotta be tougher. Dover’s a good team, but they’re not good enough that they should beat our box-outs every single time. We’re not boxing out, and that’s giving a bigger, more athletic team more opportunities to do what they do well.”

The Vikings dropped an 80-48 decision at Appoquinimink Feb. 17. Bolden (14 points), Zimmerman (11), and reserve guard Trey Leggins (10) reached double figures in the scoring column. Cape trailed by double digits early and could never recover, as they shot just 30 percent from the floor and gave up 24 offensive rebounds.