Home Page

User Pages

Businesses

Chat

Classifieds

Entertainment

Forums

Restaurants

Sports

Weather

---

Barely 10 minutes old, the game had already ceased to be competitive.

Jessica Witherspoon scored 10 points in the first quarter to give the Cape Henlopen High School girls' basketball team a big lead against overmatched Polytech and now opens the second period by twice stealing the ball and racing downcourt for easy layups.

A few minutes later, she converts another steal into a layup, then whips a nifty baseline pass to teammate Brandi Reed, whose basket gives Cape a 32-5 lead.

Witherspoon finishes with 23 points and at least 10 steals in Cape's 62-27 victory and further solidifies her status as one of the rising stars in the Henlopen Conference.

"That's pretty typical for her, even though it was lopsided as far as scoring and we didn't get a chance to run our offense or work on pressure," Cape coach Josette McCullough says afterward.

A member of the varsity team since her freshman year, Witherspoon has stepped forward this season to become the focal point of Cape's offense. The junior leads the team in scoring, rebounding and steals, averaging nearly a triple-double per game.

After scoring nearly 18 points a game on last year's Northern Division championship team, which featured standout seniors Kim Smith and Alexia Waples, Witherspoon has upped her scoring average to 23 points a game in 1998-99.

"This year, we're looking to her more to score. This year, she's more of a go-to as far as rebounds, steals and scoring," McCullough said.

Witherspoon is modest about her accomplishments, preferring instead to focus on Cape's quest to reach the state tournament.

"I think that I've improved but I think that I can do better," she said. "I don't like to talk about myself playing basketball. I don't like to brag."

But her impact has been invaluable to a Cape team that stood at 9-5 in the conference after the Polytech victory last Thursday and harbors hopes of returning to the playoffs. The Vikings were 9-8 overall entering this week.

A center, Witherspoon is a force both underneath the basket and in the open floor. "I guess I'm more aggressive going to the basket," she said. "You want to go to the inside." As a freshman, Witherspoon tried out for Cape's varsity team, which at the time boasted one of the top girls hoops programs in the state. But she walked away unhappy with her performance.

"I had a rough time at tryouts. Tryouts never go good for me," she said. "Deep down inside, I wanted to make varsity."

And she did. Despite what she perceived as a bad tryout, coach Ralph Bayko gave her a spot on the team.

She got significant playing time as a reserve in the 1996-97 season and provided some clutch minutes off the bench in a 58-44 state quarterfinal victory over Padua.

"I was nervous," she said. "It was big. I've never been in a situation like that before."

Witherspoon also got some court time in Cape's 49-42 semifinal loss to St. Mark's at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark a few days later.

She moved into the starting lineup under McCullough the following year and has improved steadily ever since.

Witherspoon plans to attend at least two basketball camps this summer and has become serious about playing in college.

"I've always been serious (about playing) but I've never been serious on improving my performance," she said of her decision to attend the summer camps. "In middle school, it was just for fun. I've always loved basketball."

Witherspoon wants to pursue a career in physical therapy and has already received correspondence from Penn State, Boston University and Monmouth College in New Jersey.

McCullough noted that because of her size, Witherspoon will likely be a guard or forward in college, meaning she should work to improve her shooting and ball-handling skills at the summer camps.

But basketball isn't the only medium in which Witherspoon's excels. She is also a standout in volleyball and track and an A student.

"She a good player. She's a good student," McCullough said. "She's a very well-rounded person and a great person to have on the team."