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Central Posts Wire-to-Wire
Win over Cape Henlopen
By DAVID MAULL, Cafe Locale
Since the first day of preseason practice, Sussex Central High School boys' basketball coach Tim Slade has predicted that once his team develops chemistry and adapts to a new system, it would be one of the most dangerous in the Henlopen Conference.
A 49-42 upset of defending conference champion Cape Henlopen Tuesday night, Dec. 23, 1998, in Lewes was a huge step toward making that prophecy a reality.
The victory was Central's second straight after four consecutive losses to open the season and its first over Cape in five years. The Golden Knights led wire-to-wire, building a 15-point first-half lead and thwarting Cape's fourth-quarter comeback attempts.
"This is very sweet, especially (beating) a Top-10 team like Cape and one of the top teams in the conference," Slade said. "People will hopefully take us a little more seriously now."
Central (2-4) dominated with its low-post game, getting 17 points from forward Travis Leonard and 11 from center John Gordy. The Knights also controlled the boards at both ends of the floor, taking advantage of a horrible shooting night by the Vikings.
"The game plan was to take it nice and slow and get the ball in the post and try not to rush anything," Leonard said. "We're starting to get in sync because it's a new team. Everybody is just now playing with each other. We're getting a feel for how each other plays."
Leonard scored just one point in the game's first nine minutes but sprung to life over the final three quarters. Ten of his 17 points game in the second half.
"They were very patient tonight and that was the key to winning," Slade said. "Just get the ball into Travis so he can do his thing."
Central controlled the tempo from the opening tip and led 19-4 less than a minute into the second quarter. Gordy had 10 points during the spurt, mostly on layups and put-backs.
Meanwhile, Cape (2-2) was plagued by a slew of missed shots and a seemingly endless stream of turnovers. It marked the second straight game the Vikings got off to a sluggish start and were strapped with an early double-digit deficit. Against Sussex Tech last Friday, they trailed by 22 in the second quarter before losing 66-58.
"This is a good team. When they finally wake up, we're going to surprise some people," said a frustrated Cape coach Ed Waples. "Right now, we're are own worst enemy. We're just not firing."
Despite twice pulling within nine points at 21-12 and 23-14 in the second quarter, the Vikings were not able to establish an offensive rhythm and went into halftime trailing 29-17.
A layup by Darrell Davis and pair of baskets by Ricky Thompson cut the Central lead to 31-23 with 3:32 left in the third quarter but the Knights responded with an 8-1 run that made it 39-24 heading into the final eight minutes. Despite an improved passing game that produced some open looks at the basket, the Vikings were not able to knock down the big shots.
"My big guys got in (foul) trouble real early," said Waples, who got a combined two points from center Adam Scott and forward Tom Sheehan. "We were in terrible foul trouble coming out of the block and I think that made a big difference."
Trailing 45-32 midway through the fourth quarter, Cape made one final comeback bid. Mark Moore sank a jumper in the lane and Davis scored on a layup and a baseline drive before Thompson was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. He made just one of the ensuing three foul shots, pulling the Vikings within 45-39 with 1:10 to play.
The teams traded misses before Gordy hit one of two free throws to end Central's nearly three-minute scoring drought. Davis, however, answered with a 3-pointer from the baseline that made it 46-42 with 13 seconds remaining. But the Knights put the game away when Robin Stephens sank the first of two free throws and Leonard put back his missed shot at the buzzer.
The victory was Central's first over Cape since a 66-62 win in Lewes on Dec. 23, 1993. Coupled with last Saturday's defeat of Salesianum, it gave Central its first winning streak of the season.
"We're really inexperienced. At the beginning of the season, we had to put so much new stuff in that we didn't get to concentrate on fundamentals as much as I wanted," Slade said. "Now that the guys have played ... that's all we do in practice all the time is fundamentals."
Davis led Cape with 15 points while Thompson finished with 11.
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