Cape Henlopen’s Ian Robertson banks in a reverse layup against Appoquinimink on Tuesday night at Slam Dunk to the Beach.
LEWES – Cape Henlopen appeared to be cruising to its first Slam Dunk to the Beach win since the showcase returned to the Vikings’ home floor two years ago.
The Vikings held an 11-point lead with 2:22 to play, but didn’t score again. Appoquinimink took full advantage, reeling off the last 12 points to win 62-61 on Tuesday night in the final game of the three-day, 18-game marathon.
“We talked about character, we talked about playing hard the whole game, we talked about rebounding,” elated Appo coach Steve Wright said. “We talked about doing all the small things, back to the basics. Those are the things that won the game.”
The Jaguars (4-3) did everything right at the end. But Cape coach Stephen Re wasn’t discouraged, even though his team fell to 4-4.
“I’m disappointed,” Re said. “I wouldn’t say frustrated on any level. From a mental point of view and an effort level, everything that we’ve been working on and stressing, we fixed it. We played at a very, very high level tonight.”
The Vikings led most of the way, but it was close through much of the first half. Randy Rickards (15 points, 13 rebounds) scored on back-to-back offensive rebounds and 5-foot-7 Demetrius Price (10 points, 10 rebounds) hit a reverse layup in a 6-0 surge as Cape stretched its lead to 35-28 with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
Mount Pleasant dominates St. E at Slam Dunk
Ursuline falls just short in semifinals matchup
Appo couldn’t respond, and two free throws by Ian Robertson (19 points) and another putback by Rickards pushed Cape’s advantage to 61-50 with 2:22 to play.
Then, everything changed.
“Defense, intensity and rebounding,” said Myles Cale, who led Appo with 23 points and seven rebounds. “In the first three quarters, we were not rebounding at all. We were out of it. That really woke us up.”
The Jaguars started hitting on all cylinders, making their last three shots from the field and their last eight foul shots. Kyree Perkins dropped two free throws, and Cale hit a layup off a turnover and added two more free throws to cut the deficit to 61-56 with 1:17 to play.
“We started just believing, going to the rack,” Wright said. “Nobody shot a 3 the whole time. We won the game by stopping the clock, shooting free throws, doing what we’re supposed to do.”
After Cape missed the front end of a one-and-one, Appo’s Keith Deloatch drove for a layup. The Jaguars forced another turnover, and Cale made two free throws to pull his team within 61-60 with 38.1 seconds left.
The Vikings missed two foul shots with 28.3 seconds remaining, and Appo called timeout with 18.1 to go. Assistant coach Eddie Chavis devised an inbounds play, and Cale cut inside to bank in an easy layup for a 62-61 lead with 7 seconds to go.
“Coach drew that up on the board,” Cale said. “We didn’t know it was going to be that open, though. We’ll take that.”
The Vikings missed a 15-foot jumper with 2 seconds left, and Appo held on to complete the miraculous comeback.
“We lost the game literally in the last 1:30 because of our inability to finish the game, converting missed layups and free throws,” Re said. “… Obviously, we let Cale loose on the inbound play when we should have been switching. We had opportunities, we just didn’t make them.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: BradMyersTNJ