Up by only a trey at the break, Lower Cape May Regional gets hot late to top Wildwood
ERMA — What started out as a tight boys basketball game between the Caper Tigers and Wildwood Warriors on Jan. 24 ended as a blowout.
Wildwood High School’s team had the edge in the first quarter, 13-10, then Lower Cape May Regional High School’s boys evened the score in the second and went into the half up by a few, 25-22.
In a third quarter that surprised LCMR coach Scott Holden, his offense and defense caught fire, scoring 19 points and holding Wildwood to 6 on the way to an eventual 60-39 victory.
The coach said the difference between the halves was simple: “We made shots.
“We weren’t making shots in the first half. I feel like we were getting a lot of wide-open threes in the first half, we just weren’t hitting them. In the second half, we were,” Holden said.
“I did not think we would have this type of victory today. I thought it would be a tight game,” he added. I have a ton of respect for the coaches at Wildwood and Wildwood’s been playing really well lately.”
Holden said he wore his gear for an Army-Navy game because he thought it would be the type of game in which you throw away the teams’ records, expecting a battle that could go either way.
LCMR improved to 12-3 with the win and Wildwood fell to 7-8, but had lost only two of its previous five games.
The Caper Tigers have been on a 8-1 tear since falling to St. James (Md.) in the Boardwalk Basketball Classic on New Year’s Eve. The only loss since then was a narrow one, 37-36 to Millville on Jan. 16.
Holden said it was a team effort that led to the win Saturday.
“All of them played their roles today,” he said.
With a good bit of the season to go, the coach said his team needs to get better.
“We’re still working on things that we need to improve upon. Some games we don’t bring it with the rebounding and we’re too small not to,” Holden said.
Four Caper Tiger players scored in double digits with Ryan Mallon leading all scorers with 16 points. John Fernandez netted 15, Ty Bonner added 11 and Cole Sederland 10 to go with his team-leading six rebounds.
LCMR’s Joe Wareham had 4 points, Gavin Ridgway 3 and Jadon Henry 1.
Trevor Troiano scored 11 to lead Wildwood with Owen Bannon adding 9 and Nolan Mawhinney 8.
“I think we definitely picked up our intensity, our pressure,” Bonner, one of three seniors on the team with Fernandez and Brady Ebel, said of Saturday’s game. “We came out hot (in the second half) and we didn’t look back.”
“I think we’re playing great, but there are definitely offensively plays we need to correct. If we get that better, we’re hard to guard,” he added. Bonner led his team with 4 steals and 7 assists.
With a lot of basketball left this season, Bonner added what he would like is a Cape-Atlantic League Championship.
After the weekend, the Caper Tigers were third in the National Division behind Cedar Creek (10-4, 7-1) and Millville (10-5, 7-1). LCMR is 6-1 in division play.
Middle Township (8-6, 7-0) leads the American Division with Ocean City second (12-3, 6-2) and Vineland (13-1, 7-1) is atop the United Division with Holy Spirit (11-5, 6-1) second.
The LCMR boys were supposed to face Egg Harbor Township High School on Monday, but the winter weather closed schools. They are scheduled for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday at Absegami High School and to be home at 7 p.m. Friday against Bridgeton (8-6).
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
