Caper Tigers win four of five to take second place in Cape-Atlantic League National Division
WILDWOOD — In their last basketball game of the week, the Caper Tiger boys found themselves in a shootout with Wildwood High School on Jan. 25. The teams combined for 20 three-pointers.
Ty Bonner scored 19 points for Lower Cape May Regional High School (9-7) as the Caper Tigers made 12 three-pointers in a convincing 64-48 win over Wildwood High School (5-9). Bonner led the offense in points in their best shooting performance of the season.
The teams traded shots for the entire first quarter, which saw Wildwood take a small 18-16 lead. Wildwood kept pace with Bonner’s and John Fernandez’s scoring to start the game, but quickly were overwhelmed by the Caper Tigers.
Sophomores Ryan Mallon and Cole Sederland helped bury Wildwood in the second quarter with five combined three-pointers. Lower kept the ball moving and eventually sprung one man open for a look toward the basket.
“We have some pretty good shooters out there, so I am not too surprised we made 10 of them,” Lower head coach Scott Holden said of his team’s strong start from three-point range. “Wildwood started off real strong making their shots but then we started making our shots.”
The barrage of three-pointers helped Lower outscore Wildwood 24-9 in the second quarter for a massive momentum swing.
“The confidence they had when they found the open shots was very big for us,” Holden said. “We put Cole in the game because he is a pretty good shooter, and we were doing things to make sure he got some shots alongside Ty.”
Sederland finished with 15 points, including four three-pointers, while Mallon joined in the shootout with 10 points off three shots from beyond the arc.
After halftime, the Caper Tigers went to work closer to the basket and changed their approach. They made only two more threes the rest of the way, but Bonner attacked the rim more and scored eight of Lower’s 16 points in the third.
The Caper Tiger defense also held strong with senior Mason Cronin’s 14 rebounds, which helped limit Wildwood to only six third-quarter points.
“When we play Wildwood, it has become a nice little rivalry between the two schools over the years,” Holden said. “To come over here it’s like the Army-Navy game where you throw out the records and you don’t know what is going to happen.”
It was Lower’s third consecutive win over Wildwood with the previous two matchups being decided by five points each.
With a little over a week left until the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament, the Caper Tigers improved their record to 9-7. They have won four of their last five games and are finding different ways to win.
The Caper Tigers scored more points in their 65-62 victory over Cedar Creek on Jan. 23, but did not rely on three-pointers as heavily. Lower made only five as a team but had four different double-digit scorers. Bonner helped hold off a comeback attempt from Cedar Creek with a 24-point performance.
Bonner has led the younger Caper Tiger team in points all season long with 260, but it is the next group of players who have stepped up for Lower as of late. Cronin, Mallon and Sederland have all had big games over the last three weeks of the season while Fernandez is second on the team with 171 points.
Before the conference tournament begins, Lower will face off against one of the strongest teams in the league on the road against Atlantic City High School. The Vikings (12-3) will enter the game in first place of the National Division followed by Lower in second place. The game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. Jan. 29.
A couple of days later the Caper Tigers will travel to Barnegat Township and take on Toms River East High School (6-8) on Feb. 1. Finally, the Caper Tigers will return home and face off against Hammonton at 7 p.m. Feb. 3.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Cape May Star and Wave
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Ocean City Sentinel and Cape May Star and Wave staff
