Coronavirus Kills Cape’s Chances as Champs

Megan Smith '23 - Editor

For the first time since 2011, CHHS Girl’s Basketball program advanced to the semifinals of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) state tournament. And now the final games of the 2020 season are cancelled due to COVID-19. The Lady Vikings achieved a remarkable 17-3 record for the 2019-2020 season— only losing to Archbishop John Carroll High School, American Heritage School, and St. Mary’s High School. Cape consistently dominated its opponents throughout the regular season, normally beating teams by 30 to 40 points per game. The most climactic moment of the regular season was when the Vikings defeated top-ranked Conrad School of Sciences Red Wolves 58-53 on January 31st.

“This was huge for us because they were ranked #1 coming in and we had to prove to everyone in the state that a downstate team could beat an upstate team,” said senior Abbey Hearn. “Not many people or reporters respect downstate girls basketball so being able to knock off the top ranked team proved we belonged.”

After transferring from Sussex Academy to play with the Lady Vikings for her junior season last year, Abbey has not only contributed to this Cape team as a regular leading point scorer but additionally as a leader. Last year, Abbey was named MVP and First Team All Northern Division Henlopen All Conference, and she was named First Team All Conference again this season. She is committed to play Division II collegiate women’s basketball at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

When the Henlopen Conference Championship arrived, the Lady Vikings came in off of a 14-game winning streak, beating Sussex Central High School by 35 points the week prior. It was undoubtedly a shock to most when this group of girls lost to the Woodbridge Blue Raiders 48-40. Second Team All Conference sophomore Mehkia Applewhite reflected on the loss, “We just knew we were going to blow them out, but they came ready to play, and we didn’t. But it was a lesson that needed to be learned, especially to help further us as a team, and realize that we can’t always be that confident.”

By the time the regular season and conference games had come to a close, many anticipated the Cape girls’ basketball team to make their mark on the 2020 DIAA Girls Basketball Tournament. They claimed a first round bye as the second seed in the tournament, behind top-seeded Conrad, which also seized a bye. The Vikings got off to a hot start in their own gym, prevailing over the Charter School of Wilmington 61-40 in the DIAA second round contest. In the quarterfinals, Cape bested Tatnall School by a commanding score of 56-21, again on their home court in Lewes, allowing them to compete in the semifinal round.

An unprecedented announcement occurred soon after the quarterfinals, declaring that the DIAA semifinals are still scheduled to take place at the Bob Carpenter Center on March 11, but without any spectators due to the coronavirus outbreak. Then, amid safety concerns from the University of Delaware, the DIAA decided that games would be played on March 12 and the championship would be held the following Saturday, but with only two family members per player; Sanford High School was set to play at Cape Henlopen High School and St. Elizabeth would play at Conrad. After much more thought, it was released that these semifinal games would be played without any fans in the stands.

As the number of cases increased nationally, the DIAA unfortunately chose to completely cancel the entire remainder of the tournament. “We had just got done practice in the huddle when our coach got the call. The whole team was devastated,” said senior Dania Cannon. She was named First Team All Conference for the past two seasons and plans to bring her talent to Delaware State University to continue playing basketball at the Division I level. “I just remembered looking on social media and everyone’s seasons ended. I tried to look at it in a positive way.”

The Cape Henlopen High School Girls Basketball program was the first to be affected by the Coronavirus in the Cape Henlopen School District, but it was most certainly not the last. As the pandemic continues to spread and influence the lives of countless others, athletes must not worry for the present, but rather await and prepare for the seasons to come.