Cape Elizabeth scored just one point in the fourth quarter but still managed to knock off Waynflete, 46-38, in a Western Maine Conference boys’ basketball game on Wednesday.
The Capers (3-1) entered the fourth quarter with a 45-33 lead. They then went into a bit of a stall with long possessions, passing the ball around the perimeter to limit possessions for Waynflete.
“A lot of those possessions, (Cape Eizabeth) might have held the ball for 45 seconds but then they would throw it away, and we were doing the same thing,” said Waynflete Coach Rich Henry.
Cape Elizabeth had five turnovers in the fourth quarter, but Waynflete was unable to take advantage and also turned the ball over on many of its limited opportunities.
“(Waynflete) ran out of time. It’s not very often you have more turnovers in a period than points and win a game. That’s been an Achilles’ heel for us so far,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Jim Ray.
The Capers didn’t score in the fourth quarter until Finn Bowe connected on a free throw with 26.2 seconds remaining. That ended a scoreless streak of eight minutes, 42 seconds for Cape Elizabeth.
“(Waynflete) is a good team. Nice, young team. Tough kids, played hard, they’re very well coached. Rich (Henry) does a great job. They’re going to win a lot of games,” said Ray.
Bowe led the Capers with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and also chipped in with five assists.
“I was trying to do anything I (could) to help the team win. Usually I can score a little bit but it’s big when I can help on the glass and distribute to other people,” said Bowe.
Waynflete (3-2) cut the deficit to seven with 1:17 left when a basket by Asker Hussein made it 45-38, but the Flyers were unable to gain momentum.
They were held scoreless the rest of the way.
“We have a tendency, and it’s easy to do because (Hussein is) a great player, to stand around and watch. We can’t do that,” said Henry.
Hussein led the Flyers with 18 points, but was held to just five in the second half. The Capers changed their defensive strategy against the sophomore, keeping senior David Hare keyed on Hussein, and the adjustment was successful.
“David Hare is tougher than a bag of rocks. He knows that, I tell him all the time. He made a great effort on (Hussein),” said Ray.
Along with the solid defense, Hare scored six points on a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Cape Elizabeth led 13-11 after one quarter. The teams then combined to score 35 points in the second quarter and went into halftime with Cape Elizabeth holding a 32-27 advantage.
The Capers gained control of the game in the third, thanks in large part to defensive adjustments, outscoring the Flyers 13-6.
Both sides struggled from the line, especially Waynflete which made just 4 of 14 attempts.
“I would suspect we focus more when we shoot free throws tomorrow (in practice),” said Henry.
The Capers made just 4 of 8 attempts from the line.
“Good for my guys for surviving. Hopefully we learned a lot from it,” said Ray.
Junior forward Tanner Carpenter had five points and 10 rebounds for Cape.
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