By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
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EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Atlantic City High has a proud basketball tradition, but it’s been more than a dozen years since the Vikings have been able to call themselves Cape-Atlantic League champions.
The wait for another title ended on Saturday afternoon at Egg Harbor Township High School, as the No. 5 seeded Vikings fought back from an early 12-1 deficit against Ocean City — a team that beat Atlantic City twice during the regular season. Sophomore Don’Taye Thompson nailed a 3-pointer with 4:22 left that gave the Vikings their first lead of the day, and then with five seconds remaining he hit 1-of-2 from the line to give Atlantic City a 62-61 victory.
Thompson was exactly the guy the Vikings wanted on the free-throw line with the game’s result hanging in the balance. He dropped a career-high 50 points in a semifinal win over top-seeded Middle Township, and finished with a game-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds against No. 2 Ocean City. Thompson hit a pair of threes and went 10-of-15 from the line.
“I knew he was going to make that free throw and get us this trophy,” said 6-foot-6 senior forward X’Clusive Dublin. “That’s greatness right there. This means a lot. We haven’t won in what, like 12 years? It means a lot that we brought it home. I’m proud of everybody on this team, we all fought hard.”
Atlantic City (18-9, 7-5 Cape-Atlantic League American) didn’t even score for the first three minutes and didn’t hit a field goal until there was 4:25 left in the first quarter. By that time the Vikings were down 12-4 as the Red Raiders (20-6, 9-3 CAL American) built an early lead behind some long-range shots by Tighe Olek and Josh Lenko.
But Atlantic City started turning up the heat defensively in the second quarter and got right back into the game. Tamir Rex nailed a 3-pointer to pull the Vikings within 25-17, and by halftime Atlantic City was down by just two points, 29-27.
“We had to turn up the pressure. We saw that their starting point guard (Dean Lappin) was in foul trouble, so we had to attack him and try to get him out of the game. That’s what caused them to put in their secondary guards and we turned up the pressure even more and got back into the game,” said Rex, also a standout on the Atlantic City football team. “When we went into the locker room (at halftime) everybody’s head was held up high, our chins were up. We felt good and we stayed together.”
“For the past three years we just haven’t been able to get over the hump, whatever it is. We’d lose in the semifinals, we got kicked out of states one year (after an altercation against Mainland). But these kids are resilient. They show up every day. We had a patch during the season where we struggled a lot, but they kept showing up trying to get better. We found our stride — and these kids’ will power is just amazing,” said Atlantic City coach Wayne Nelson. “We figured if we could speed them up it would suit up. We couldn’t sit back and (let them play their style). We had to play our style, and that’s the way we approached the game. They came out and got a 10-0 lead and my kids were a little shellshocked, you might say. But we were like, yo, let’s get back to what we do. Let’s speed them up, and that’s how we were able to get back into the game.”
Ocean City did enough to maintain its lead heading into the fourth quarter, and built it to 47-43 early in the fourth on a driving layup by Lappin, but then Atlantic City surged. Rex fed Thompson off a steal, and moments later Thompson went 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game at 47. It was back and forth down the stretch until a putback from Jalil Daniels gave Atlantic City the lead for good at 53-51 with a little more than three minutes to play.
“We were slacking the first half, but in the second half we were getting rebounds and getting it back out to the guards, that’s our job,” said Dublin, who finished with four points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. “We came back against good teams (earlier in the year), so we knew it was going to be a grind. In the second half, we came out strong.”
“X’Clusive Dublin — I’ve been on him all year, I really have, and he’s been responding down the stretch and he was huge with his rebounding in the fourth quarter. It’s clicking when it’s supposed to, and that’s a beautiful thing,” Nelson said.
Atlantic City players, and coach Nelson, said they felt like they had a duty to get Atlantic City back to playing championship basketball.
“The standard in Atlantic City is to hang a banner,” Nelson said. “This is a game we have not been a part of in a long time, so to get back and win it means a lot to my kids.”
“This means a lot to us. When the Class of 2026 (current seniors) came in, to the city, we weren’t that good, but we brought the program back to where it needs to be — on top of the mountain. We believed the whole time. Since us and (last year’s seniors) were in high school together, we felt like we could get it back to where we needed to be,” Rex added. “For me, this means a whole lot. Every year I’ve been here we’ve either been in the game before the championship or the sectional championship in football. It means a lot to me that we finally got the job done. It feels amazing. I was about to cry, but it’s only tears of joy.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Atlantic City hosts Southern Regional on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the opening round of the state playoffs. Ocean City hosts Hammonton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the state playoffs.
