VIDEO: Lawler hits scoring milestone as LCM wins third straight

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – It’s rare for a high school basketball player to reach 1,000 career points as a junior.

It’s rare still in 2022.

Lower Cape May’s Archie Lawler has defied those odds, however, to become his program’s latest player to reach the significant milestone.

Lawler swished a three-pointer from the left baseline in the fourth quarter of a 56-37 win over Cape May Tech Friday evening. He finished with 14 points, the exact total he needed to reach 1,000 entering the game.

Lawler’s feat becomes more impressive considering his team played just 13 games last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Anytime a junior gets to 1,000 points, it’s something special,” Lower coach Scott Holden said. “But for him to get it after the COVID year, that really says something about him as a player. He’s been a really good player for us and he’s only getting better.”

Sophomore Macky Bonner led Lower Cape May with 24 points in the win. Junior Jacob Bey was also in double figures with 15 points.

Dylan Delvecchio, also a career 1,000-point scorer, was sensational in the loss, netting 30 of the Hawks’ 37 points in the final home game of his high school career.

The win was Lower Cape May’s third straight after enduring a stretch in which it had lost eight of nine games. The Tigers (9-17), who also beat Ocean City and Cedar Creek within the past week, seem to be hitting their stride with the South Jersey Group II playoffs set to begin Monday. Lower will play at Haddonfield in the opening round.

Lower and Cape May Tech weren’t originally scheduled to play Friday but the teams added the game at the 11^th hour, giving Lawler a chance to reach the 1,000-point milestone close to home.