Fernandez leads outside shooting barrage as LCM bounces back from CAL playoff defeat with dominating victory

Posted: February 14th 2026

John Fernandez hit five three-pointers and scored 23 points to pace Lower Cape May to a surprisingly lopsided win over Vineland.

By DAVID WEINBERG 

For CapeAtlanticLive.com 

ERMA - The Lower Cape May Regional High School boys basketball team has yet to experience a losing streak this season.

The team has suffered five defeats, but each loss was followed by a convincing victory.

Lower did it again Saturday.

Less than 24 hours after St. Augustine Prep knocked them out of the Cape-Atlantic League tournament in the quarterfinals, the Caper Tigers (20-5) rebounded in impressive fashion with a 72-39 romp over Vineland (19-5).

“Every time we lose, we bounce back,” senior forward John Fernandez said. “That comes from the coaches believing in us and us believing in ourselves.” 

The lopsided margin of victory was surprising, given Vineland is one of the CAL’s top teams this season. The Fighting Clan suffered a hard-fought, 60-55 loss to Middle Township on Friday in another CAL tournament quarterfinal.

Perhaps Vineland was fatigued from having to make another long bus ride to Lower, or maybe it was emotionally drained from the Middle game. Or maybe Lower was just that good Saturday.

Whatever the reason, Lower dominated Saturday almost from the opening tip.

Cole Sederland hit a three-pointer to give Lower a 5-4 lead and the Caper-Tigers never trailed again. 

Lower relied on outside shooting to take command. Sederland’s shot was the first of a season-high 13 three-pointers. Fernandez made five en route to scoring a game-high 23 points. Senior guard Ty Bonner, who finished with 11 points, made three straight from well behind the arc in the second quarter to help the Caper-Tigers grab a 35-17 halftime lead.

We’re a pretty decent shooting team,” Lower coach Scott Holden said. “It’s hard to guard us because everybody can shoot.” 

That ability could come in handy in the upcoming state playoffs.

According to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Cape-Tigers have 29.559 power points, which places them third in South Jersey Group II behind Haddonfield (31.974) and Camden (31.441). Middle Township is fourth with 29.124 power points.

“Being third would (potentially) give us a couple home games,” Holden said. “That would be huge.

“There are some teams out there who would be difficult for us to defend. But they also have to defend us.”

If they shoot like they did Saturday, anything is possible.