VIDEO: Sophomore’s performance for the ages leads to Viking upset of top-seeded Middle Township

Posted: February 17th 2026

Don'Taye Thompson poured in 50 points to lead Atlantic City past Middle Township in a CAL semifinal game Tuesday.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

ATLANTIC CITY – Don’Taye Thompson looked like he was shooting at a soccer net Tuesday evening.

The sophomore guard poured in an incredible 50 points to lead the Atlantic City High School boys basketball team to a 78-72 upset victory over Middle Township in the Cape-Atlantic League playoff tournament semifinal round.

“I’ve been saying it all year, even since last year, the kid is special,” Atlantic City coach Wayne Nelson said. “He steps up in big-time moments. He thrives in these kinds of games. This is what you can get from him.”

Thompson scored almost equally in each half, netting 24 points before intermission and 26 after it. He had 15 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Thompson made eight three-pointers for the game, many of which came from a few feet behind the arc.

“Once I get in that zone, after I get one in or two in or three in, I just get going and I’m not going to stop shooting,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s 50 points were not a CAL Tournament record, however. Vineland’s Jason Lawson scored 60 points in an early-round win over Cape May Tech last season.

Atlantic City (17-9), the fifth seed in the tournament, took an 11-point lead at the break before scoring the first basket of the second half to extend its lead to 13 points. But Middle rallied ferociously a couple of times to make the game close in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers appeared on the verge of cutting their deficit to two points with less than three minutes remaining but missed two layups before Atlantic City rebounded and passed ahead to Thompson, who threw down a one-handed dunk to take his team’s lead to six points. Middle got no closer than five points the rest of the way.

The win was Atlantic City’s first in three tries against Middle this season. The Panthers had won both regular-season contests rather comfortably.

“They beat us twice, so we took that as a challenge,” Thompson said. “We came out hard and got the ‘W.’”

The Vikings will face Ocean City in the CAL title game Saturday at noon at Egg Harbor Township High School. Ocean City was a 46-42 winner over St. Augustine in the other semifinal. 

It will be the Vikings’ first appearance in the CAL title game in eight seasons. Atlantic City had lost in the semifinal round in each of the past three seasons. 

“I feel like we’ve been playing well the last four or five games and it carried over to this one,” Nelson said. “We had a game plan and we stuck to it. This (semifinal) game has been haunting us the last three years … but now we got over the hump. It feels good but the job’s not finished. We want to finish the job.”

Top-seeded Middle (14-10) lost despite some heroic efforts. Alex Daniel pumped in 27 points and claimed eight rebounds, Mason Murawski sank three three-pointers and scored 19 points and Chase Moore tallied 16 points, eight assists and three steals.

None of that, however, was enough to overcome a performance for the ages by Don’Taye Thompson.

He hopes he and his team can repeat their Tuesday performance on Saturday against Ocean City.

“We have to come to play and give it our all and try to bring it home,” Thompson said.