THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503090197
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
One of the most dominating basketball teams in the area put on another show last week. The Manteo High School JV boys basketball team won the Northeastern Conference JV Tournament with a 67-56 win over Plymouth and upped its record to a staggering 42-7 over the last two years.
The win was especially gratifying for the Redskins having lost to Plymouth twice during the regular season.
The Manteo JV's opened the season 11-0, then ran into the Plymouth buzzsaw.
``We were in a slump when we played them,'' said head coach Eric Pruitt. ``It was about the 12th game when we ran into a slump. The enthusiasm just wasn't there.''
Pruitt said the team really didn't snap back until the tournament.
``We beat Roanoke Rapids in the first round then we came back and downed Southeast Halifax by over 20 points,'' he said. ``That was the best game we played all year.
``It was the enthusiasm tonight,'' Pruitt added. ``When we got on the bus I could sense they were confident.''
Pruitt said Manteo was the second seed in the tournament due to a tie with Southeast Halifax and a coin flip to determine the winner of the top spot.
``It was actually good for us because it forced us to play that first round game on Monday night,'' he said.
The team was led all year by leading scorer Sam Ballard and top rebounder Ian Lassiter who broke the all-time record at Manteo for JV rebounds. Pruitt also said that Gerald Crawford came around late in the season and scored in the 20s in the team's last few games. by CNB