THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408280221
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Norfolk Collegiate girls basketball coach Larry Bowman expected an ugly game.
What he got was even worse.
``I expected ugly, but not that bad,'' Bowman said.
In what was probably a preview of the season, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy pounded Norfolk Collegiate, 57-28, in the championship game of the second annual Norfolk Collegiate Tip-Off tournament.
``They are so athletic and so deep,'' Bowman said. ``I think if you look past them, the rest of the league is wide open.''
While the rest of the TCIS is talking about youth and inexperience and needing more time to get it all together, N-SA went 24-3 en route to the league championship last season with a team of sophomores.
This year another sophomore is starting stand out among the crop of seasoned juniors.
Fourteen-year-old Ann Murden, who led all scorers with 15 points and was named the tournament MVP, singlehandedly took the wind out of the Oaks' sails when she nailed three consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter to break the game open.
``That was it right there,'' Bowman said. ``That killed us.''
The Saints pride themselves on defense, and held the Oaks to just two fourth-period points to their own 14. That wasn't enough to satisfy coach Larry Riggs.
``We're not getting enough of a lead,'' Riggs said. ``We really picked the tempo up in the second half again, but we are letting the other team hang around for too long and I think that is going to catch up with us.''
Collegiate hung with N-SA until late in the first half.
Elizabeth Swearingen scored eight of her 13 points in the second quarter. Her layup with 2:31 left closed the gap to 20-16. But an 8-2 spurt by the Saints to close out the half gave them a 28-18 edge.
The Oaks scored five points to open the second half, but then Murden started her 3-point binge.
Casey Montgomery and Karen Carmichael paced Greenbrier with 16 and 15 points, respectively, to lead the Lady Gators to a 59-51 come-from-behind win over Catholic in the consolation final.
The Gators trailed, 42-37, with 4:28 left in the game. A pair of free throws, a three-point play and an in-lane jumper from Carmichael put Greenbrier up 44-42 with 3:14 to play.
The Crusaders managed to take the lead one more time, 47-46, with 2:25 left, but Robin Smith rebounded a missed foul shot and scored to give the Gators the lead for good. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/Staff
Norfolk Collegiate's Elizabeth Swearingen, left, drives the fast
break. She led the Oaks with 13 points in a losing cause.
by CNB