THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300644
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Nansemond River head coach Spencer Mayfield has no idea how his Warriors pulled out a victory Thursday night in the championship game of the Lakeland Christmas tournament.
Neither does tourney MVP Montorian Valentine.
``I really don't know,'' Valentine said with a shrug.
The Warriors came on strong in the final period and rallied to a 71-66 win over Greensville in the teams' third meeting this month.
The host Cavaliers downed Wilson, 73-49, in the consolation final.
Nansemond River (6-1) took a brief lead early in the first quarter, but did not lead again until Valentine sank an in-lane jumper with 5:45 left in the game to give the Warriors a 56-55 edge.
The Eagles (5-4) took it right back with a pair of free throws from Michael Stokes, before Antoine Willie put Nansemond River up for good with 4:23 remaining.
Two big follow shots from James Parker and a free-throw and bucket from Valentine helped keep the Eagles at bay and earned the Warriors a 65-60 lead with just more than a minute to play.
The teams exchanged 9-0 runs to open the second half. The Eagles turned a 34-34 halftime score into a 43-34 lead at the beginning of the third quarter. Then the Warriors responded with nine of their own to knot it again at 43.
The Warriors shot just 33 percent from the floor in the third period to the Eagles 78, which helped Greensville take a 53-47 lead into the final period.
Valentine got the spark going and the Warriors went on a 9-2 tear to gain the 56-55 lead.
``It was gut-check time,'' Mayfield said. ``I guess they passed. Greensville executed well, and we didn't. We still have to remember that we lost 12 players and we are a team of first-year players with a few second-year veterans thrown in. We don't expect miracles, but I know we can play better than we did tonight.''
Willie, who was named to the all-tournament team, lead the way for the Warriors with 24 points and Valentine added 17. Maurice Fofana totaled 10 points and had seven second-half steals to key the comeback.
Lakeland used a balanced attack to topple the winless Presidents with Sebastian Yates leading the way with 15 points off the bench.
Amon Cross added 14 points and freshman Herman Knight tallied 13 with three blocked shots.
Knight and Brian Baker earned all-tournament team selections, as did Wilson's Perez Bottoms, who led the Presidents both nights with 19 and 16 points, and Greensville's Julius Smith, who tallied 19 points in the championship game.
The Presidents opened the game with an 8-3 run, but the Cavaliers (4-3) responded with a 19-2 surge to take control of the game after one period of play. by CNB