THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 6, 1995 TAG: 9501060602
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
High hopes coupled with a preseason No. 7 area ranking had a lot of people scratching their heads when Green Run's Stallions got off to a 4-3 start.
Much of the head-scratching was done by the Stallions themselves. So head coach Mark Butts got the team together over the holiday break and said, ``Look, you guys had a lot of people put pressure on you to be good - the other students, your parents, the media. Just relax.
``After that,'' Butts said. ``We had some of our best practices over the holidays.''
The talk must have worked because the Stallions came off the break and beat eighth-ranked Cox, 68-53, Tuesday night. With the victory, Green Run improved to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the district, tied with Salem for third place.
The Stallions' three losses have been to teams currently ranked in the area's top 10: No. 1 Bayside, 65-62; No. 7 Tallwood, 64-54; and No. 9 Lake Taylor, 72-56.
Butts still believes the Stallions were overrated to begin the season.
``We had a new offense, a new coach and a new point guard,'' said Butts, who was an assistant coach under Mike Head before Head left to take over at Ocean Lakes. ``That's not a lot of continuity. But if we play the way we're capable of playing, we can be OK.''
AN 0-3 TRIP: Churchland High came home from the United Carolina Bank Classic without a victory, losing to Lassiter High (Ga.), Person High (N.C.) and Durham Hillside (N.C.) on three consecutive afternoons.
But they did come home with one tournament record, scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter of their 91-83 loss to Person.
``We were 25 down to start the quarter and made Person call timeout with 1:20 remaining after we'd cut their lead to eight,'' Churchland coach Mac Carroll said. ``That was one of the few bright spots on the trip. We lost by 13, 12 and 7 to three quality teams. I don't feel real bad about it, but we could have done better.
``When we got home there was some finger pointing going on, but it's behind us now. When you look at it, we were down 11 in the first quarter against Lassiter and lost 70-57. We could have beaten Lassiter and Lassiter ends up in the tournament final against Oak Hill. We could have played with anybody in that tournament.
``I didn't take it very well myself. It's been about 10 years since one of my teams lost three straight.''
The Truckers broke the streak Tuesday with a 70-59 victory over Oscar Smith.
HIGHS 'N' LOWS: The biggest scoring output of the season so far in Group AAA in South Hampton Roads is Shawn Wilson's 32-point performance in Booker T. Washington's 73-62 victory over Lafayette last Friday. Teammate Dewayne Jacobs scored 30 in an 87-73 loss to Bayside in early December. Churchland's D.J. Dunbar scored 30 points in a 62-55 win over Nansemond River in early December. And Oscar Smith's William Bonner had 30 in a 70-59 loss to Churchland earlier this week. . . .
After being held to nine and eight points in games against Salem and Bayside, Cox's Matt Whalen has broken the slump by scoring 20 or more points in his last six games. . . .
Only one area Group AAA team, Booker T. Washington, has four players averaging in double figures. Wilson is averaging 21 points per game, Jacobs averages 20.2, Kenny Brown averages 14.5 and Ashley Berry averages 13.1.
ON THE HORIZON: The next eight days have some promising games on tap, starting tonight when No. 2 Booker T. Washington visits No. 3 Maury.
On Saturday, No. 9 Lake Taylor will take a six-game winning streak to No. 7 Tallwood, which is 6-0 heading into tonight's game with Kellam.
No. 5 Churchland hosts No. 6 Indian River Tuesday in an early-season battle for supremacy in the Southeastern District. The two teams split their regular-season meetings a year ago and tied for the district title with 13-1 records.
Booker T. Washington also visits private-schools power Atlantic Shores Tuesday while Lakeland meets No. 10 Nansemond River in Suffolk's cross-town rivalry.
Next Friday, it's Tallwood at top-ranked Bayside in what should be a Beach District showdown for first place. And No. 4 Granby opens its Eastern District schedule at Maury. by CNB