THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501050187
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Northeastern High School's boys basketball team is discovering it is having a similar problem to last year's team - a lack of a true point guard.
The Eagles have quality inside players in Anthony Poole and Jatonne Mercer. Getting them the ball has been the problem. The young Eagles backcourt has struggled.
``We have guys this year that can be the point guard, but they're still not making great decisions yet,'' Eagles head coach Bobby Dunn said after his team lost 67-63 to Hertford County this week. ``They made some good decisions tonight, but they're not consistent yet. They had been making good decisions about 20 or 30 percent of the time. Tonight it was about 60 percent.''
Hertford County took advantage of Northeastern's weakness and used full-court defensive pressure to force Northeastern turnovers late in the game. Two turnovers late in the game led to four successful Hertford County free throws in the final minute.
``We had a couple of bad breaks at the end and they ended up being turnovers,'' Dunn explained in his office after the game. ``They looked more poised than we were.''
On the other hand, Hertford County coach Charles Simmons said his club played particularly well at the end of the contest.
``The last four or five minutes we executed like we should,'' he said. ``We didn't do anything dumb to give Northeastern a chance.''
The Eagles have struggled so far this year, including a poor performance in the Fort Eustis Tournament during the Christmas break. Even so, Dunn said he was pleased with his team's effort against Hertford County, despite the loss.
``That's by far the best effort we've given all year. We just need to break through. We need to quicken the passes and make quick decisions. That comes with work.''
Poole led all scorers with 21 points. Jerrell Carver, who has made a career out of hustling, chipped in 15 points, and Fred Hunter added 10 points for the Eagles. by CNB