THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501140327
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The Oscar Smith girls basketball team knew exactly what needed to be done in order to come out on top of Deep Creek on Friday - contain Michelle Boyd and Tamara Sivels.
The Tigers succeeded on both counts.
Oscar Smith's triangle-and-two defense worked to perfection, and foul trouble kept Boyd on the bench as the Tigers built a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter, then held on for a 53-49 win over the visiting Hornets.
The Tigers (8-5, 4-2) led No. 3 Deep Creek, 51-48, with 43 seconds left in the game. Krystal Johnson stole the ball on the Hornets' next possession and was fouled by Melodie Doughty. Johnson hit both ends of a one-and-one to give the Tigers a five-point lead.
Stacie Watson's free throw cut into the lead with 4.3 seconds left, but the Hornets could do no more.
``We were pretty successful (offensively) in the fourth quarter, (but) we just kept fouling and let them back into the game,'' said Oscar Smith's Kizzy Dunbar.
The Tigers made the most of their opportunities from the free-throw line down the stretch, scoring their final six points on made one-and-ones. The Tigers didn't have a field goal in the game's final four minutes.
Deep Creek (9-3, 4-2) was down, 42-28, at the start of the fourth quarter with Boyd sitting on the bench with four fouls. Coach Otis Etheridge sent Boyd back into the game with 5:41 to play, and the Norfolk State signee keyed a 14-6 Hornets run with eight points, six from the foul line.
Boyd fouled out with 1:29 left and the Hornets down by five. Sivels rebounded teammate Alecia Braithwaite's miss and put back a layup to draw Deep Creek within three before Johnson put the game away.
``Defensively we let down a little bit in the fourth,'' said Tigers guard Starr Parker, who scored a game-high 16 points. ``Offensively we were doing OK, but forcing a lot of shots.''
Tonya Swain scored 10 points for Oscar Smith, with Johnson and Charita Matthews adding eight. Matthews grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.
Sivels led Deep Creek with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Boyd had 12 and Doughty added 11 off the bench. by CNB