THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502040467
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Shaun Jackson lay on the concrete floor in the hallway leading to the locker room, completely out of gas and hurting from a night's worth of punishment.
Fortunately for the Maury Commodores, Jackson lasted until the final buzzer.
The 6-foot-7 senior forward scored on a rebound with seven seconds remaining as Maury beat Booker T. Washington, 63-62, Friday in front of a frenzied sellout crowd at Booker T.
``Get your butt off the floor,'' Maury coach Jack Baker said as he stepped over Jackson. ``We've got to go to Granby on Tuesday.''
Maury's big win Friday makes Tuesday's game huge.
The Commodores, who lost their first two Eastern District games, have clawed back into contention at 3-2 in the district, 14-4 overall.
The Bookers, South Hampton Roads' third-ranked boys basketball team, fell into a tie with Granby for the district lead at 4-1. Booker T. is 13-3 overall.
``I guess we've got to get ready for a tight one down the stretch,'' Booker T. coach Barry Hamler said.
``We're hoping for a three-way tie,'' said Maury point guard Ike Richardson. ``We've got to beat Granby then hope Granby can beat Booker T. (at Granby, Feb. 14).''
First, the sixth-ranked Commodores had to avenge a 74-73 loss to Booker T. four weeks ago at Maury.
As in their first meeting, Maury led most of the way. When Tommy Spruill scored on a driving layup to open the fourth quarter, the Commodores led, 53-48.
But the Bookers came back to take a 56-55 lead on a Kenny Brown 3-pointer with 4:41 left.
``We tried to take the 3-pointer away from them,'' Richardson said. ``Kenny just kept backing up.''
Three of Brown's four treys came from the 28-foot range, and he finished with 18 points.
Spruill, who had a team-high 14 points, answered Brown's last 3-pointer to give Maury a 58-56 advantage. But Dewayne Jacobs canned a 17-footer to tie matters.
After Richardson missed on a wild driving jumper, the Bookers took a 60-58 lead when Brown found Shawn Wilson on a backdoor cut with 3:30 left.
Brown was called for his fourth foul trying to pickpocket Greg Ridley with 3:03 remaining and a Ridley free throw cut the lead to 60-59.
After two failed possessions by both teams, Jacobs, who had 16 points, hit another midrange jumper for a 62-59 advantage. Jackson answered with a 17-footer and the Commodores called timeout, down 62-61 with 1:33 left.
``We wanted to get a steal or a five-second call after that,'' Jackson said.
But the Bookers' four-corners stall negated that ploy, and the Commodores were forced to foul. Maury fouled the Bookers three times in a five-second span to put Wilson on the free-throw line.
When Wilson missed the front end of the one-and-one with 14 seconds left, Richardson rebounded and Maury rushed down court.
``Just because the kid missed one at the end of the ballgame didn't lose it,'' said Hamler, whose squad was 4 for 9 from the foul line. ``We had guys miss all night and they all count the same.''
Richardson found Todd Davidson in the corner and when Davidson's shot spun out, Jackson was there to stick it back. Jackson finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Bookers, after calling timeout with three seconds left, failed to get off a final shot. ILLUSTRATION: RALPH FITZGERALD/Staff
Maury's Ike Richardson (No. 21) and Shaun Jackson squeeze the
Bookers' Kenny Brown in a battle for a rebound. Jackson was called
for a foul in the third-quarter action.
by CNB