THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150607
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
With the Southeastern District title and the league's top Eastern region seeding on the line, Churchland staged its own Valentine's Day massacre Tuesday night.
The second-ranked Truckers' trounced visiting Deep Creek, 70-34, snapping the Hornets' three-year hold on the district crown.
Michele Jarman led four Truckers in double figures with 20 points. Kizzy Butler and Nicole Council had 14 apiece and Summer Spiedell chipped in 12.
Churchland (17-5, 12-2) surprised the Hornets (16-5, 10-4) in the opening eight minutes with a 21-10 run and never allowed them to regroup.
``Our quick start took them out of their game,'' said coach Duke Conrad, winner of his first-regular season championship in his five years at Churchland. ``They still did a good job with (Michelle) Boyd and (Tamara) Sivels. They just kept banging.''
Sivels led Deep Creek with 18 and Boyd added 13.
The Hornets used a triangle-and-two on Council and Butler early in the game, but switched to a full court man-to-man pressure defense after the guards penetrated through the lane, either making layups untouched or dishing off to a wide-open Jarman.
``A key element in the game was that we were giving the ball to the open man,'' Conrad said. ``If somebody's going to go after our top two scorers - being Kizzy and Nicole - someone else has to step up.''
And that's just what Jarman did.
``The were pressuring Kizzy and Nicole pretty bad,'' said Jarman, who made 8 of 12 attempts from the field. ``You've got to make them when it's up to you.''
The Hornets' press left it up to Jarman the entire second half. With the pressure on the ball, the 6-foot center was left unguarded underneath her own basket.
``We tried to put pressure on Butler,'' Deep Creek coach Otis Etheridge said. ``If she beats it, it's going to be automatic anyway.
``Churchland did exactly what they've been doing all year. They pushed the ball up and penetrated. They did exactly what they wanted to do and we couldn't stop them.''
However, the Truckers' tight man-to-man and muscle on the boards put a quick stop on the Hornets offensive efforts.
Deep Creek shot just 26 percent from the field and was outrebounded, 37-14.
``We needed other people on the team to score,'' Etheridge said of the Hornets, who relied on Boyd and Sivels to spark the offense. ``And they just didn't step up.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
Deep Creek's Melodie Doughty, left, and Churchland's Kizzy Butler
chase a loose ball. Butler scored 14 points in the Truckers'
victory.
by CNB