THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503040571
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 126 lines
Old Dominion University men's basketball coach Jeff Capel embarks on his first CAA tournament this weekend.
His oldest son, Duke point guard Jeff Capel, travels to Chapel Hill tonight to lead his Blue Devils against mighty North Carolina.
But major efforts are needed if either hopes to top Friday night's performance by the baby of the family.
Indian River freshman forward Jason Capel scored 21 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to pace the Braves' 66-51 victory over Kecoughtan High in the final of the Eastern Region boys basketball tournament at Churchland High.
Now we know why so many people had so much interest last summer in where the Capel clan would roost.
``I've been telling him all along that he should do that every night,'' teammate James Boyd said. ``Most big men are too slow to check him.''
The title is Indian River's first since 1987, when Alonzo Mourning was a junior. The Braves (19-7) will play the loser of tonight's Central Region final between John F. Kennedy and Douglas Freeman in a state quarterfinal game next Saturday at Churchland at 7:30 p.m.
Capel was quiet in the opening minutes. But a two-handed dunk off a feed by Quintae McLean cut Kecoughtan's lead to 12-11 late in the first quarter and was all Capel needed to ignite the performance.
Capel closed out the first-half scoring with a 22-foot 3-pointer for a 28-27 advantage.
``When I got that dunk I knew I could have a good game,'' the 6-foot-7 Capel said. ``A play like that is always a good sign for me. And when their big boy (Loyola-Baltimore signee Nsilo Abraham) got in foul trouble, I went to the boards as hard as I could and tried to create as much as I could.''
By the second half, the Braves' triangle-and-two defense began to wear on Kecoughtan (21-6). Indian River played man-to-man defense on guards Marseilles Brown and Brett Harper and surrounded Abraham down low with three defenders.
``(Kecoughtan) had three kids combine to score 70 points (Thursday night in a 79-72 overtime victory over Churchland),'' Indian River coach Freddie Spellman said. ``We weren't going to let three kids beat us. We decided to play those three and let the other two beat us if they could.''
Harper, who had 41 points the previous night, finished with 19. Abraham had 12 points while Brown had nine, all on 3-point goals.
``We've seen the triangle-and-two before,'' Kecoughtan coach Revis Conrad said. ``We had things set up for it, but we didn't execute what we set up.''
A 3-point play by Indian River sophomore guard David Selby with 1:26 left in the third quarter pushed the Braves' advantage to 45-30 and the lead never dipped below double digits after that.
Selby finished with nine points and Boyd, also a sophomore, had 11 as the Braves' junior varsity eligibles accounted for 62 percent of Indian River's offensive output.
``But this time of year, sophomores are really juniors and juniors are really seniors,'' Capel said.
``We're 26 games older than we were when the season began,'' Spellman said. ``And that makes a big difference. We've really come together.''
INDIAN RIVER (19-7): Rouse 10, Selby 9, Capel 21, Jackson 1, Creecy 8, Basnight 0, McLean 4, Boyd 11, Bridges 2. Totals 26 12-21 66.
KECOUGHTAN (21-6): Bruce 2, Abraham 12, Harper 19, Harmon 0, Jones 0, Wilson 6, Brown 9, Chandler 3. Totals 18 8-22 51.
Indian River 16 12 17 21 - 66
Kecoughtan 16 11 6 18 - 51
3-point goals: Harper 2, Wilson, Brown 3, Chandler, Capel, Boyd. Total fouls: Indian River 21, Kecoughtan 16. Fouled out: Jackson.
PORTSMOUTH - Old Dominion University men's basketball coach Jeff Capel embarks on his first CAA tournament this weekend.
His oldest son, Duke point guard Jeff Capel, travels to Chapel Hill tonight to lead his Blue Devils against mighty North Carolina.
But major efforts are needed if either hopes to top Friday night's performance by the baby of the family.
Indian River freshman forward Jason Capel scored 21 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to pace the Braves' 66-51 victory over Kecoughtan High in the final of the Eastern Region boys basketball tournament at Churchland High.
Now we know why so many people had so much interest last summer in where the Capel clan would roost.
``I've been telling him all along that he should do that every night,'' teammate James Boyd said. ``Most big men are too slow to check him.''
The title is Indian River's first since 1987, when Alonzo Mourning was a junior. The Braves (19-7) will play the loser of tonight's Central
Region final between John F. Kennedy and Douglas Freeman in a state quarterfinal game next Saturday at Churchland at 7:30 p.m.
Capel was quiet in the opening minutes. But a two-handed dunk off a feed by Quintae McLean cut Kecoughtan's lead to 12-11 late in the first quarter and was all Capel needed to ignite the performance.
Capel closed out the first-half scoring with a 22-foot 3-pointer for a 28-27 advantage.
``When I got that dunk I knew I could have a good game,'' the 6-foot-7 Capel said. ``A play like that is always a good sign for me. And when their big boy (Loyola-Baltimore signee Nsilo Abraham) got in foul trouble, I went to the boards as hard as I could and tried to create as much as I could.''
By the second half, the Braves' triangle-and-two defense began to wear on Kecoughtan (21-6). Indian River played man-to-man defense on guards Marseilles Brown and Brett Harper and surrounded Abraham down low with three defenders.
``(Kecoughtan) had three kids combine to score 70 points (Thursday night in a 79-72 overtime victory over Churchland),'' Indian River coach Freddie Spellman said. ``We weren't going to let three kids beat us. We decided to play those three and let the other two beat us if they could.''
Harper, who had 41 points the previous night, finished with 19. Abraham had 12 points while Brown had nine, all on 3-point goals.
``We've seen the triangle-and-two before,'' Kecoughtan coach Revis Conrad said. ``We had things set up for it, but we didn't execute what we set up.''
A 3-point play by Indian River sophomore guard David Selby with 1:26 left in the third quarter pushed the Braves' advantage to 45-30 and the lead never dipped below double digits after that.
Selby finished with nine points and Boyd, also a sophomore, had 11 as the Braves' junior varsity eligibles accounted for 62 percent of Indian River's offensive output.
``But this time of year, sophomores are really juniors and juniors are really seniors,'' Capel said.
``We're 26 games older than we were when the season began,'' Spellman said. ``And that makes a big difference. We've really come together.''
INDIAN RIVER (19-7): Rouse 10, Selby 9, Capel 21, Jackson 1, Creecy 8, Basnight 0, McLean 4, Boyd 11, Bridges 2. Totals 26 12-21 66.
KECOUGHTAN (21-6): Bruce 2, Abraham 12, Harper 19, Harmon 0, Jones 0, Wilson 6, Brown 9, Chandler 3. Totals 18 8-22 51.
Indian River 16 12 17 21 - 66
Kecoughtan 16 11 6 18 - 51
3-point goals: Harper 2, Wilson, Brown 3, Chandler, Capel, Boyd. Total fouls: Indian River 21, Kecoughtan 16. Fouled out: Jackson. by CNB