THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503030191
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
AT THE START of the high school basketball season, few people would have predicted that Deep Creek's Tamara Sivels and Oscar Smith's William Bonner would be the go-to players for their teams.
Neither had exactly dazzled opposing players and coaches last year. Bonner was an honorable mention selection to the all-city team; Sivels was ignored completely.
But in their senior seasons, they forced people to take notice.
Sivels scored in double figures in every game, and Bonner finished fourth in scoring in South Hampton Roads with a 17.7 points-per-game average as the two rounded out their banner seasons by earning Chesapeake Player of the Year honors.
``I thought maybe I'd get all-city, but not Player of the Year,'' said a surprised Bonner, who scored a season-high 30 points in Oscar Smith's 70-59 loss to Churchland. ``I think I could've played even better if I had worked on my game as much as I should.''
Sivels scored 345 points in 20 regular-season games for a 17.3 average, good for fourth in South Hampton Roads. She scored 32 and 31 points in back-to-back wins over Indian River and Lake Taylor. Sivels suffered a knee injury against Churchland in the last game of the season and had to watch from the bench as three-time defending champion Deep Creek was eliminated in the first round of the Southeastern District tournament.
The only player to repeat as a first-team selection was Deep Creek's Michelle Boyd, an early signee with Norfolk State. Boyd missed two games but finished with a respectable 11.2 scoring average.
Kizzy Dunbar averaged only 12.9 points for Oscar Smith during the regular season, but she caught fire in the district tournament. In three games, the senior scored 23, 26 and a career-high 34 points to earn tournament MVP honors as the Tigers won their first district title.
LaShelle Griffin, the only junior on the girls' first team, was an honorable mention as a sophomore. She averaged 13.4 points this season for the Wildcats, who made it to the district tournament final. Indian River senior DeShawn Whitley was the guiding force behind an improved Braves team.
On the boys' first team, two players - Great Bridge's Torey Jordan (14.0 points) and Deep Creek's Shelton Davis (15.9) - moved up from earning honorable mention last season. Davis had the best scoring game of any player in the city when he threw in 32 in the Hornets' 88-87 win against district champion Churchland in overtime.
Only Churchland's D.J. Dunbar, who scored 43 in that same overtime game, scored more points in a single Southeastern District contest.
Deep Creek guard Mike Harrington had to make an adjustment to Hornets' coach Benny Polk's system after transferring from First Colonial, but he responded with a 13.7 scoring average while leading Deep Creek to a 12-8 record in the regular season.
Jason Capel of Indian River, a 6-7 multiposition player, stepped into a starting role for the Braves as a freshman. Capel poured in a season-high 31 points in a win over Great Bridge. ILLUSTRATION: 1994-95 ALL-CHESAPEAKE BOYS TEAM
William Bonner, Oscar Smith
Tony King, Great Bridge
Torey Jordan, Great Bridge
Jason Capel, Indian River
Mike Harrington, Deep Creek
Shelton Davis, Deep Creek
1994-95 ALL-CHESAPEAKE GIRLS TEAM
Tamara Sivels, Deep Creek
Michelle Boyd, Deep Creek
Kizzy Dunbar, Oscar Smith
DeShawn Whitley, Indian River
LaShelle Griffin, Great Bridge
by CNB