THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503210111
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
THE INDEPENDENCE girls and Bayside boys basketball teams completed their seasons last week with championship victories in the Virginia Beach Middle School League city playoffs.
Both contests proved to be exciting, down-to-the-wire battles in front of a vociferous packed house at Great Neck Middle.
The Independence girls defeated Kempsville, 41-38, and the Bayside boys upended Princess Anne, 39-38.
In the opener, Okeisha Howard set the tone early for Independence with a lightning quick break for an uncontested layup.
Howard - an eighth-grade transfer student from San Diego - went on to score 33 points.
When Kempsville packed in a tight zone late in the game, Howard nailed three 3-pointers in a row to finish with four for the game. The only down side of her game came at the foul line, where she was only 5-for-12.
``But this was my best game ever,'' she said. ``I've never shot so well before.''
Eagles coach Laura Lee, whose team's only loss came against Bayside, was ecstatic with Howard's performance.
Independence (10-1) needed everything Howard had to fend off the Braves (10-1) who suffered their first loss of the season.
Kempsville found itself down, 18-9, at halftime, but used an 18-6 third quarter run to take a three-point lead heading into the final period.
Independence took back the lead halfway through the quarter with her second trey. Her third gave the Eagles a 36-34 lead, but Kempsville tied the game on Mia Capps' long 2-pointer.
Howard's fourth 3-pointer gave Independence the lead for good and her two foul shots with 18 seconds left iced it.
Kempsville was led by Suzanne Elliott's 12 points. Capps and Blaire Cholewa each finished with eight.
The boys game proved equally thrilling, with the teams trading the lead throughout much of the game.
Bayside (10-1) held an 11-8 lead after one quarter, only to have Princess Anne (8-3) take a 20-17 advantage at halftime.
The Panthers increased their margin to four heading into the final period.
Bayside tied the contest at 36 on Walter Cumpler's layup and a foul shot by Deshaunda Showden. After a foul shot by Demetrius Rudolph, Rudolph took a nice inside pass from Damien Fox to give the Raiders a 39-36 lead.
Princess Anne narrowed the margin with 20 seconds remaining when Chris Hall took an alley-oop inbounds pass from Jon Temple.
Fox had a chance to give Bayside some breathing room with a one-and-one situation with six seconds left, but was called for a lane violation after hitting the front end.
With two seconds left, Princess Anne's Ricky Gilmore missed an off-balance jumper.
``This was a great victory for us,'' Bayside coach Terry McPherson said. ``We were without our best player because of disciplinary problems today and we had to make some last-minute adjustments.
``But this was a great game and a fantastic finish.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Going for a rebound in the Middle School League city playoffs are,
from left: John McCoy, Ryan Baker, Walter Cumpler and Chris Hall.
Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Fans and players celebrate the Independence girls team win over
Kempsville in the Virginia Beach Middle School League city
playoffs.
by CNB