THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503310258
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 32 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
When Vail Hines started feeling better, the Haygood Hawks started to feel worse.
``I was pressing in the first half, trying too hard,'' said Hines, point guard for the men's ``B'' division community league champion Clarion Browns. ``A lot of the guys on the Hawks are friends, so I felt tight the first half.''
Feeling loose, Hines hit 11 of 12 foul shots down the stretch to lead Clarion to a 67-61 win over the Haygood Hawks at the Bayside Middle School gym on March 21. It was Clarion's second title in three years.
``My teammates told me to forget the first half and just play my game,'' said Hines. He did. Hines led the team in scoring with 21 points.
The game was an exciting, see-saw game that featured two teams with nearly identical regular-season records. The Hawks went 12-4; the Browns, 12-5. Clarion beat Haygood by five points in their earlier match up.
It looked like that loss might be avenged early in the first half. With leading scorer Robert Knox hitting four 3-pointers, the Hawks took a 20-13 lead midway through the first half.
The Browns made a 21-10 run the rest of the half to take a 34-30 halftime lead. Bill Drees, brother of playing coach Jeff Drees, scored eight of the 21 to lead the comeback.
At halftime, Haygood coach Win Caskill said: ``We got to play better defense, better perimeter defense especially. And do a better job on both ends on the boards.''
The Hawks started the second half strong. They opened the scoring with a four-point play: a jumper from the lane found the net, the shooter was fouled, went to the line, missed the shot and the Hawks scored on a rebound and follow shot by Euclides ``Ox'' Moran. It was part of 15-point spurt that put Haygood back in the lead, 45-40, with 13:45 left.
``We wanted to spread the offense, open the inside up and let Knox shoot from outside,'' said Caskill later.
Knox, who scored 16 points in the first half, had trouble finding the mark in the second. He was held to six points.
``I had my shots, we ran my plays,'' said the 6-foot-1 former Bayside High School and Norfolk State University player. ``Sometimes our point guard didn't get the ball to me.''
The lead changed hands down the stretch on nearly every possession in the last eight minutes. The Hawks scored inside and Hines began his trips to the foul line. His slashing drives down the lane led to most of the fouls.
Bill Drees hit two foul shots to give the Browns a 62-57 lead with 1:30 left. Knox brought the Hawks to within three, 62-59, with his last shot of the game.
Then Hines started stepping up to the charity stripe and the Hawks' hopes vanished with every swish of his foul shots.
``This feels great,'' said Drees, holding the city championship trophy aloft. ``We have a big rivalry with the Hawks.''
In other adult championships:
The Men's A Division title was decided on a buzzer-beater tap-in that gave the Tidewater All-Stars a 62-60 victory over Greg's Bar and Grill.
Virginia Beach Community Chapel took the Church Division championship with a 65-53 victory over Thalia Methodist.
In the Public Service Division, the Courthouse Gang kept the trophy in Virginia Beach with a 59-51 victory over the Norfolk Sheriffs. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Clarion Browns player Vail Hines looks for an opening.
by CNB