THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508250174
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Prop 48, a team of athletes from Indian River High School, will be traveling to Denver, Colo., this week to compete in the 1995 Triple Crown National 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.
The four-man squad of sophomore Marcellus Scott and seniors Rudie Worlds, Rod Curry and Robert Freeman advanced to the nationals after winning a regional tournament last week in Richmond. The team got started by winning the Hoop It Up opening round competition in Norfolk June 24-25.
Close to 500 teams from around the country are expected to attend. Players ages 10 and up are competing, with divisions according to age, height, and skill level. Prop 48 is in the 16-17-year-old division with teams made up of rec players and one high school player.
``When we first started we thought we were kinda good, but we were skeptical at first. We didn't know we'd win so much,'' said Curry, the team's outside shooter. ``We always played (basketball) together in school, but we weren't the best of friends until we started playing in the tournament. Now we're tight.''
Worlds, the team captain, got the team together. First he recruited Scott, his cousin, and then he asked Freeman to join. A fourth member was recruited but had to back out, and Curry was added a week before the local competition, which Prop 48 was able to enter thanks to the sponsorship of Deaon Briley.
The national tournament opens Sept. 2 with round-robin pool play, which determines the teams seeding for the playoff, which is single elimination.
According to Curry, each man on the team has a specific role.
``Freeman's our inside guy. He's a great post player. Scott is great on defense and plays with a bunch of emotion,'' Curry said. ``Rudie is the sparkplug. Everything starts with him, offense and defense.
``We try to rotate a lot to keep defenses guessing.''
The team plans to leave for Denver on Friday, but is in need of sponsorship to offset the costs of traveling and accommodations.
If you would like to help Prop 48, call 543-5769 (Loretta Scott) or 420-9603 (the Freeman family). by CNB