THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130518
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Green Run's Will Brooks and Plaxico Burress have been playing together so long that they've learned to feed off each other.
The two seniors, both of whom joined the varsity midway through their freshman seasons, did it in spectacular fashion Tuesday night at Bayside, throwing down back-to-back dunks midway through the fourth quarter to trigger the decisive run in a 67-61 victory over the eighth-ranked Marlins.
Green Run trailed 55-54 when Brooks swooped down the lane and in one motion put back a miss by Burress to give the third-ranked Stallions the lead for good.
Then after Bayside's Jimmy Walker missed at the other end, Burress got out front on the break and slammed home a lob pass from Lanier Washington that made it 58-55 and forced the Marlins to call timeout.
Bayside (1-2, 0-2) pulled back within one on a baseline drive by Kevin Yearwood, who led the Marlins with 18. But Washington answered with a 3-pointer, his second of the game, and Green Run held Bayside without another field goal until Walker canned a 3-pointer with nine seconds left.
``Plax is a playmaker,'' Brooks said. ``When he makes plays we all do.''
Brooks, suffering from flu symptoms, scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Burress, who sat out half of the second quarter in foul trouble, added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Kenyon Mullen added a career-high 19 points off the bench for Green Run.
This was the Beach District opener for Green Run, which improved to 3-0 overall.
The Marlins used a 1-3-1 zone to befuddle the Stallions for much of the game. Green Run committed 22 turnovers, 14 in the first half.
``We hadn't faced a zone in our first two games,'' Stallions coach Mark Butts said. ``To be honest, it confused us.''
With the game on the line, however, the Stallions protected the ball and converted on six of eight possessions down the stretch.
``You never like a loss,'' Bayside coach Ron Jenkins said. ``But I'm proud of my kids' hustle. Green Run has experience. It's their time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
L. TODD SPENCER/The Virginian-Pilot
It wouldn't be a stretch to say Bayside's Jimmy Walker did whatever
it took to defend against Green Run's Lanier Washington.
by CNB