THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601060410
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Trying to come back against Maury is the basketball equivalent of Chinese water torture.
The Commodores, making their first appearance since moving up to No. 1 this week, hit 27 of 33 free throws, including six in the final minute, to hold off No. 6 Lake Taylor 69-61 in the Eastern District opener for both teams Friday night.
Maury (12-0) became the only undefeated team in South Hampton Roads when Cox upset No. 2 Green Run.
Lake Taylor (7-3) took advantage of the few Maury free-throw misses to cut a 20-point halftime deficit to five with 22 seconds left. But Ike Richardson, who scored a game-high 25 points, hit one of two free throws with 20 seconds left and Tommy Spruill added a layup at the buzzer.
Richardson was 5 of 8 from the field, 15 of 19 from the line, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists.
``We're all excited about being No. 1,'' Richardson said. ``We just have to keep practicing and working hard.''
Lake Taylor led 10-8 when Maury went on a 24-5 run over the next 9:17. Richardson, who had 12 points and three assists in the burst, flipped the switch when he went sprawling after a loose ball and flipped it to Ricardo Trevisan, who scored and was fouled.
Less than a minute later Richardson rebounded and hit Spruill with a baseball pass for a layup.
Lake Taylor went nearly 7 1/2 minutes without a field goal and hit only 2 of 16 shots in the second quarter. The Titans had six shots on one possession and the Commodores blocked three of them.
Yet Lake Taylor coach John Kelley never asked for a timeout.
``I almost called timeout in the first two minutes and I probably should have,'' Kelley said. ``We came out tentative and they outhustled us. But I was hoping we'd be tough enough to stay in the game, to be down 10 instead of 20.''
The Titans showed some of that resolve in the second half, holding Maury to 3 of 15 shooting in the third quarter, but still trailed 51-33 with eight minutes to play.
Lake Taylor cut it to 11 with 6:05 left and 13 seconds later Richardson sat down with his fourth foul. Maury pushed the lead back to 15 before Toot Young led the Titans' final charge. His three-point play and back-to-back steals leading to Brian Kelley baskets pulled the Titans to within 58-50 with 3:51 remaining.
Maury called timeout after Kelley's second basket, Richardson returned and scored eight of the Commodores' last 11 points, all at the line.
Young led Lake Taylor with 19 points and center Toni Harrell added 18, eight in the fourth quarter.
``They deserve to be No. 1 in the area,'' Kelley said of the Commodores. ``No team plays with as much confidence and enthusiasm or executes as well as they do.'' ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Maury's Ricardo Trevisan works off the dribble against Lake Taylor's
Toni Harrell in a square-off of centers during the Commodores' win.
by CNB