THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601180151
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
CAPE HATTERAS High School's boys basketball team has its sights set on the 1A state playoffs, and so far the Hurricanes are right on the money.
Hatteras opened the season at 7-6, with a surprising 4-3 record in the 10-team Tobacco Belt Conference. While other conferences have just begun play, the TBC began conference play before Christmas because of the large number of teams.
So far, the scoring in the Hatteras lineup has been spread out. Center Bryan Meekins leads the team with 13.0 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. Forward Charles Bragg is scoring at a 12.9-per-game clip. Point guard Preston Barley is averaging 12.5 points and seven assists per game. Other starters include guard Thad Midgett and forward Aaron Midgett.
Other players who have seen playing time are guards Waylon Barley, Nick Baum and Eric Midgett; forward Michael Rak; and center Steven Hickman.
As usual, the Hurricanes don't have a whole lot of height.
``We don't have much size. We have to play smart,'' said first-year head Coach Todd Morgan. ``Charles and Bryan play well above their heads, but it's still definitely one of our weaknesses. We're fairly quick, but there are some tough athletes in the Tobacco Belt Conference. We're trying to work the ball and be patient for good shots and play good defense.''
Hatteras has played smart against some of the better teams in the conference, including first place Roanoke. The Hurricanes led the Redskins by 10 points in the fourth quarter but ended up losing by five. Hatteras beat second place Aurora two weeks ago.
``We seem to play really smart basketball and disciplined to beat some of the teams we have beaten. We've been patient on offense and rotated the ball well,'' Morgan said. ``Our outside shooting is one of our strengths.''
With seven of the 10 TBC teams going to the 1A playoffs, Hatteras seems to be in good shape.
``We had our chances against some of the teams we lost to,'' Morgan said. ``We're pretty pleased to be where we are. We've lost one game by one point and lost two others by five points. Our losses have been close games, and we've had some pretty good wins.''
Morgan, who coached at Ocracoke last year and is also coaching the Hatteras girls this year, said his biggest goal is to build a strong program.
``I came in and wanted to develop a strong program,'' he said. ``Other goals were to have a winning season and to do well in the conference and make the playoffs. There's a lot of season left, but we've made some strides.'' by CNB