THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240519
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
The Tidewater Conference's present and future met Tuesday night when Cape Henry Collegiate and its senior All-American Kinte Smith played host to Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and its freshman sensation Warren Carroll.
Smith won the personal duel outscoring Carroll 26 to 16. But the Saints won the game 61-52 proving that for the team, at least, the future is now.
N-SA, ranked eighth in the Virginia Independent School Division I poll, improved to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in the TCIS.
Cape Henry, ranked ninth, fell to 11-6 and 2-2.
Smith, who also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots, was introduced before the game as one of 1,500 seniors nationwide chosen as McDonald's All-Americans. Then he went out and scored 20 points in the first half on 6 of 8 shooting from the floor.
Carroll, who drew the opening defensive assignment on Smith, picked up two fouls in the first 5 1/2 minutes and spent much of the half on the bench.
But Carroll never lost his poise and it was his 3-point play with 1:21 left in the third quarter that put the Saints up for good at 40-39.
``When I was on the bench I was thinking I can't come back flat,'' Carroll said. ``I just tried to be aggressive, take it to the hole and get fouled. That's what happened on that play.''
Carroll could have spoken for the entire team. The more physical Saints continually looked to punch the ball inside and as result they got to the one-and-one with 2:10 left in the third quarter and reached the double bonus with almost six minutes left in the game.
N-SA hit 30 of 48 free throws overall and 17 of 27 in the fourth quarter. Sean Daugherty hit 6 of 6 from the line, Carroll 6 of 7 and Eddie Bagnell 10 of 14.
Meanwhile Cape Henry, led by Smith, was misfiring with alarming abandon. The Dolphins were 6 of 25 from the floor in the second half and Smith was 1 of 9.
Asked what happened to his shot, Smith smiled ruefully and shrugged his shoulders.
``I felt like they were going in,'' he said. ``They just didn't fall.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot
Eddie Bagnell of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, right, and Kinte Smith
of Cape Henry Collegiate go for a rebound in the Saints' win.
by CNB