THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602100415
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Fourth-ranked Green Run played to its strengths Friday night, and there wasn't much No. 3 Cox could do to combat it.
Plaxico Burress and Will Brooks dominated inside, combining for 41 points on 17-of-27 shooting, and Kenyon Mullen held Cox's Ben Green to two field goals in a 68-53 thumping that knocked the Falcons out of first place in the Beach District.
Tallwood, which routed Kempsville 68-44 Friday, took over the district lead at 10-2. Green Run and Cox are tied for second at 10-3.
The three contenders are through playing each other, and the schedule would seem to favor Tallwood. The Lions meet Kellam twice along with Princess Anne and Salem; none of the three has a winning record.
Green Run plays again tonight against Ocean Lakes, and Stallions coach Mark Butts was worried he might not have Burress, who was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct with 1:22 left against Cox.
Burress and Cox's Jason Dubois fell while competing for a rebound under the Falcons' basket, and Burress said he thought Dubois was too aggressive in getting up.
Burress reacted angrily and then exchanged words with some Cox fans.
The officials ruled his foul wasn't flagrant and cleared him to play tonight.
It was an unsettling ending to an otherwise outstanding night for the 6-foot-6 senior, who scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Burress, who was averaging 14.1 points per game entering the week, has scored 44 points in two games since signing a football letter-of-intent with Michigan State.
``I feel like a lot of pressure is off,'' he said. ``No more recruiters calling at 11 o'clock when I'm asleep.''
Green Run led 17-14 when 5-6 Rod Cooper squirted through the lane and hit a jumper with one second left in the first quarter. The Stallions followed that up with a 10-0 run to start the second quarter and took their biggest lead at 32-16 on a 3-point play by Brooks with 4:11 left in the half.
Cox cut the margin to eight on three occasions, the last time at 49-41. But Green Run scored twice off turnovers to pump the lead back to 55-41, and the Falcons didn't make another serious run.
Green Run hit 27 of 48 shots from the field (56.3 percent).
``We played smart,'' Butts said. ``In situations where we had to get the ball inside, that's what we did.''
Cox's Carl Lentz led all scorers with 26 points, including a career-high six 3-pointers. Cox was 8 for 19 from 3-point range (42.1 percent) but only 16 of 40 overall.
``I thought we played with great effort,'' Cox coach Kenny Edwards said. ``I still like our chances.'' ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP
Carl Lentz of Cox, left, tries to get around Green Run's Rod Cooper
during the Stallions' 68-53 win Friday.
by CNB