THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 TAG: 9602130400
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Few teams can shoot 33 percent from the field and win easily. Fifth-ranked Nansemond River is one of them.
The fifth-ranked Warriors punished archrival and No. 8 Lakeland 74-56 victory Monday night to clinch at least a tie for the Bay Rivers District championship. Nansemond River can win the title outright tonight by beating lowly Poquoson.
The Warriors (16-2, 12-0) used a full-court press to force 25 turnovers and their frontcourt of Montoria Valentine, Lashawn Pugh and Anthony Jones dominated the offensive boards.
Nansemond River scored 31 second-chance points off 30 offensive rebounds. They did most of that damage in building a 49-28 lead after three quarters.
``That's our style,'' said Valentine, who led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. ``We try to do that every game.''
This was Nansemond River's third victory over Lakeland this season and the least competitive.
``We knew they were going to be physical,'' Lakeland center John Ricks said. ``We just didn't come out with our heads in it. We turned it over and didn't play defense. They killed us on the boards.''
Lakeland (11-6, 10-2) played a matchup zone in an effort to stop Antoine Willie, the district's leading scorer, and Valentine. Willie scored 20 points but was 8 of 25 from the field and 3 of 12 from beyond the 3-point arc. He missed his first nine 3-pointers before canning three up in the fourth quarter.
``As long as we win, I don't mind,'' Willie said. ``They left a lot of other people open.''
What the zone did was leave open lanes to the offensive boards which the Warriors filled with abandon.
Nansemond River led 30-22 at halftime and then went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter to crush the life out of the Cavaliers. Maurice Fofana, one of the few players on either team who shot well from outside, triggered the run with a 3-pointer.
Jones hit four free throws and Valentine finished it off with six points, four off offensive rebounds.
Lakeland went more than five minutes without scoring during the third quarter. The Cavaliers missed seven shots from the field, four free throws and committed five turnovers during that ruinous stretch.
Lakeland made only 11 of 37 shots (29.7 percent) and scored only 28 points in the first three quarters. They made 10 of 13 shots in the fourth quarter to finish at 42 percent. by CNB