THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140562
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Great Bridge tried to shut down Oscar Smith's inside game Tuesday night. The Tigers took one look and opened with a pair of 3-pointers.
The Wildcats widened the defensive zone, but the Tigers stayed hot, scoring 24 first-quarter points. Great Bridge then went to what coach Ro Moore called Plan Three, increased the defensive pressure and wound up holding off No. 6 Oscar Smith 56-55 in a Southeastern District game.
``I just couldn't believe all those three's they were making,'' Moore said after four of the Tigers' opening seven shots were treys. ``We had to get out of that defense pretty quick.''
The Tigers (16-5, 8-4) stormed the court early, taking a 24-17 first-quarter lead. They built a nine-point lead in the second quarter before the Wildcats attacked.
Charndra Lewis dominated under the basket, grabbing key rebounds and scoring 17 points as No. 7 Great Bridge (15-4, 9-4) rallied.
Trailing 31-30 at the half, the Wildcats returned to dominate the court. Denita and LaShelle Griffin harrassed the Tigers, causing turnovers and stealing passes as Great Bridge surged to a 43-35 lead. Each time Oscar Smith challenged, a Wildcat stepped up and ended the threat. Denita Griffin hit a back-breaking 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, then hit her final two free throws to push the advantage to 56-50 with 15 seconds remaining.
Wildcat Kalisha Brown drove to the basket for uncontested breakaway layups, or drove then dropped a pass to an open player to keep the drive alive.
``Kalisha came in and showed a lot of leadership,'' Moore said. ``She took control at times, went in and got the key rebounds for us.''
With time waning, Great Bridge appeared to have the game in hand. Then the fouls started. And it wasn't Oscar Smith fouling to regain possession to potentially cut the lead. Instead, it was Great Bridge doing the fouling.
In the fourth quarter, Oscar Smith went to the line 12 times compared to six for the Wildcats. The Tigers hit five free throws in the final minute to cut the gap to four. A 3-pointer by Joetta Thorpe at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.
``Thank goodness for team effort,'' Moore said. ``I was hoping to be in a little better position at the end than I was after we took that lead. Our fouling put them back in it.''
Lewis paced the Wildcats with 17 points and eight rebounds. Brown chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds and Jill Ferguson and Denita Griffin each scored 10.
Thorpe paced Oscar Smith with 16 points. Sharnnia Artis added 12 and Krystal Johnson scored 10. ILLUSTRATION: JIM WALKER
The Virginian-Pilot
Lashawna Powell, left, and Sherita Spencer, right, of Oscar Smith
battle with Great Bridge's Denita Griffin for the ball.
by CNB