THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602180172
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Norfolk Academy and Cape Henry Collegiate took different routes Saturday in reaching the TCIS basketball tournament final.
The top-seeded Bulldogs rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit behind 30 points from Yuraj Podvorac and whipped upstart Catholic 60-51 in the first game at Greenbrier Christian Academy.
Third-seeded Cape Henry never trailed in beating second-seeded Nansemond-Suffolk 65-51 in the second game.
Norfolk Academy and Cape Henry meet Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Greenbrier for the championship. The Bulldogs (19-6) will be seeking their fourth title in the past six years. The Dolphins (18-6) will be making their first appearance in the final.
Catholic hit eight of its first 15 shots in racing to an 18-6 lead against Norfolk Academy. Junior center Eric Washburn did most of the damage. He scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half.
``Give Catholic credit. They came to play,'' Norfolk Academy coach Dave Trickler said. ``They shredded our press and beat us on the boards.''
But typical of the teams this season Catholic (10-16) couldn't sustain its success and Norfolk Academy didn't fold.
The Crusaders forced up some shots against the Bulldogs' zone, and Norfolk Academy did a better job of blocking out on the defensive boards.
Then Podvorac and Bryan Duquette got cooking. They combined for 19 of the Bulldogs' first 21 points and all but one of their of first-half field goals.
Catholic led 29-26 at halftime, but the Crusaders had long lost the momentum, and with it their shooting touch. Catholic shot 42.1 percent in the first quarter and 25 percent thereafter
Norfolk Academy took the lead for good with a 9-0 run early in the second half. Podvorac paved the way with two 3-pointers and a layup.
``I wasn't playing well on defense so I wanted to be as aggressive as I could on offense and take charge,'' Podvorac said.
Duquette, who usually leads the team in scoring, had only 14 points but still managed to stamp his mark on the game with seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and six blocked shots.
``It's fun playing with Bryan because he does all the little things,'' Podvorac said.
Cape Henry hit its first seven field goal attempts against Nansemond-Suffolk and led 19-4 with 2:49 left in the first quarter. The Dolphins (18-6) cooled considerably after that but the lead never dropped below seven.
Frankie Cabrera led Cape Henry with 19 points and was 7 of 7 from the line in the fourth quarter.
N-SA shot 4 of 25 (16 percent) in the first half and then missed its first seven field goal attempts in the third quarter.
``You can't beat anybody shooting like that,'' Saints coach Rick Van Orden said. ``We put ourselves in too big a hole.''
The Saints had a chance to cut the lead to five with 6 1/2 minutes left, but Eddie Bagnell missed a layup and then Jamel Drayton stepped up for the Dolphins.
Drayton scored seven of Cape Hnery's next nine points to push the lead back to 12.
``I was just running the floor,'' Drayton said. ``Everybody was playing smart.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GARY C. KNAPP
Russel Carter of Norfolk Academy, top, tries to avoid the foul
against Catholic's Byron Whitehead.
by CNB