THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230598
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
To say Kempsville could have won it in their sleep Thursday wouldn't have been quite fair to Tallwood, but after four games in as many days, a little rest is well deserved.
The top-ranked and top-seeded Chiefs methodically pulled away from host Tallwood in a Beach District girls basketball semifinal, taking a 53-38 victory that moves Kempsville into Saturday's championship at Tallwood against the winner of tonight's Princess Anne-Salem semifinal.
At times in the second half, Kempsville (23-2), playing its seventh game in 10 days, showed signs of tiring.
``We're kind of getting used to it,'' Erin Duckett said. ``But we noticed we started making mistakes and turnovers. We were mentally tired.''
No. 5 Tallwood (16-6) found itself down 24-13 at the half, and couldn't do much with Kempsville's spread offense in the final two quarters.
After Tamara Valentine hit two quick baskets to close the gap to seven, she fouled Duckett for her third of the game and picked up her fourth three minutes later.
Duckett hit the free throws, added a driving layup and hit two more from the line to put Kempsville up by 14 after three periods. For the game she was 7 of 8 from the foul line and finished with 11 points. Charlette Fayton also had 11 to go with 11 rebounds. Tallwood was led by Katrina Hensley's 14 points.
- LEE TOLLIVER
In boys basketball:
Atlantic Shores 77, Cape Henry 50: The No. 6 Seahawks (17-2) outscored the TCIS runnerup Dolphins, 20-4, in a five-minute stretch at the end of the first half to the beginning of the third period to pull away. Kenny Inge had 19 points for Atlantic Shores. Kinte Smith had 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for Cape Henry (18-8).
Northampton 69, Nandua 64: The Yellow Jackets, who will be going to the region tournament for the first time since 1973, added the Shore District tournament title to their regular-season crown as Yarn Brisco scored 15 points, dealt nine assists and had three steals. Bryan Satchell, playing for the first time in four games since suffering a hand injury, had 11 points, eight rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocks in just over a quarter.
Timothy Christian 59, Norfolk Christian 55: The Ambassadors led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but went cold in the second half as they were beaten in the first round of the Delaware County (Pa.) Christian tournament. Matt Jones had 28 points for Norfolk Christian.
Richmond Collegiate 95, Norfolk Academy 65: Carter Dabney scored 23 points in the first three quarters as Collegiate ousted the Bulldogs (20-8) in a first-round game of the Virginia Prep League tournament. Tommy VanHoose's 11 points were high for Academy.
Denbigh Baptist 53, Alliance 42: Jeremy Pugh scored 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as Denbigh pulled away from a 31-31 tie in this Metro Conference play-in game. Denbigh will face regular season champion Portsmouth Christian in the semifinals tonight at 7:30 at Christopher Newport.
Peninsula District tournament: Menchville defeated Bethel 68-62 and Phoebus topped Lafayette 65-51 in boys semifinals and Menchville beat Lafayette 65-45 and Bethel knocked off Kecoughtan 52-40 in girls semifinals. Hampton University will be the site of Saturday's 3 p.m. girls championship game and 5 p.m. boys title game. Region gymnastics
Beach District gymnasts make their bid for Group AAA state championships beginning at 6 p.m. today when the team portion of the two-day event gets under way at South Lakes High.
Individual competition, this year also featuring A and AA gymnasts, begins at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Melissa Suter of Deep Creek is the only non-Beach qualifier from South Hampton Roads. Suter, a freshman, was a legitimate title contender before hurting her right ankle at a U.S. Gymnastics Federation meet the day before Monday's Eastern Region competition. She competed, however, on uneven bars and qualified in that event for state. An MRI Thursday revealed no broken bones and Suter is expected to compete Saturday.
That leaves Kellam juniors Brooke Sawyer and Michelle Alexander, and Salem's Davinia Roberts and Meria Eisenbraun as the only local all-around hopefuls. Sawyer has won the last two meets, while Alexander - the defending state runner-up - has finished second. Roberts tied last year for state titles in floor and vaulting.
Beach team champion Kellam and region champ Cox are state contenders and will be challenged for the title by defending team champion Lake Braddock. by CNB