THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290479
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Kempsville stepped up its free-throw shooting in the final minutes and pulled away from Churchland to take a 46-38 victory in the Eastern Region girls basketball semifinals Wednesday night at Churchland.
The victory gave Kempsville (26-2) a berth in the state playoffs, which begin Saturday, March 9. The Chiefs play Salem (19-6) Friday at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Region championship at Churchland. It will be the fourth meeting between the teams this season, with Salem having won twice.
The Chiefs ran out to a quick 16-2 lead and still led by 11 in the third, but by the middle of the fourth quarter, the Truckers were breathing down their necks again.
``I think that's expected once you reach this point in the season,'' Kempsville senior Kristin Cholewa said. ``Nobody is going to back off. They're going to keep fighting.''
As Cholewa expected, Churchland went down fighting. Trailing 37-26, the Truckers' Nicole Council grabbed a defensive rebound and passed to Shelly Singleton who hit
a jumper. Singleton blocked a Toni Patillo shot then rebounded a Cholewa miss. Singleton assisted a Council basket, cutting the gap to seven.
After Kempsville's Erin Duckett drew a foul and hit the back end of two free throws, Council raced downcourt and assisted a Kim Elliott 3-pointer. The Truckers forced a turnover and Council assisted Stacey Hundley's 3-pointer to narrow the score to 38-36 with 1:36 remaining.
Churchland was then forced to foul. The Chiefs hit 8 of 12 free throws down the stretch to lock up the victory.
``We were to quick to shoot and made some bad passes early,'' Churchland coach Duke Conrad said. ``Once we started playing the game we like, we fought back into it. Stacey and Kim hit huge three's to get it back to two. That's when Kempsville's composure showed.''
Churchland was also hampered by youth, playing three freshmen because of the absence of Hundley.
Hundley, a co-captain, left for a humanitarian mission to Guyana Wednesday morning.
Kempsville coach Greg Dunn said: ``They're going to have to play a lot better if they want to go very far at state. They are not playing with confidence, they missed too many foul shots, made way too many turnovers. ''
However, Dunn did glean a bit of confidence in the Chiefs' ability to overcome adversity.
``In the fourth quarter, our defense came through,'' he said. ``We gutted it out. That's the only thing I was pleased with.''
Council closed the game with 15 points, eight rebounds, three steals, five assists and one blocked shot.
CHURCHLAND: Council 15, Elliott 8, Brown 0, Singleton 7, Hundley 6, Bright 0, Betts 2, Felton 0. Totals 15 4-14 38.
KEMPSVILLE: Duckett 9, Heath 8, Cholewa 11, Patillo 8, Fayton 7, Kristofak 2, Henn 0, Elliot 1. Totals 12 20-38 46.
Churchland 8 12 5 13 - 38
Kempsville 18 7 10 11 - 46
3-point goals: Council 2, Elliott, Hundley, Duckett, Heath. Total fouls: Churchland 23, Kempsville 15. Fouled out: Elliott. Technical fouls: None. ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER
Nicole Council of Churchland, left, tries to hold on against
Kempsville's Kristin Cholewa.
by CNB