THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996 TAG: 9602280160
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Wilson's Perez Bottoms and Churchland's Nicole Council were chosen as the most outstanding players in Portsmouth high school basketball for 1995-96.
Both were the leading scorers in the city. Council also led the Southeastern District and Bottoms was runner-up to Indian River's Jason Capels.
The annual All-Portsmouth teams were picked by Currents with input from city coaches.
The six-player boys team includes three from Churchland, two from Wilson and one from Portsmouth Christian.
Churchland's Jason Lewis, Dion Langley and Sadiki Tingling gained first-team berths. In addition to Bottoms, Wilson placed Rahn Sykes.
Also picked was Portsmouth Christian's Brian Rustay.
Bottoms, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound senior guard, carried a 20.3 scoring average. He scored in double figures in every game with a season-low of 10 and a season-high of 31.
He was the only repeater on the all-city team. Bottoms raised his scoring average nearly five points from a year ago.
Teammate Sykes maintained a 10.8 average. Sykes is a junior forward.
A swing player, Langley carried a 11.4 scoring average in regular-season play. He also averaged 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals. He was a second-team All-Portsmouth selection last year.
The 6-5 Tingling averaged 6.8 rebounds and 9.0 points.
Lewis, a center, had a 16-point scoring average and pulled down an average of 8.7 rebounds. He accounted for nearly one-third of the Churchland rebounds.
Langley and Tingling are seniors. Lewis is a junior.
Rustay, the premier player in the Metro Conference, sported a 16-point scoring average and was the triggerman on a team that won 25 games and captured its regular-season championship. Rustay is a 5-10 junior.
The second unit also had six players - two from Norcom, two from Wilson, one from Churchland and one from Portsmouth Christian. Norcom placed Tommie Pope and Jamal Price. Wilson had Donald Wells and Terrance Winston. Churchland's Patrick Dulin and Portsmouth Christian's Danny Barton rounded out the squad.
Pope, a junior guard, had a 9.5 scoring average. Price, a senior center, maintained a 14.0 average.
Wells and Winston both had averages slightly under seven points. A center, Wells is only a freshman. Winston, a guard, is a sophomore.
Dulin also was a 6-point average scorer with 2.3 assists. He is a senior guard.
Barton, a 6-5 center who averaged double-figure rebounding, scored at a 14-point clip. He is a senior.
Joining Council on the all-city girls team were two of her teammates, Kim Elliott and Shelly Singleton, Norcom's Felisha Brown and Wilson's Amanda Johnson.
Council sparked Churchland to the regular-season title in the Southeastern with a conference-leading 17.4 average. The senior guard is a three-time all-city selection.
Elliott, a junior forward, was elevated from last year's second team. She had a 12.7 scoring average and ranked second in the city, fourth in the district.
Singleton is a sophomore center. She had an 11.5 scoring mark.
Brown, also a first-team pick a year ago, led Norcom in scoring with a 9.3 average. She is a senior center.
A junior forward, Johnson topped Wilson in pointmaking with an 7-point average.
The second team included Churchland's Courtney Hundley and Stacey Hundley, Norcom's Tijuana Folston and Toni Shannon and Wilson's Regina Cowan. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Perez Bottoms
MVP, from Wilson
Nicole Council
MVP, from Churchland
by CNB