THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150616
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
All season long, Kempsville lived by the 3-point shot.
But in Thursday's Group AAA girls state basketball semifinal, the Chiefs died by it.
Kempsville shot an uncharacteristic 26.2 percent from the field and connected on just 2 of 15 attempts from behind the 3-point arc as it fell 52-43 to James Robinson.
The Rams (23-6) advanced to Saturday's 7 p.m. final against James Madison, a 73-52 winner over James River in the other semifinal matchup. The Chiefs finished the season at 27-4.
``We had to go with what brought us here,'' Kempsville coach Greg Dunn said. ``If we're given the 3, we'll take it. We're not going to change anything at this point in the season.''
The Chiefs' shooting woes were evident early on, though they took a 9-6 first-quarter lead.
Kempsville missed its first two tries of the game and didn't get on the board until Toni Patillo hit a jumper at the 6:23 mark. Four missed layups and two minutes later, Kristin Cholewa connected on her team's second field goal after the Chiefs' full-court man-to-man press forced a turnover. For the period, Kempsville landed only 3 of 13 shots from the floor.
James Robinson, however, was just warming up.
The Rams fired back in the second quarter with a Mandy Ronay 3-pointer and then scored seven unanswered points.
``We were able to get things on transition,'' James Robinson coach Dwight Trimmer said. ``That's uncharacteristic of us.''
But the Rams domination on the boards was not.
When the Chiefs launched a missed shot, a James Robinson player was there to move it out. For the half, the Rams doubled the Chiefs with a 24-12 edge on the boards. Stephanie Szhwandt had nine of her 14 rebounds in the first half.
``They had a lot more rebounds to grab,'' Dunn said. ``That probably had to do with our low shooting percentage.''
In the third quarter, Kempsville's problems worsened.
The Rams' 1-1-3 zone defense limited the Chiefs to a field goal and four free throws. Meanwhile, Melissa Dalanoche came off the bench to score 8 of her 10 points - including a trey at the buzzer - during an 18-6 James Robinson run.
The Rams breezed through the Chiefs' press and capitalized on four fastbreak opportunities.
Kempsville's shots started falling in the fourth, but it was too late.
James Robinson carried a 38-25 lead into the final quarter and increased it to 42-26 with two quick baskets by Dalanoche and Kim Oakes.
With 51 seconds remaining, Erin Duckett closed the gap to 51-41 with a pair of layups and a 3-pointer. But time expired before the Chiefs could make good on their last-minute surge.
Duckett led Kempsville with 14 points, Patillo added 10 rebounds.
Ronay led four James Robinson players in double figures with 14. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/The Virginian-Pilot
At left, Kempsville guard Charlette Fayton ties up James Robinson's
Kim Oakes. Right, Adrian Nichols reacts during the final minutes of
the Chiefs' 52-43 loss.
by CNB