THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603160499
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
For the third time in the past five years, a Suffolk school will play for the state Group AA basketball championship.
But this time it's not Nansemond River.
Lakeland, which has consistently produced solid teams only to be overshadowed by its more successful neighbor, earned its place in the spotlight Friday with a 64-54 victory over Northside at Liberty University.
Nansemond River, which beat Lakeland five times this season and hoped to be playing for its third state title in the '90s, lost to Liberty High 59-58 in the first semifinal.
Lakeland (19-9) meets Liberty (24-0) today at 2:45 p.m. for the championship.
``We're just happy to be there,'' Lakeland coach John Fuller said. ``I don't care who else is there as long as we are.''
Several Cavaliers followed Fuller's lead. ``I'm just happy,'' senior center John Ricks said. ``I've been waiting four years for this.''
Lakeland trailed 31-29 with 3:17 left in the third quarter when it went on a magical shooting tear that broke open the game.
The Cavaliers hit 12 of their next 14 shots from the field, capped by Amon Cross' fastbreak layup that made it 58-38 with 2:34 left in t he game. Cross, the Cavaliers' sixth man, led all scorers with 21 points. Damon Tillery added 19 points, 15 in the second half.
`` Tillery hurt us inside, no question,'' Northside coach Bill Pope said. ``But what hurt most was Cross stepping up with the 3s and (Brian) Baker hitting the short jump shots.
``We were trying to stop the inside game and suddenly they began hitting from the outside.''
Lakeland enjoyed the enviable position of being much taller while being just as quick. The 6-foot-7 Ricks owned a six-inch height advantage over the tallest Northside starter and used it to block five shots.
That forced the Vikings (17-9) to shoot from the perimeter and they hit only 40 percent from the field. Northside was 7 of 21 from beyond the 3-point mark, but four of those baskets came during a wild final two minutes when it trimmed the deficit to six.
For the most part, however, Lakeland's aggressive man-to-man defense allowed Northside few good looks at the basket. Then late in the third quarter Fuller pulled a master strategic stroke by deploying the Cavaliers in a full-court press.
Northside hit 2 of 7 field-goal attempts with five turnovers over the next five minutes as Lakeland's lead grew to 14.
``That kind of shook them up,'' Fuller said.
Asked about the timing of the press, he added, ``You save it until you need it. I thought they were getting a little tired.''
Northside led 11-7 when Lakeland went on a 14-2 run to go ahead 21-13. Cross ignited the streak with a pair of treys.
Northside responded with a 10-2 run to go up 24-23. ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/The Virginian-Pilot
Herman Knight of Lakeland, left, drives past Northside's Spence
Peters during state semifinal action Friday.
by CNB