THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603140120
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BETHEL LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
It must be nice for the Perquimans County girls basketball team to win a close one for a change.
After losing several heartbreakers this season, including one to Gates County at the buzzer, the Lady Pirates got their revenge last Saturday in the third round of the 1A state playoffs.
Danita Whidbee sank two free throws with 6.6 seconds to play to lift Perquimans over Gates County 30-29 at North Pitt High School.
It was the farthest Perquimans has gone in the playoffs in the history of the school.
With 9.3 seconds to play, Gates' Patika Jordan was fouled by Dysheba Jennings. Jordan sank the first throw to put the Red Barons up 29-28, but she missed the second attempt. Perquimans took control of the rebound. Near midcourt, Whidbee was fouled by Jordan with 6.6 seconds left.
Whidbee went to the foul line in a similar situation that teammate Michele Thomas faced in January. With no time left on the clock and trailing Williamston 50-49, Thomas had missed both free throws.
There would be no repeats on Saturday.
Whidbee sank the first free throw to tie the game. Perquimans head coach Tanya Turner then called a strategic timeout to set the defense. She reminded her team that Gates was not in the bonus, so the Pirates could be aggressive on defense after the second shot.
Back on the court, Whidbee hit the second free throw to put the Pirates up 30-29.
``I prayed to the Lord to let me hit both of them,'' Whidbee said after the game. ``I was just focusing on the basket, and I blocked everything else out.''
Gates advanced the ball to midcourt on its last possession, but Whidbee reached in for a steal to end the game.
Gates led almost the entire game and held a 24-18 lead at the end of the third quarter. But Perquimans scored the first five points of the fourth period to get back in the contest.
Kristie Roberson, who has been Perquimans' most dependable go-to player all season, scored to open the quarter. Whidbee followed with a rebound and a jumper. Jennings added a free throw with 4:02 to play to cut the Gates lead to 24-23.
Both teams played sloppily in the first half. The Pirates did not score their first basket until the second quarter.
``There was a lot of pressure on both teams,'' Turner said. ``Neither team had ever gotten this far in the playoffs.'' Turner also said that Perquimans played Gates' run-and-gun style of offense in the first half.
``We're more of a slow-down type of team,'' Turner said. ``In the second half we switched to a zone offense. It worked. That's when we started playing better.''
The Pirates have had some tough luck all season, including four straight conference losses.
``They made it here last year (to the final 16) and they thought they had a better team than last year,'' Turner said. ``They had something to prove. People were giving up on them. They never gave up. Even during that streak, they were still talking state championship.''
Roberson said she had doubts when the team was losing.
``I thought that maybe this year wasn't meant to be. We had such high expectations after last year,'' she said. ``We already had it in our minds to go farther. The hardest part was losing the close ones. We kind of put it in God's hands after that.'' by CNB