THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603220231
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The Independence Middle School girls basketball team lost its starting center and leading scorer, but won the city championship nonetheless.
With Hayley Brooks sitting on the bench, the Eagles used a scrambling, full-court press on defense and a patient offensive attack to beat Princess Anne 30-22 in the first of two Virginia Beach Middle School League championship games last week at Bayside.
Brooks broke her left wrist in practice two days before the title game.
``We'll go with a smaller, quicker team,'' said coach Laura Lee prior to the game. ``We have good ball handlers, good guards.''
She was right.
One of those guards, Cory Alexander led the Lady Eagles to their second straight city title. She scored six points, directed the offense and made crisp passes inside. Alexander ran a fast break that benefited from Princess Anne turnovers often enough to leave the Panthers off balance.
Sharon LaVigne scored 10 points, while Rebecca Cummings had eight.
``It was a total team effort,'' said Lee after the victory. ``We wanted to stop (Princess Anne center Charmain Allen) and we did.
Lee gave credit to her assistant, Craig Doren, calling him ``a great strategist and motivator.''
Independence came within two points of a perfect season. It lost to Bayside Middle School 42-41 during the regular season to finish 10-1.
Kempsville ruined the Independence boys' hopes of completing a perfect season. Independence entered the title game 10-0, but lost to Kempsville 47-33.
Kempsville charged to a 19-4 lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back. The Braves came into the contest at 7-3.
Independence scored just two points the first seven minutes of the game and looked out of rhythm.
Kempsville used a patient offense and a Herculean effort by Sudan Tannehill to take a 22-11 lead at halftime. Tannehill scored seven points, pulled down as many rebounds and led the Braves on the floor. Tannehill and center Blake Burnette controlled the inside game on both ends of the floor.
Tannehill finished with 15 points, including a couple of clutch 3-point plays down the stretch.
After a sputtering first half, Independence came back to score 11 points in the third quarter and closed the gap to 29-22 going into the last quarter.
But Kempsville showed poise during the final quarter, posting 18 points - many coming on foul shots as the Eagles tried to catch up by putting the Braves on the line.
Kempsville coach Joey Caruthers, a former Old Dominion University star, emphasized team play, while acknowledging Tannehill's role.
``We may not have terrific athletes, but our boys play together well,'' said Caruthers. ``Our defense was strong all year. We felt we would have a chance if we controlled the tempo and kept the score low.''
Caruthers didn't see Independence play, but did say that he saw the scores of some of their games.
``We knew they'd scored in the 70s, so we talked about slowing them down, pressing them. We played a tough zone and it worked.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by L. TODD SPENCER
The Independence Middle School girls hold up the championship trophy
they won, despite the loss of their center and leading scorer.
Lamario Miller, left, of Independence Middle School vies with
Kempsville's Brian Hudak for a loose ball.
by CNB