THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607270396
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 42 lines
Could it be that the Princess Anne High girls basketball team has finally arrived?
If the Rising Star summer girls basketball league is any indication, yes they have.
The Cavaliers captured the regular season championship in the Water Division and capped the summer by defeating Kempsville 32-31 Friday for the tournament title.
It was a big turnaround from last winter, when Kempsville beat Princess Anne in every outing.
``This is sweet,'' said Cavaliers point guard O'Keshia Howard, who scored 9 points. ``We're bigger and faster with some of the younger girls we have comng up and they meshed well with our veterans.
``We're going to be hard to beat when we're playing well.''
Princess Anne, which finished league play unbeaten, jumped out to a 15-2 lead before holding a 21-12 advantage at the half.
But with 9:15 left in the game, Kempsville's Erin Duckett hit a driving shot in the lane to close the gap to 24-23. The Chiefs took a 29-28 lead when Duckett hit a pair of free throws with 2:13 left.
Shareese Grant tied the game at 30-30 on a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left, only to have Rayven Williamson give Kempsville a 31-30 lead 10 seconds later.
Suawana Taylor won the game when she collected a loose ball after a Shaunte Fentress miss and scored from about eight feet out.
The Freshwater Division got balanced scoring from eight players to defeat the Saltwater Division 45-37 in the Water League All-Star game. Hickory's Denita Griffin and Princess Anne's Daminica Moody were high scorers with eight points each.
Raquita Washington led Booker T. in a 49-47 overtime victory over Lakeland to take the championship in the Sand Division. Lavonne Cuffee had 12 for Booker T., while Lakeland was led by Rebecca Demiel's 18.
In the Sand All-Star game, Juritus Thompson of Lake Taylor had 15 points to lead the Sand Pebble conference over the Beach Sand conference, 46-45. Beach Sand was led by Bayside forward Aretha Williams' 18. by CNB