THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120812
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 49 lines
Call it a Big Mac attack.
A big McKinley Ford attack, that is.
The 6-foot-7, 230-pound Ford pumped in 21 points and teammate Brian Bersticker added 14 to lead seventh-ranked Kempsville over No. 9 Ocean Lakes 72-60 in a Beach District game Tuesday night.
The victory moved the Chiefs (14-6, 12-5 district) into a second-place tie with the Dolphins, who dropped to 13-7, 12-5 with one league game remaining. Kempsville plays at Bayside Friday night, while Ocean Lakes travels to Salem.
For Kempsville, the win was an inside job. Before the game, Ford and the 6-10 Bersticker received plaques commemorating their nomination to the McDonald's High School All-American team.
The super-sized pair then gave the Chiefs some extra value.
``They're a force inside,'' Kempsville guard Steve Loder said. ``Our team centers around them.''
Ford got the Chiefs going early, and Kempsville ran off to a 21-6 lead late in the first quarter. Ocean Lakes then did some running of its own and cut the Kempsville lead to three, at 33-30, by halftime.
``It was a full-court game,'' Ford said. ``Both teams were a little tired.''
The frantic pace continued through the third quarter, when the deeper Chiefs began to pull away. Kempsville led 50-46 with 30 seconds left in the quarter, but went on a 13-2 run to stretch the lead to 63-48 just four minutes later.
Ford had seven points in the stretch, almost all on layups. Bersticker had eight of his 14 after halftime.
``It was up and down the whole game,'' Bersticker said. ``They get out on the break well, and like to press. We luckily got ourselves under control.''
Ocean Lakes stayed close behind the 3-point shooting of Lorenzo Gales (18 points) and Derell Stephens (13 points), who made three treys each.
But except for some fast-break layups, the Dolphins had a hard time scoring inside, where Bersticker was a towering presence.
The senior, who has signed with North Carolina, had seven blocks, and altered several other shots. Bersticker served up a couple of leather sandwiches so emphatically that there was only one thing left to say:
``You want fries with that?'' ILLUSTRATION: IAN MARTIN
The Virginian-Pilot
Kempsville's Rayshawn Mitchell, left, makes his move Tuesday night
with Ocean Lakes' Walter Amos in pursuit.