THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 18, 1997 TAG: 9702180515
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 67 lines
Cox didn't need a victory over Bayside in Monday's quarterfinal nightcap at Kellam - the Beach District regular-season champs advance no matter.
But if they wanted a good test heading into next week's Eastern Region tournament, they got it from the Marlins in an 86-79 overtime Falcons victory.
Cox (20-2) set several records in the game, with Jaime Irvine netting 36 points to break the record of 35 held by three players. The Falcons also broke the free throws made record of 27 with an impressive 29 of 32 effort from the line. Both teams tied the 3-point mark of seven.
But it was the free throws that kept Bayside (7-14) at bay during the overtime.
Cox hit 15 of 16 free throws in the extra four minutes, with Carl Lentz going 9 for 10. Lentz finished with 33 points, including three 3-pointers. Irvine had four and was perfect from the free throw line in 14 attempts.
Charles Holloway had four 3-pointers for Bayside, and hit a running one-handed bank shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
And Latane Meade played outstanding man-to-man defense in the second half, holding Malachi Hernandez to only seven points. Hernandez led the Marlins attack in the first half with 14 points.
``I asked at halftime who could stop Malachi and Latane raised his hand and said he could,'' Cox coach Kenny Edwards said. ``He stepped up and really shut him down.
``Bayside played a super game and we needed those kinds of efforts to win it.''
The Falcons will face Salem in Wednesday's 7:30 semifinal at Ocean Lakes. Ocean Lakes will take on Kempsville in Thursday's 7:30 semifinal.
In other Beach
District quarterfinals: Ocean Lakes 78, Tallwood 70: Like Cox, the Dolphins also got some great foul shooting down the stretch.
With the Lions making a game of it throughout, Ocean Lakes (15-7) needed 9-for-10 foul shooting in the game's final two minutes to preserve the victory.
The Dolphins held a 50-46 lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Lions took the lead at 52-50 with 6:42 left when Brendan Rooney nailed his second 3-pointer of the game.
Walter Amos finally tied the game for Ocean Lakes with a nice inside move three minutes later. Tallwood (9-11) would never lead again.
Lions center Terrel Taylor led all scorers with 33 points. Olds had 22 for Ocean Lakes and 20 from C.J. Matthews.
Kempsville 63, Green Run 48: The Chiefs held off the upset-minded Stallions with 8 of 10 foul shooting in the final five minutes.
Levar Wright had four of his 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the line late in the game.
The Stallions (7-14) were down by only two with six minutes left, thanks in part to a pesky defense that forced 16 Kempsville turnovers through three quarters.
But the Chiefs (16-6) settled down in the fourth and were better able to use the strong inside play of Brian Bersticker and McKinley Ford. Ford finished with a game-high 20 points - eight in the final period. Bersticker had 13 points.
Green Run was led by James Oaks' 13 points, while Andre Jackson had 12.
Salem 50, Princess Anne 29: The Sun Devils (11-11) used one of their typical ball-control game plans to upend the Cavaliers (12-10).
Salem held a 21-8 lead going into the second half, as Princess Anne only scored two points in the second quarter. The second half was only slightly better for the Cavaliers, who scored 21 points, but were still outscored.
Salem's Rashad Smith led all scorers with 16 points. Ryan Nicodemus was Princess Anne's leader with only 7.