THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190583
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 70 lines
Lavar Griffin and Mydrione Halsey combined for 54 points as seventh-seeded Oscar Smith stunned No. 2 Nansemond River 70-64 in the Southeastern District boys basketball quarterfinals Tuesday at Nansemond River. The Tigers (10-12) won for only the third time in 10 games under coach Shane Smith, who took over when Sandy Williams underwent back surgery. ``We won this for coach Williams,'' said Griffin, who led all scorers with 32 points.
The Tigers will face Lakeland in the tournament semifinals Thursday at 6 p.m. at Oscar Smith.
Griffin scored four points in the game's first 15 seconds as the Tigers sped off to a 14-3 lead. The Warriors (14-6) pulled to within five by halftime, but Halsey and Griffin combined for 19 points in the third quarter as the Tigers built the lead back to 20.
``I knew sooner or later a game like this would catch up with us, but I sure was hoping it wouldn't be tonight,'' Nansemond River coach Spencer Mayfield said. Nansemond River, a two-time state champion in Group AA, failed to advance to regional play for the first time since the school opened in 1990. Nansemond River guard Leroy Skinner led the Warriors with 25 points. Antoine Willie, the area's leading scorer who returned to the lineup after missing two games for disciplinary reasons, added 15 before fouling out with 5:09 remaining. ``The stuff with Antoine wasn't a distraction,'' Mayfield said. ``He was happy to be back, the kids were happy to be back and I was happy to get back to the business of playing basketball.''
In other tournament games:
Lakeland 62, Deep Creek 60: Earl White's layup with two seconds left in overtime lifted the sixth-seeded Cavaliers, who beat the No. 3 Hornets for the third time in three meetings at Nansemond River. It was also the second time in a week Lakeland had nipped Deep Creek in overtime. On Feb. 10, the Cavaliers prevailed on a Damon Tillery free throw with one second left in OT.
Damon Tillery rebounded Arnie Powell's missed free throw with eight seconds left and fed Terard Sessoms near midcourt. Sessoms hit a streaking White, who flipped home the game-winner.
Powell scored 13 points, but was just 3-of-11 on free throws. The Hornets (13-8) made only 14 of 30 from the line. Tillery finished with a game-high 28 points, including a big three-pointer with 1:03 to play that tied the game at 58. ``Coach told me to step outside,'' Tillery said. ``Then he told me to shoot it. Luckily, it rattled in.''
Lakeland (12-9) led by nine midway through the fourth quarter, but the Hornets rallied with pressure defense and took the lead with 1:31 remaining in regulation on a Chad Sorrell layup. Tillery sent the game into overtime with a free throw with 43 seconds left.
Indian River 86, Hickory 55: David Selby scored 28 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots as the No. 1 Braves advanced to the semifinals. Deshone Nichols added 16 points, seven steals and six assists and Curtis Chapman had 15 points for Indian River. James Boyd had seven rebounds and Doug Basnight handed out five assists. Akil Riddick paced the Hawks with 15 points. Indian River will play Great Bridge in the semis Thursday at 7:45 p.m. at Oscar Smith.
Great Bridge 71, Western Branch 53: Steve Hargrow had 17 points in the third quarter and Mike Cuddyer added six in a 17-5 second-quarter run as the Wildcats upended the fourth-seeded Bruins. Hargrow finished with 28 points, Cuddyer totaled 13 and Anthony Pollard had 12 for Great Bridge. Spencer Ross and David Fanning had 14 points each for Western Branch. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
Deep Creek's Chad Sarrell, right, works with the ball in his team's
62-60 loss in the Southeastern District opener.