THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702211019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 46 lines
Oscar Smith's defense harassed Lakeland into the poorest scoring performance in the 30-year history of the Southeastern District tournament and blitzed the Cavaliers 60-30 to gain an Eastern Region tournament berth Thursday at Oscar Smith.
The seventh-seeded Tigers earned the district's second berth in the regional event when top seed Indian River, the area's No. 1-ranked team, pasted Great Bridge 88-62 in Thursday's other semifinal.
The defending tournament champion Braves assured themselves of a No. 1 regional seed by winning the regular season title.
Indian River (17-5) and Oscar Smith (11-12) will meet in the district championship tonight at 7:45 p.m. at Oscar Smith.
Mydrione Halsey scored 25 points to lead the Tigers and Lavar Griffin and Cliff Jacobs added 14 apiece. But it was their aggressive man-to-man defense that truly stymied the Cavaliers.
Lakeland (12-10) missed all 10 of its first-quarter attempts, made just 2 of 22 in the first half and shot 16 percent from the field for the game.
Oscar Smith led 31-9 at halftime.
``We picked our intensity up and evidently they couldn't handle it,'' Halsey said.
The Tigers gave special attention to Cavaliers forward Damon Tillery, and it paid off as the area's fourth-leading scorer missed his first seven shots and finished with only five points before fouling out with 5:02 remaining. Lakeland would not score again.
The previous low score was 31 by Manor in 1988.
Prior to the tournament, the Tigers were just 2-8 under coach Shane Smith, who took over in January after Sandy Williams underwent surgery.
``Coach Williams would have been proud of the defense they played tonight,'' Smith said.
Defense was also the key for the Braves, whose quickness and pursuit proved too much for the ball-control-oriented Wildcats (10-13). Indian River went with a five-guard lineup for much of the game and gave Great Bridge a preview of the horrors to come by forcing three turnovers in the first 90 seconds and sprinting to a 7-0 lead.
David Selby led the Braves with 26 points and James Boyd added 20.
Indian River's victory spoiled the return of Stephen Parker, the Wildcats forward who collapsed during a game against Hickory Jan. 29. Parker was released from the hospital Wednesday and sat courtside Thursday night.