DATE: Friday, August 1, 1997                TAG: 9707300183

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 12   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   60 lines

TEAMS VIE WITH BEACH FOR TOP HONORS RECENT GAMES SHOWED POWER SHIFT LIKELY WHEN TALENTED CHESAPEAKE TEAMS PROVED HARD TO BEAT.

IS CHESAPEAKE poised to supplant Virginia Beach as the home of South Hampton Roads' best high school girls basketball teams?

That was the impression some observers took away from the championship game of the Virginia Beach-based Rising Stars summer league, where Deep Creek defeated Great Bridge, 44-23, in the first all-Chesapeake final in the league's five-year history.

``There's going to be a power shift,'' league director Brian Miller said. ``The Beach will be down some and Great Bridge, Deep Creek and Oscar Smith will be tough to beat.''

Such a shift would be quite dramatic, as Virginia Beach teams, particularly Salem and Kempsville, have dominated the local hoop scene in recent years. Salem won the 1996 Eastern Region title, and the Chiefs and Sun Devils are the only South Hampton Roads teams to reach the region final since 1990. And in the previous four seasons of summer league play, Virginia Beach teams have finished 1-2 every year except 1994, when Kempsville defeated Indian River in the final.

But the 1997-98 campaign shapes up as a banner one for Chesapeake, Deep Creek summer league coach Dennis Hollobaugh said.

``I don't know if I'd call it a shift, but there's definitely a more even spread of wealth when it comes to talented teams,'' Hollobaugh said.

Hollobaugh credited the greater involvement of youth coaches in girls basketball for the city-wide growth of the sport. And no program seems to be growing faster than Deep Creek. The Hornets, who also lead the Wilson summer league that concludes play Saturday, won with a lineup primarily of freshmen and sophomores.

The Rising Star circuit also featured the highly anticipated high-school debut of 5-foot-6 Hornets guard Cynthia Jordan, who scored a team-high 12 points against the Wildcats. Deep Creek coach Otis Etheridge said he's been charting the progress of Jordan since she was in fourth grade, and that she was ready to play on his varsity by the time she reached seventh grade.

``She's incredibly poised for her age,'' Hollobaugh said of Jordan, who played with Boo Williams' 13-and-under team in the national AAU championships in Orlando two weeks ago. ``The wisdom and presence she brings to the court is really something to see.''

``I compare her to my Okeisha Howard,'' Princess Anne coach Darnell Dozier added, referring to the Cavaliers' high-scoring All-Tidewater guard. ``She's a cool as a cucumber.''

LEAGUE NOTES: Anita Pettiford, a rising senior at Great Bridge, was named the Most Valuable Player of the Sand Division, by vote of the league coaches. Princess Anne rising sophomore Shareese Grant was the Water Division MVP. ... In addition to Jordan, many coaches in attendance are also expecting an immediate impact from Great Bridge rising freshman Christina Sparrow, who has provided solid inside play this summer. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER

Anita Pettiford, left, and Erika Smith of Great Bridge put the

defensive clamps on Deep Creek's Sherry Butler in the Summer League

final.

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