THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411240264
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 25 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
SHE ISN'T HARD to spot.
Hope Knight is the one out in front during bleacher drills.
She is the one who finished her two-mile run first and rushed to get onto the basketball court to start shooting.
Maintaining a strict, self-imposed work ethic is just part of this Lakeland senior's nature.
``If you don't work hard in practice, it will catch up with you in games,'' Knight said.
``She works hard every day,'' Lakeland girls basketball coach Stephanie Odom said. ``Hope is a coach's dream. She fights to the end of every game.
``I even have other coaches and people come up to me and say, `That No. 45 sure is strong. She works so hard the whole game.' ''
The 5-foot-11 senior center was the top vote-getter on the All-Bay Rivers District's team and was instrumental in leading Lakeland into the region and state tournaments.
``For me to come out on top of everyone was really special,'' Knight said.
She tallied 20 points in the Cavaliers' loss to Brunswick in the final of the Region I tournament and averaged 23.4 points through the Bay Rivers tournament, including games of 31 and 28 points.
But even Knight's work ethic wasn't enough for the Cavaliers to overcome Region II champion R.E. Lee in the first round of the Group AA state tournament on Tuesday.
R.E. Lee rolled its record to 27-0 with a 71-26 pounding of Lakeland. Knight could only manage six points.
``We couldn't get the ball up court,'' Odom said. ``We had worked on the two-man trap in practice and when we got to the game it was like they had never seen it before.''
The Cavaliers wrapped up their season at a very respectable 17-6, but fell way short of their goal - the state title.
``This was our year,'' Knight said. ``In my four years here, this is the year for us to go all the way.''
The preseason area favorite, the Cavaliers got overshadowed late in the season by a much younger and inexperienced Nansemond River team.
The Warriors downed the Cavaliers in the final game of the regular season to earn a share of the Bay Rivers title and then went on to claim the tournament title.
``It really hurt us to lose to them,'' Knight said. ``Early on everybody was picking us to go all the way, and then towards the end that changed and they came out on top.''
Nansemond River was eliminated in the first round of the region tournament and Knight and the Cavaliers set out to prove that they belonged.
Lakeland powered its way to the Region final, which guaranteed the Cavaliers a berth in the state tournament.
Then they fell apart in the championship game and Knight and Odom blame the fact that the berth was already theirs.
``We weren't aggressive,'' Odom said. ``I don't think we worked as hard as we can.''
``I think a lot of people figured if we lose we are already going, so it's OK,'' Knight said.
Knight is the only senior who started every game for Lakeland, so Odom has high hopes for the years to come.
``When I asked people about this team (R.E. Lee), everybody told me they had been playing together since the fifth grade and went to summer camps together and played in summer leagues,'' first-year coach Odom said. ``So we are going to try to do some of that and work a little harder.
``I told the girls to hold their heads up high because a lot of teams would have loved to have gotten this far.
``It is hard because we came within one game of the district title and then within one game of the region. But I'm very pleased that we did get this far.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Hope Knight drives the ball down court during a recent practice
session at Lakeland High. The center, who is a senior, was
instrumental in leading her Cavaliers team into the regional and
state tournaments.
by CNB