THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9412290176
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CAMDEN LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
There have been a lot of changes in Camden County High School athletics this school year. The football team was more than respectable and the volleyball team went deep into the 1A playoffs. Perhaps the biggest miracle of all has been the turnaround of the girls basketball team.
The Lady Bruins knocked off Currituck County 69-52 in the first round of the Four County Classic Basketball Tournament this past week to up their record to 6-0. Last year, the team won just three games all season.
The focus of the Lady Bruins continues to be junior guard Holly Meads who is averaging 22 points per game. Last year, she was most of the Camden offense. This year, she has some support and that has made all the difference.
Sophomore center Mindy Meiggs, who played the tough position as a freshman last year, has become a legitimate scoring threat. Other starters include Connie Spellman, Stacey Thornton and Starr Spencer, the lone senior.
Camden has not had it easy during the streak. Down by 20 points on two different occasions against Edenton-Holmes and Northeastern, the Lady Bruins came back in the fourth quarter for wins. In the Currituck game, the Knights held tight with the Bruins and trailed by just one point with 7:09 to play in the first half on a 3-pointer by Alisha Banks. But like they've done all year, the Lady Bruins opened the game up with a 17-0 run over a nearly six-minute span of the second quarter. Meads poured in seven of her 28 points during the run.
Camden head coach Dianne Overton said that a big key to the Lady Bruins' success is their ability to rebound despite being a small team.
``We are slightly bigger than last year and we have a lot of speed,'' Overton said. ``Last year we just couldn't rebound. We are small so we have to box out and if they outjump us we hope that they will jump on our backs.''
Overton said having an extra scoring threat this year has also helped.
``We've worked on the inside play with Mindy (Meiggs), especially her shooting technique,'' Overton said.
The work has paid off. Meiggs has been averaging over 10 points per game and scored 17 against Currituck. While Meads does plenty of scoring, she and Meiggs also connect often on an inside play where Meads dumps a pass to Meiggs over the defenders' head when the defender is facing the basket. It worked almost every time against Currituck.
The two players are strictly to the point when talking about that play.
``I try to get the ball into Mindy when I can,'' Meads said.
``We feel like we have the advantage under there,'' Meiggs said.
Both players feel like the 1994-95 version of the Lady Bruins is much more of a team effort than last year.
``Last year we didn't have all that much teamwork,'' Meads said. ``This year we work together, mostly.''
``It's a team thing this year. Last year it was all Holly. This year it's all of us,'' Meiggs said. by CNB