THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, March 2, 1995                TAG: 9503020611
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                         LENGTH: Medium:   68 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** The state girls Group AAA basketball tournament begins March 11 with the four region champions serving as hosts. A story in Thursday's paper had the wrong date and site. Correction published Friday, March 3, 1995, page C6. ***************************************************************** MORE ON THE LINE IN E. REGION REMATCH WHEN CHURCHLAND AND KECOUGHTAN MEET THIS TIME, ONLY ONE WILL ADVANCE.

Last year when Churchland and Kecoughtan met in the Eastern Region final, both had already nailed down berths to the state tournament.

This year, there's more at stake.

Due to the annual rotation of pairings, the Truckers and Warriors will battle in tonight's second Eastern Region boys semifinal game with a state tournament berth on the line.

Unlike last year's regional final, the loser's season will be over.

In the night's first semifinal, two teams that finished second in their districts meet after knocking off district champions on Tuesday.

Southeastern District representative Indian River faces Maury of the Eastern District at Churchland High at 6 p.m.

Kecoughtan also finished second in its district. But nobody's disputing that the Warriors are the Peninsula District's most lethal team, particularly after their march through the Peninsula tournament and a scintillating 64-62 victory over Granby Tuesday.

Churchland is coming off a 51-50 victory over Tallwood.

The Kecoughtan-Churchland matchup offers some intriguing position-by-position head-to-heads, including:

Kecoughtan's 6-foot-6 Nsilo Abraham (16.1 points per game) against Churchland's 6-9 forward Marvin Rodgers (14.8 ppg).

Kecoughtan's 6-3 guard Brett Harper (Peninsula District-best 20.9 ppg) against Churchland's D.J. Dunbar (Southeastern District-best 20.5 ppg).

Kecoughtan point guard Marseilles Brown (10.1 ppg) against Churchland's Mike Holland (12.0 ppg).

``I'm sure it will be a pressure-filled game,'' Churchland coach Mac Carroll said. ``And both teams felt the pressure (Tuesday in the quarterfinals).

``But winning some of the close games we have this year builds character.''

Kecoughtan coach Revis Conrad's main hope is that Churchland refrains from ``having a game like they did against us last year when they didn't miss a shot.'' Churchland won, 69-53.

Maury coach Jack Baker has been talking with reverence about Indian River for much of the season. Now he must face the Braves, who are coming off a 61-57 victory over Bayside.

Maury beat Menchville, 62-54, in the quarterfinals.

``There's not much to dislike about (Indian River),'' Baker said. ``They're big, quick and they can shoot the ball. We've got to control the tempo. If the score gets into the 80s, we're in trouble.''

FINAL-GAME CORRECTION: The championship game of the Eastern Region boys Group AAA boys basketball tournament is scheduled to be played Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Churchland. A chart in Tuesday's and Wednesday's editions contained the wrong day. by CNB