THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503070076
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Heading into the season, everybody knew Kempsville was going to have a good girls basketball team.
The Chiefs had advanced to region play the previous year and had many starters returning, as well as talented junior varsity players coming up.
But just how good they'd be was anybody's guess.
It didn't take long to find out.
In the Salem Invitational Christmas tournament, Kempsville blasted three opponents in four days.
``It was then that they really came together as a team,'' coach Greg Dunn said. ``The kids were together all the time - on and off the court. They had dinner together and stuff like that.''
They also showed the rest of the league that they probably would live up to all expectations.
A balanced scoring attack fueled by a tenacious full-court, trapping-zone press was going to give opponents considerable trouble.
``Games against Salem were important, because we've always had a good, healthy rivalry with them,'' Dunn said, adding that games against a physical First Colonial squad proved valuable, too.
But one of the most important games came against Princess Anne, when the Chiefs were without center Carrie Johnson.
``She's our key, our anchor,'' he said. ``That showed the kids that they could still play without her.''
Then there was a game against Green Run where the Chiefs were down at halftime.
``That was a new experience and we dealt with it,'' Dunn said. ``We picked it up, came back and won.''
Through it all, Kempsville was destroying its opponents by margins of 20, 30, sometimes 40 points. Rarely were the Chiefs tested.
Then late in the season, they found themselves down late in the fourth quarter.
``First time we had to deal with being down that late in a close game,'' Dunn recalled. ``Anytime you overcome such adversities, it's good and it builds.
``We're young and we needed to have those things.''
Through it all, Kempsville learned. They played sick and hurt but always managed to to win.
``It's hard to think of any low points of the season,'' Dunn said. ``There was the first game against Salem when we came out with no intensity or aggressiveness. That was probably the only time I've been frustrated.
``It's really been a very smooth season. When you're 28-0, it's hard to think of anything that's gone wrong.''
- Lee Tolliver MEMO: [For a related story, see page 8 of The Beacon for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: KEMPSVILLE (28-0)
[For a copy of the roster, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB