THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503090195
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Much has been said about the Manteo High School athletic program this year, both boys and girls. Another Manteo team took a conference tournament championship last week, and played well all season without much fanfare.
Heather Daniels poured in 26 points despite foul trouble, as the Lady Redskins dumped surprising Edenton-Holmes 57-52 to win the Northeastern Conference championship.
Edenton's fourth quarter comeback fell short. The Lady Redskins led by as much as 47-30 with 4:50 to play on a jumper by Amy Lane. With Daniels, Manteo's center, on the bench with four fouls, the Lady Aces outscored Manteo 22-10 to finish the game. The Lady Aces went on a 10-point run down to the 2:44 mark to cut the Manteo lead to 47-40. Lane countered with a jumper for the Lady Redskins to open it up to 49-40 with 2:15 to play.
But reserve guard Michelle Bass ignited the hometown crowd with a long 3-pointer at 2:15 to cut the Manteo lead to six points. Daniels went back in the game and the Manteo strategy was to get her the ball on the inside. It worked, as Daniels sank three of four free throws to up the lead to 53-43 with 1:29 to play. But once again, Bass bombed from 3-point range and put Edenton back in the game with 1:19 to play.
Manteo head coach Bill Bohannon said it was important to have Daniels back on the court late in the game.
``When Heather came off the court, I told her she was going to have to sit until about the three-minute mark,'' Bohannon said. ``She's our leading free throw percentage shooter. We had both her and Felicia Norman off the court at the same time. Another two minutes like that and I don't know if we would have won.''
With Daniels back in the game, she sank all four of her final free throws to hold off the Lady Aces as the Lady Redskins led 57-49 with 33 seconds to play. Edenton-Holmes made it closer by scoring the final three points of the game.
Bohannon said he was concerned coming into the tournament because the Lady Redksins had lost three of their last four games.
``We had every opportunity to win the conference outright,'' he said. ``We had just 24 points in the last regular season game.''
Lane scored 13 points for Manteo and Norman added 12 points.
For Edenton, Alison Goodwin led with 18 points and Bass finished with 13 points. by CNB