THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503140125
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Lee Tolliver
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
SOME HOW, SOME WAY, no matter how well or how badly they play, the Kempsville Chiefs girls basketball team keeps finding a way to win.
The Chiefs - 29-0 and counting!
Early in the season, Kempsville cruised - destroying opponents by lopsided margins of 20, 30 and even 40 points.
Then the Chiefs had to deal with frustrations and close games.
Still, they won.
At some point each and every player has stepped up her game and come through with a performance that, in hindsight, was critical to the team getting where it is now.
The Chiefs are going to the show. Yep. The Final Four. The big dance. High school's version of the NCAA's March Madness.
Saturday's 57-52 victory over Midlothian's James River in the Group AAA state quarterfinals was just one more step toward perfection - an unbeaten record and a state championship.
And while there are two more obstacles in the way, anything is possible at this point.
They can picture it now - 31-0, the new Group AAA state girls basketball champions, the Kempsville Chiefs.
``Obviously, the girls are very excited,'' coach Greg Dunn said. ``It's one thing to set goals, especially high ones. But it's another to realize them.
``We've talked about going to state for the last three years. But a lot of us not going had to do with Salem (last year's state champion). When we beat them in last year's district tournament and they still went on and won state, we said, `Hey, we can do this, too.' Now we have the chance.''
A big factor in Kempsville's favor when it meets Robinson in a 1 p.m. semifinal Thursday at Liberty University's Vines Center in Lynchburg will be that fact that Dunn's players are never satisfied.
``We want to do something more than just go up there,'' Dunn said. ``Saturday's game at Churchland was the state tournament, but it didn't have that feel. It's not the same as going to the Final Four where all the other teams play in the same place.
``Thursday will be the state tournament and the girls are very pumped up about it.''
Ah, atmosphere. You can feel the energy at the state tournament and it is often a great equalizer.
For Dunn, the run to the title has been just as much fun as it has for his players. Favoring coaching girls because of what he describes as their incredible desire to learn and succeed at the game, Dunn is enjoying the fruits of four years of work at both the high school and AAU level.
Thursday, win or lose, just being there will be his reward.
But the players want more. They want to keep the state title in Virginia Beach and realize that they are now playing not just for themselves and Kempsville, but for the Beach District and the fierce level of competition that helped prepare them for what they are facing.
All along, the Chiefs have carried a careful air of confidence evident on their warmup T-shirts.
``We're not conceited, we're convinced.''
When James River's hotshot guard Katie Tracey - the Central Region player of the year - went up and shook the hand of Charlette Fayton after the Kempsville guard nailed the first of a crucial one-and-one at the end of the game, it appeared that many others were equally convinced.
And at 29-0, who wouldn't be! ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY C. KNAPP
Carrie Johnson of Kempsville drives for a layup.
Charlette Fayton shoots for two points over Katie Tracey of James
River. The Kempsville guard nailed a crucial free throw at the end
of the game.
by CNB