THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503300153
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 30 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The annual St. Gregory's Catholic Church Basketball Tournament has a rich roundball tradition - reading like a Who's Who of local players.
Former local high schoolers D.J. Dozier and Dawn Cullen - along with many current high school players - have shown their skills in the tiny gym before moving on to bigger ones.
``J.R. Reid played here before he was J.R. Reid,'' said John Zanelli, president of the athletic association at the school.
Zanelli held his hand about waist high to indicate Reid's height at the time, considerably less than his current 6-foot-9.
To that list of stars, add another name that's already famous: O.J. No, not the great football player appearing daily on Court TV. This O.J. goes by the last name of Smith. He plays guard for the city recreation league's Plaza Heat. Smith led his team to an unbeaten season in the 13- and 14-year-old division.
Teammates call him ``The Juice'' and he looks solid enough to play football. He's also fast, like his namesake. He can lead the fast break, shoot outside, drive to the basket and pass the ball to an open teammate when the defense doubles him. He's the team leader on offense and defense, gettting signals from coach Kenny Deaton and relaying them to his teammates.
In leading Plaza to a 48-29 win in the final of the boys 13-14 division, Smith scored six quick points, then started directing the offense to lead Plaza to a 20-14 halftime advantage.
He spent the rest of the game passing to open teammates as the Heat got hotter in the second half. Plaza relies on a pressing, trapping defense to wear down opponents - in this case, the Chesapeake Boo Williams 13-14 team.
``We get a lot of points off the half-court trap and the full-court press,'' said Deaton. ``But even when we don't get points off a turnover, we're still confusing people and making them work harder.''
The single-elimination tournament began on March 4 and 5, and concluded on March 12 with champions crowned in six brackets: girls and boys 10-12, girls and boys 13-14 and junior varsity-level players for boys and girls.
Another beach community recreation team took the title in the boys 10-12. The Courthouse Hawks - another unbeaten team - defeated the Woodstock 76ers, 40-23. Bruce Harrison scored 17 points to lead the Hawks to victory.
Les Hawks' Aragona/Pembroke Bulls finished third in the boys 10-12. His boys lost to the eventual champions by five points.
``Our team is 63-10 over the past three seasons,'' said Hawks. ``I like working with kids this age, try to instill skills they can take to the next level. Prepare youngsters for high school and, hopefully, beyond.''
St. Gregory's, the host school, may have been too good a host. Their teams finished third in the girls junior varsity division and the boys 13-14. They took second place in the girls 10-12. But they failed to capture a title this time.
Not to worry, said Zanelli.
``The important thing here, from our standpoint, is preparing these kids for higher levels of play. And it's all volunteer work by the coaches.''
Considering some of the products they have turned out it looks like mission accomplished, so far. Don't be surprised to read about another St. Gregory's player in the future. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
A.J. Matthew of the Woodstock 76ers drives past Daniel Macaluso,
left, and Matt Kemick of the Courthouse Hawks during the final game
of the boys age 10-12 bracket of the St. Gregory's Catholic Church
basketball tournament. The Hawks won, 40-23.
by CNB