THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512020734
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMI FRANKENBERRY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Portsmouth and Suffolk high schools split first-round games of the Nansemond River Tipoff, as Churchland upset eighth-ranked Lakeland 61-54 and No. 2 Nansemond River beat Norcom 66-56 in season openers for each school Friday night.
Dion Langley scored 20 points and hit a layup and two foul shots in the final seconds to lead the Truckers.
The Cavaliers, who trailed by 12 early in the second half, tied the game at 51 with 3:17 remaining on Damon Tillery's layup, but Langley poured in five of Churchland's final 10 points.
The Truckers felt they had something to prove after losing stars D.J. Dunbar and Marvin Rodgers to graduation.
``We felt like a lot of people were doubting us,'' Langley said. ``We just had to come out here and get it up.''
Tillery scored seven of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter for Lakeland, which had trailed since early in the game. Brian Baker and Amon Cross added nine points each for the Cavaliers, while Patrick Dulin and Evan Owens had 12 and 10 for the Truckers.
In the second game, Antoine Willie scored 34 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Nansemond River.
Norcom made an 8-2 run in the fourth quarter to pull within 52-51, but Willie scored six points and had two steals in the final three minutes.
Leroy Skinner and Anthony Jones had seven each for Nansemond River, while Xavier Drake scored 19 and Carlton Bowens added 13.
Lakeland will play Norcom tonight at 7 p.m., followed by Nansemond River and Churchland at 8:30. by CNB