THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190737
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
School systems don't offer a gifted and talented program for basketball players, although if they did it would probably be at Indian River.
That being the case, Basketball Notebook polled nine area coaches representing the Beach, Eastern and Southeastern districts and the Tidewater Conference to discover the most physically gifted players they had seen in South Hampton Roads this season.
They were only supposed to vote for five, but one coach voted for eight. Maybe that's why his team is 14-0.
The margin of error is significant considering few coaches have seen all of the top players. But the results won't shock most fans.
Twenty-three players received at least one vote, but only nine got more than one.
The first five, with votes in parentheses, were Indian River's Jason Capel (6), Maury's Ike Richardson (6), Green Run's Will Brooks (5), Green Run's Plaxico Burress (4) and Tallwood's Rian Everett (4).
Also receiving more than one vote were Cox's Ben Green (3), Bayside's Kevin Yearwood (2), Indian River's James Boyd (2) and Lake Taylor's Toot Young (2).
BEACH DISTRICT SHOWDOWN: Second-ranked Tallwood can take a big step toward its first district title when it hosts No. 6 Green Run on Saturday night. The Lions are the only unbeaten team in district play at 6-0 entering tonight's game at First Colonial. Cox is 7-1 and Green Run is 6-1.
Tallwood still has to play at Cox and Green Run, but is finished with Bayside and Ocean Lakes. The Beach agreed to play a 14-game district schedule instead of a full 16-game schedule to help the Eastern District get games.
Green Run, which plays host to Bayside tonight, got a boost when Burress postponed a football recruiting visit to Florida planned for this weekend.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Bayside's Kevin Yearwood. The 6-foot-4 senior guard is a leading candidate for comeback player of the year. He is averaging 21.3 points, tops among area Group AAA players, along with 3.5 rebounds and 3 assists. He also draws the toughest assignment on defense.
Yearwood scored 35 points and hit six 3-pointers against Ocean Lakes and has been in double figures in all 12 games.
Yearwood sat out the second semester last season after failing a class, but has bounced back to make the honor roll and score over 900 on the SAT, Bayside coach Ron Jenkins said.
RIM SHOTS: Western Branch is 4-3 since freshmen Nathan Chappell and David Fanning were promoted to the varsity. Chappell, whose brother Ivan starts for VCU, is a 6-5 forward and Fanning is a 5-9 point guard . . . Portsmouth's three Southeastern District members are 0-12 in 1996. Churchland, the region champ in 1994 and a semifinalist last year, has fallen the furthest. The Truckers appear to miss point guard Mike Holland more than his more ballyhooed teammates D.J. Dunbar and Marvin Rodgers . . . Green Run's Will Brooks served a one-game suspension last week for an unspecified violation of team rules. Coach Mark Butts says he has smoothed things over with his star forward . . . Norfolk Academy made contingency plans to play Atlantic Shores last Saturday had Woodberry Forest not been able to travel to Norfolk because of snow in central Virginia. Woodberry made it and beat the Bulldogs 74-69. Atlantic Shores' trip to Maryland was canceled by the weather. The Seahawks have played only once since Jan. 2. by CNB