THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 1996 TAG: 9602240472
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Green Run looked every bit as good as its 19-3 record and No. 3 ranking would indicate in brushing aside Bayside 66-54 Friday night in a Beach District tournament semifinal at Tallwood.
The victory was the Stallions' ninth in a row and secured them a spot in the Eastern Region tournament for the second time in three years. Green Run will play at top-ranked Maury next Tuesday in a region quarterfinal game.
First, though, is tonight's Beach final against another highly-ranked opponent on the road - top-seeded, fourth-ranked Tallwood at 7:30.
The Stallions and Lions split two regular-season meetings, with each team winning at home.
Green Run seized control early against Bayside and never let the Marlins back in it. A driving layup by Will Brooks made it 23-12 with 4:52 left in the first half and the Marlins never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
``We never could get into a flow,'' Bayside coach Ron Jenkins said. ``I've always felt that Green Run was one of the best teams in the state and if they ever jelled it would be frightening.''
Green Run's Plaxico Burress bounced back from a six-point effort against Salem in the quarterfinals to score a season-high 29. He was 12 of 22 from the field, 5 of 5 from the foul line and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Burress needs two points tonight to reach 1,000 for his career.
Will Brooks added 16 points and nine rebounds as the Stallions dominated the backboards.
Bayside's only recourse was to attack from the perimeter, and the Marlins were 8 of 17 from beyond the 3-point arc. Kevin Yearwood, the area's leading scorer, hit four treys and scored 22 points and Jimmy Walker added 18. But 14 of Yearwood's points came in the final 8 1/2 minutes, after Green Run had opened a 49-33 lead.
Green Run's Kenyon Mullen guarded Yearwood man-to-man for most of the game despite giving up three inches in height.
``I just tried to beat him to the baseline and then get some help when he went back to the middle,'' Mullen said.
Walker kept Bayside competitive in the first half with 15 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer from beyond midcourt. Green Run's Rod Cooper picked up Walker at halfcourt in the second half and held him to one basket.
``I got a few pointers from Kenyon,'' Cooper said. ``Don't reach. Move your feet.'' by CNB