THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602220154
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
The Manteo boys basketball team is in fine shape for the 2A playoffs. A 79-66 win over Edenton-Holmes this past Tuesday showed a team that was well-oiled and ready for the ``second season.''
Manteo will be the top seed in the upcoming Northeastern Conference tournament. The Redskins also will be the top seed from the conference in the first round of the 2A state playoffs.
Manteo and Southeast Halifax tied for the conference lead, but Manteo gets the nod because of its win over the Trojans earlier in the season. The much-anticipated rematch of the two teams never materialized. The game wasO canceled because of snow.
Perhaps the two teams will meet in the finals of the Northeastern Conference tournament, scheduled for March 1 in Edenton.
Against the Aces, Manteo jumped to a 24-11 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Redskins looked like a team ready for the playoffs. They threw everything at Edenton but the kitchen sink. Manteo used a full-court press to run a transition game in the first quarter, but also cashed in on outside shooting.
Leading 5-2, Manteo point guard Darius Collins grabbed a steal and pulled up for a 3-pointer with 5:11 to play in the quarter. Edenton called time, then threw the ball away again, leading to a tip-in by Jason Summerton. Manteo's Chris Sillis followed with a short jumper to give the Redskins a 12-2 lead with 3:40 to play in the quarter.
At 3:19, Collins fed Danny Davis for a layup. Seven seconds later, Davis came up with a steal on the press and scored on another layup to put Manteo up 16-2. Davis, who led the Manteo offense with 18 points, scored nine in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the sharp shooting of reserve Ian Lassiter kept Edenton at bay. Lassiter scored seven points in the quarter and 14 on the night.
With Manteo leading 42-28 at the half, Edenton closed the gap to 10 points to open the second half. Aaron Simpson grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a short jumper, and Marlon Trafton went coast-to-coast on a drive to cut the Manteo lead to 42-32 with 6:25 to play in the quarter.
But Manteo scored the next eight points in just 30 seconds. Patrick McNeely canned a 3-pointer. After an Edenton turnover, Collins sank a jumper. Davis came back off another Edenton turnover with a 3-pointer to up the Manteo lead to 50-32 with 5:22 to play in the third quarter.
Manteo head coach Bud Hendrix said Davis had missed three games earlier in the season due to injury, but has come on strong lately.
``He's always been a driver and a slasher,'' Hendrix said, ``but the last few weeks he's really developed his outside shot.''
Edenton head Coach Robert Woodley said Manteo's defense was the key.
``They played good, aggressive defense and took us right out of our offense,'' Woodley said. ``They pushed it up and got some easy baskets in transition. We got within 10 points, but when you get down that far to a team like Manteo, you can never get over the hump.''
``Bud Hendrix and Dan Corbin (assistant coach) are a class act,'' Woodley said. ``Their kids are always disciplined. They had an opportunity to run up the score on us, but they played all the kids.'' by CNB