THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280528
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH POMPEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MENCHVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Menchville's David Macklin hit three foul shots in the final 17 seconds as the Monarchs held on to defeat Deep Creek 75-71 in the first round of the Eastern Region boys basketball tournament Tuesday night at Menchville.
Menchville (21-3) will meet Green Run (20-4) in the semifinals Thursday night at 6 o'clock at Churchland.
``I give Menchville credit,'' Deep Creek coach Benny Polk said. ``They really pressured us. And they made the foul shots down the stretch when they needed to.
``Any time you get to play a top team on the road in a packed gym and barely lose, that's doing something good. I have a lot of respect for Menchville and I'm proud of our kids.''
With the Monarchs leading 72-71, Macklin made the first end of a one-and-one with 17 seconds remaining. After he front-rimmed the second, the Hornets had a chance to win. Arnie Powell grabbed the rebound and threw the ball to a streaking Antonio Rhodes.
But the junior lost control of the ball and Menchville regained possession. Macklin then made two free throws with six seconds remaining to clinch it.
``I tried to score,'' said Rhodes. ``But one of Menchville's players hit the ball. I lost control and he dove on it. I thought it was our possession. But when I got up it, the ref said it was their ball.''
Powell's game-high 18 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks couldn't take away the pain of losing to the Peninsula District's regular-season champion.
``I could have scored 100 points and that wouldn't matter to me,'' Powell said. ``It's all about winning. I don't care about stats. I want to win. That's what basketball is all about.''
Early on, it looked like Deep Creek might snap Menchville 13-game win streak.
Powell's layup at 6:42 in the first quarter gave the Marlins a 7-0 lead.
After Macklin's three-pointer put the Monarch on the board, there were five lead changes in the first-half. Menchville held a 38-36 lead at intermission.
``The tempo was a little bit too fast for us in the first half,'' Polk said of his team's 16 first-half turnovers.
``The turnovers really hurt us. The way we play is not on the fast break.''
But the tempo didn't slow down as Menchville went into fourth quarter leading 53-51.
The Monarchs opened up a six-point lead, but Powell scored eight points in the final four minutes to pull Deep Creek within 72-71.
On the next possession, Chad Sorell and Powell miscommunicated on a play and the ball went out of bounds.
``I thought he was going to shoot it,'' Powell said. ``But he passed the ball. I looked away to get a rebound and the ball went sailing over my head.''
After being fouled Macklin hit the first of his three foul shots. by CNB