THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603010196
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAN COOLEY, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Caution: Enter at your own risk. This tournament is not for the faint-hearted.
After what has happened during the last two Chesapeake middle school boys and girls basketball tournaments, Southeastern District officials may want to post this warning to fans.
Last year, both games were decided on buzzer beaters. And this year, the only difference was overtime.
The Great Bridge girls upended Crestwood 42-40 in the first heart-stopper. And in the nightcap, the Great Bridge boys edged Western Branch 63-62.
The double Wildcat win marked the second straight year for a school sweep. Indian River pulled off the feat last year.
With the win, the Wildcat girls avoided a near collapse in the championship game for the second straight year. In both seasons, Great Bridge raced through the regular season for a 10-0 finish, but fell in the title game after a desperation pass and layup at the buzzer.
But two-year starter Kendall Rhodes kept history from repeating itself by intercepting a Crestwood pass in front of the Falcon 3-point arc in the waning seconds to preserve the win.
Despite the loss, second-year Crestwood coach Janet Devaney had nothing but praise for her 8-4 team, which won just 2 of 11 games in 1994.
``The girls played as hard as they could and we played our best game,'' Devaney said. ``I'm proud of the way they played all year. Every team member contributed to our success. To me, they're all winners.''
Great Bridge appeared to have the game under control midway through the second quarter. The Wildcats stormed out to a 21-13 lead, sparked by Ashley Etheridge's 12 first half points. She finished with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.
The Falcons then scored six unanswered points and narrowed the Wildcat lead to 22-21 before intermission.
Great Bridge fired back in the third quarter, scoring eight of the period's first nine points. Crestwood played right with the Wildcats in the third and trimmed the Wildcats' lead to 31-30.
In the fourth, Nicole Ryle added a bucket to give Crestwood a 32-31 advantage. And after five lead changes, Great Bridge went up 38-36 lead on a pair of Etheride free throws and one by Rhodes.
Kia Butts tied it again for the Falcons with 1:21 to play with two free throws. On the ensuing possession, Great Bridge coach Mickey Wheeler then instructed the Wildcats to work the clock for one last shot and called a timeout with 10 seconds to go to set the play up. But nerves and a frantic Falcon defense prevented the shot, sending the game into overtime.
``At that point, I was thinking of last year,'' Rhodes said. ``I thought, `Oh, no. Here we go again.' But I knew we could do it. We just had to come out and play the way we know we can play.''
Great Bridge did just that in the extra period. The Wildcats took the lead for good on a Leigh Manning layup and a pair of Julie Harding free throws to make it 42-38.
``We won with team play,'' Manning said. ``Everyone was making the plays they needed to at the right time. Crestwood was just as good as us, but this year, we really wanted it.''
Kristina Sparrow led the Falcons with 13 points and 17 rebounds.
While the Wildcat girls were a tournament favorite, the boys, who finished the regular season at 3-7, proved to be a darkhorse.
Things looked bleak for Great Bridge in the finals when Western Branch's Brian Wood drained a 3-pointer in the first quarter that gave the Bruins a commanding 18-10 lead. Later in the second quarter, Western Branch extended that lead to 24-14.
But foul trouble hampered the Bruins and Great Bridge finished the second half of the quarter with an 11-0 run. Mike Wilkerson bucket just before the break pushed the Wildcats ahead 25-24 for the first time.
The second half was a barn burner. The Bruins and Wildcats tied the game and exchanged leads 10 times and neither led by more than three points in regulation.
``We have been in games like this before,'' Great Bridge coach Steve Gedro said. ``We had four guys returning from last year's team, so I think they understood how to win. Up until now, they just couldn't make the big play.''
The Wildcats had lost five of their seven games by three points or less - including three in overtime - and it appeared they would be snake bitten again.
With the score tied at 46 and just over a minute to play, the Wildcats had possession and were in position to win. But Brian Wood picked off a pass and fed a streaking Spencer Ross for a layup to give the Bruins the advantage. Ross was fouled on the play and connected on a free throw to make it 49-46 at the 1:09 mark.
Great Bridge then botched two more chances to score with four missed free throws in the final minute.
But with 13 seconds to go, C.J. McBath was fouled on a 3-point attempt for the Wildcats and connected on two of his three chances from the line before Western Branch called a timeout to try to ice McBath for his final try.
``I was kind of nervous,'' McBath said. ``But I was alright. I decided I was going to win it on the line for my team.''
McBath sank his final attempt, sending the game into overtime.
Ronald Mickens and Wilkerson then led the way for the Wildcats in overtime, combining for 12 of their team's 14 points.
Wilkerson led the Wildcats with 14 points. Ross finished with a game-high 20 for Western Branch, and Brian Wood added 16. by CNB