Suffolk News-Herald

When Marquie Cooke wasn’t himself tormenting the visiting Western Branch defense with his game-leading 21 points in Nansemond River’s 80-44 win Friday night, he was dishing off to teammates who couldn’t wait for their turn to do so; Cooke racked up 11 assists in the win. He also yanked down 10 rebounds, the last one coming with just over two minutes left, to complete the triple-double.

Obviously, Cooke was far from alone; Dennis Conley had 19 points and a game-leading11 rebounds, and Keith Josey came up with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jerome Burgess had 10 points, six of which came on three-pointers, and Fred Spratley pulled down 10 misses.

The Warriors took control just eight seconds into the game, when Cooke fired an orange bullet to Burgess in the left corner, where the junior Warrior drained a long shot to wake up the crowd. Conley swished a pair of free throws, and the Warriors charged to an 11-4 lead before the quarter was half over.

The Bruins finally scored consecutive points to open the second period, getting within 26-21, but Conley and Burgess racked up four points in 36 seconds to spark their team on a 15-2 run to give them a 41-23 lead at halftime. Josey scored six points in less than two minutes in the rush, and opened the third quarter with another layup. Conley and Cooke then scored before Cordarrius Neal grabbed Branch’s first field goal in over five minutes.

Cooke and Burgess swished three-pointers and Conley another bucket to go up 55-27, and Conley scored four more points as River ended the period ahead 61-31.

Far from finished, Conley, Cooke and Burgess scored seven points in the first 2:09 of the final period before River’s substitutions came in. Vaughn Wilson scored four points in 23 seconds, and Justin Sorensen ended River’s scoring with a layup with :21 on the clock. The Warriors will host Great Bridge on Tuesday.

Lakeland also came out on top Friday at Indian River, 61-47. Eric Ruffin led the Cavaliers with 17 points, with Mike Camp coming in with 15 and Josh Russell 11. The Cavaliers will take their turn at Western Branch Tuesday.

The two Suffolk schools, currently tied for first in the Southeastern District, battle at Lakeland next Friday.

The Lakeland girls team wasn’t as successful Friday, falling to the visiting Lady Braves. That score, as well as the one from the Nansemond River girls’ game at Western Branch, was not reported.