Warriors romp against Western Branch
Published 11:56 am Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Nansemond River had four players in double figures on Tuesday night to lead its offensive attack against an inferior Western Branch team. Despite missing three players, the Warriors (11-3, 7-3) cruised to a 70-28 victory.
The Warriors used their halfcourt sets to make up for lost scoring from Dion Bivens, the Warriors’ leading scorer.
Nansemond River head coach Ed Young said Bivens was out due to team reasons. Morris Johnson also sat out the game due to team reasons, and defensive specialist Steve Skinner was out due to a broken finger.
Even without Bivens the Warriors scored without issue. Shakor Sommers and David Long started the game off with consecutive layups. Nathan Nicholson capped off a 7-0 run with a three point field goal, forcing the Bruins to call a timeout.
NR ended the quarter on a 10-2 run, allowing Western Branch just one field goal in the quarter, making the score 17-2.
The second quarter was much of the same Warrior decimation of the Bruins defense. After an early three-point basket, David long scored on a tough layup with the foul. Long then proceeded on the next play to score again, fighting through contact to make the score 22-5. Brian Clarke then stole the ball on the next play for an easy breakaway layup at the 5:31 mark. The Warriors sported a 31-12 lead going into halftime.
Nicholson and Long led the team with 14 points each. Long added 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. Shakor Sommers had a double-double of his own with 12 points and 13 rebounds and recorded three blocked shots. Dontrell Silver chipped in 12 points and six assists.
The Warriors defense held the Bruins to just 29 percent shooting on 11 of 38 from the field. NR also forced the Bruins into 25 turnovers.
Nansemond River 11-3(7-3) next travels to Grassfield High School. The Grizzlies gave the Warriors a slight challenge in their first matchup with Nansemond River coming out on top 58-50.