Suffolk successful in showcase
Published 9:24 pm Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Every game involving a Suffolk team in the 2016 King’s Fork High School January Basketball Showcase on Saturday had a Suffolk winner.
In the second game of the week pitting King’s Fork’s and Nansemond River High School’s girls’ basketball teams against each other, the Lady Bulldogs won again. After topping the Lady Warriors 59-50 at NR on Wednesday, King’s Fork pulled off a blowout 68-45 victory on Saturday.
“I think we played well,” Lady Bulldogs coach Maurice Fofana said. “We picked the tempo up some, we made it a fast-paced game. We played a lot better defense than what we played the first time.”
KF junior guard Cydney Nichols led all scorers with 22 points, junior forward Amesha Miller had 17 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks and sophomore point guard Camary Harris registered 16 points, five assists and four steals.
Nansemond River junior forward/guard Daijah Norris played well, recording 11 points and 16 rebounds, sophomore point guard Briana Autrey had 11 points, junior shooting guard Cassidy Simmons had nine points and senior guard/forward Aneka Yelverton had six points.
“We just weren’t mentally prepared to play,” Lady Warriors coach R. Calvin Mason Sr. said. “We thought we did a good job of preparing, we made some adjustments. We didn’t do a good job of executing them.”
King’s Fork (16-0) hosted Lake Taylor High School on Tuesday, and Nansemond River (10-4) hosts Bethel High School on Saturday.
In the penultimate game of the showcase, the Lakeland High School boys’ basketball team won 69-62 against defending Group 3A state champion George Wythe High School of Richmond.
Cavaliers coach Clint Wright said that because he and his team did not know much about George Wythe going into the game, he just knew “we have to be fundamentally sound, and I thought that for the most part, we were.”
Lakeland senior forward Deonta Knight contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, junior guard Jerry Goodman also scored 19 points, adding three assists, two steals and two rebounds. Senior guard Jamonte Ricks had 10 points, six boards and two assists and junior forward Jermaine Cottle added nine points.
After also winning on Monday, Lakeland (12-3) visited Churchland High School on Tuesday.
King’s Fork’s boys’ team closed out Saturday’s showcase with a 67-56 victory over Prince George High School.
Bulldogs sophomore guard Rontre Pope had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and sophomore guard James Hatton added 13 points and five assists.
The night before, King’s Fork defeated host Great Bridge High School 47-42, giving Josh Worrell his 200th career win as coach of the Bulldogs.
Deflecting praise to cooperative players, Worrell said, “I haven’t made a basket here yet.” He also praised his determined staff and noted that achieving the milestone was very humbling.
King’s Fork (9-6) visited Lake Taylor on Tuesday.
Lakeland’s girls’ basketball team routed Tallwood High School 71-34 in the showcase’s second game.
Lady Cavaliers sophomore guard Brianna Copeland led her team with 32 points, adding five rebounds and two assists, sophomore guard Makayla Dickens had 22 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals and sophomore guard Kayla Barnes contributed nine points, eight boards, five assists and four steals.
Lakeland (9-5) visits I.C. Norcom High School on Thursday.