PAGE 6 — THE DECREE — MARCH 29,2002
Sf*orts
Women’s basketball hosts tournament
By MICHAEL GARCIA
On Feb. 21, the women’s bas
ketball team concluded their most
successful season in recent his
tory by hosting the Dixie Confer
ence Tournament.
A dramatic finish was appro
priate for a season of high ac
complishments, and the Lady
Bishops did not disappoint. In the
quarterfinals of the conferenctf
tourney, the Lady Bishops, the
#2 seed, found themselves facing
the 7th seed Cougars of Averett
College.
During the first half, the Lady
Bishops suffered a tough blow
when point guard Kodie Peake
(Fr.) went down with a leg in
jury, forcing the Bishops to play
short-handed the rest of the game.
In spite of losing Peake, numer
ous contributions from all play-
BRADLEY BLUE
Blue selected
All-District
Bradley Blue, a sophomore
guard from Dunn (Midway H.S.)
has been selected to the NABC
Division III South All-District
Second Team.
Blue averaged 18.4 points per
game, which was third in the
Dixie Conference and 3.2 assists
per game. He shot 51 percent from
the floor and 33 percent from the
three-p««t line. He scored in
doubk llgures in 24 of the 26
games he played in.
Blue was an All-Dixie Con
ference first Team member and
was naaaed the Most Valuable
Player the Dixie Conference
it, in which the Bish-
Christopher New-
I for the Dixie Champi-
vas also the Co-MVP
. _ ^er Taylor Invitational.
NCtSC was 20-8 this year and
advanced to the First Round of
the NCAA Tournament.
of the
ers resulted in a 26-17 lead for
the Bishops at halftime.
At the onset of the second half,
the Lady Bishops would again be
on the offensive, until Averett
managed to pull ahead by one
point with 2:34 left on the clock.
The Bishops quickly retook the
lead and continued to hold out
against tremendous pressure from
the Cougars. Unfortunately, a pair
of free throws gave Averett a two
point advantage with only four
tenths of a second left to play.
Making the inbound pass for
the Lady Bishops, forward Sara
Jones (So.) hurled the ball up
court where it found point guard
Misty Cameal (Sr.). Just as time
ran out, Cameal took the shot
from inside: the ball bounced
along the rim, but didn’t go in.
Final score Averett 55, N.C.
Wesleyan 53.
Against Averett, Carneal
scored 12 points, center Demetri a
Hawkins (Jr.) added ten points
and 11 rebounds, Jones scored ten
points and forward Kendra
Brewer (Fr.) had a game high of
14 rebounds.
Although the Lady Bishop’s
season ended with a heart-break-
ing loss, the team has much to be
RAY’MON BIZZELL
Bizzell named
rookie of week
N.C. Wesleyan’s Ray’Mon
Bizzell has been named the Dixie
Conference’s Rookie of the Week
for March 13-28.
The freshman outfielder from
Seven Springs (Southern Wayne
High School) batted .367 on the
week.
The Bishops played nine
games, seven in Florida and two
in North Carolina. Bizzell was 11-
30 with 10 runs scored. He drove
in three runs and had a double
and two triples.
proud of. Despite having fewer
players than anyother team in the
conference, the Bishops finished
in second place in conference
play, earned eighth seed in the
South Region, and the Bishop’s
coach, John Brackett, was named
as the Dixie Conference Coach
of the Year.
Cameal, who ended her career
as the all time highest scorer for
women’s basketball at N.C.
Wesleyan (1,661 career points),
was honored as Dixie Conference
Player of the Year.
In addition, Carneal was
named to the First Team All Dixie
Conference and, with a GPA of
3.52, to the Verizon Academic
All-District III Team.
The Lady Bishops end the
2001-2002 season with an over
all record of 16-9 and a confer
ence record of 11-3.
Men finish in third place
By MICHAEL GARCIA
The 2001-2002 season has
been a landmark year for the
Men’s Basketball Team. With an
overall record of 20-8 and a con
ference record of 10-4, the Bish
ops finished third place in regular
season conference play and won
their first Dixie Conference Tour
nament since the 1986-1987 sea
son.
In the quarterfinals of the con
ference tourney, the #3 seeded
Bishops handed #6 seeded Fermm
a 102-71 thrashing. Against
Fermm, guard Ryan Sinclair (So.)
led the Bishops in scoring with
23 points, while guard Bradley
Blue (So.) scored 17, forward
Robert Smith (Jr.) scored 14, for
ward Donta Jeankins (So.) had
10 points and 12 rebounds, and
forward Keith Sudler (So.) added
10 points.
In the semifinals, the Bishops
found themselves against #2
seeded Methodist College. Hav
ing been swept by Methodist in
the regular season, the Bishops
avenged two previous one point
losses to the Monarchs by win
ning 77-70. While facing Meth
odist, Smith scored 17 points and
made 13 rebounds, Jenkins scored
14 points, and Blue added 15
points.
In the championship game, the
Bishops beat the #1 seeded Cap
tains of Christopher Newport 77-
75. Defeating the Captains for the
third time this year, the Bishops
ended CNU’s four year reign as
conference champions and
brought home their first confer
ence championship in 14 years.
Against CNU, Jenkins scored 18
points, while Sudler scored 10.
For his play in the toumey.
Blue was selected as toumament
MVP and named to the First Team
All Dixie Conference. In addi
tion, Sudler was named to the Sec
ond Team All Dixie Conference
and Jenkins was honored as Dixie
Conference Rookie of the Year.
On Feb. 28, the Bishops trav
eled to Hampden-Sydney to play
in the First Round of the NCAA
Toumament. Although they had
a strong performance against the
Tigers, the Bishops lost the game
79-92. Smith led all point scorers
for the Bishops with 15 points
and 11 rebounds, Sudler scored
14 points, Sinclair added 13,
while Blue and Jenkins scored 12
points each.
Softball gets shaky start
By MICHAEL GARCIA
The Softball Squad of 2002
seems off to a shaky start this
year, with a host of losses and
bad weather.
The Bishops started the 2002
season at the 9th Annual MC
Early Bird Softball Invitational
(March 1-2). On the first day of
the toumey the Bishops lost in
their season opener to Messiah 0-
3, but beat Bridgewater 9-2.
Unfortunately, the Lady Bish
ops’ win over the Eagles was
overshadowed by their loss to
Mountain St. Col. of West Vir
ginia 3-4. The Bishops ended the
first day of the toumey with a
terrible loss to SCAD 0-20.
The following day, the Lady
Bishops concluded the trip by los
ing to the eventual toumey cham
pions Emory & Henry 0-7.
Hoping to reverse their for
tunes, the Lady Bishops traveled
to Newport News, Va., for a
double-header against conference
foe Christopher Newport. Sadly,
the Bishops were again denied,
(Continued on Page 7)
Tennis teams good as ever
By MICHAEL GARCIA
Tennis at N.C. Wesleyan seems as good as
ever this year, as the men and women continue
to master their rackets.
The Women’s Tennis Team began the season
by falhng to Peace College 2-7. Kristin Haring
(Jr.) gave the Bishops the #2 singles victory 6-4
and 6-4, after teaming up with Catherine Gorrell
(Fr.) to win the #1 doubles 9-8.
In the following game, the women suffered a
0-9 shutout by Virginia Wesleyan.
In conference play, the Lady Bishops were
defeated by Greensboro 3-6.
Again, Gorrell and Haring gave the Bishops
their only wins: Gorrell won at #1 singles 6-0
and 6-0, Haring won at #2 singles 6-1 and 6-1,
and Gorrell and Haring combined to win #1
doubles 8-0.
The Men’s Team opened the season with a 1-
6 loss to Virginia Wesleyan, with Scott Rodger
(Sr.) winning in #2 singles 6-3 and 6-1.
The men were then blanked by Greensboro
0-7 and Randolph-Macon 0-7.
Both the Men and Women’s Teams are 0-3
over all and 0-1 in the conference.