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HJlII/J Jill PAGE 8—WASHINGTON DAILY NEWS, NOVEMBER 22. 1988 Mattamuskeet Lady Lakers Columbia Lady Wildcats TBC Girls Get Grid Experience nrk nonconeA T*Koi-t ..j.. t i* i i. _ ^ » .. - .. . With no nonsense football coaches taking the helms at four lower division Tobacco Belt Conference girls’ basketball teams, things should be in teresting as the season goes on. Chocowinity, the defending regular-season and tournament champion, returns almost intact from last year while Belhaven and Bear Grass present young squads with playoff potential. The grid mentors having to adjust from earthy sideline manners on the football field to a more sedate manner are Jerry Godley at Jamesville, Jim Ben nington at Mattamuskeet, Kevin Wilson at Columbia and Wayne Rodgers at Creswell. LADY INDIANS At Chocowinity, head coach Larry Knox begins his 11th sea son just six wins away from a milestone 200th triumph. With three starters among eight lettermen returning from last yem-’s Class 1-A North Caro lina High School Athletic Asso ciation Eastern Regional final ist, Knox begins the season with a 194-55 record at Chocowinity. He goes into the season with the basic philosophy that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it." He says he’s not going to tink er with what has been success ful so far. That means the Lady Indians will press their opponents from the moment they get off the bus and will use the defense to feed the offense. Drusilla Crawford, a first team all-area performer last sea son, returns for her senior sea son. The third-leading scorer in the conference last season, Crawford (5-10) averaged 18 points a game last year. She is joined by guard Chrylene Myers, a second-team all-area performer who averaged 13.3 points a game and was the 10th leading scorer in the TBC. However, the Lady Indians will be without the services of junior China Grice, the seventh leading scorer in the conference last year. Grice, a second-team all-area player, has opted not to play this season. She will be replaced by Vanessa Myers, a sophomore who is slated for the point guard position. The Lady Indian stars will be boosted by a strong blue-collar supporting cast led by senior Kim Coffey, Wendy Dixon, junior Jill McRoy and sopho more Elsie Coffey. Knox says Crawford will be more phsyical inside this season while Dixon will provide lead ership. “We have what we need to be a great team,” Knox said. “We’re looking forward to the season.” LADY BULLDOGS BELHAVEN — Youth pre- vmls on the lineup at John A. Wilkinson. Head coach Norma Jean Respess has no seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and six freshmen to mold into a unit in attempting to better last year’s playoff squad. Returning starter Michelle Leathers, a 5-7 junior, will lead the Lady Bulldogs which finished second in the confer ence last year with a 16-2 record and a 19-4 overall worksheet af ter a loss in the second round of the playoffs. Leathers, a second-team all area performer, was the No. 4 scorer in the conference last year, averaging 17.7 points a game. She will join Waconda O’Neal, Felicia Smith, Tiffany Williams Cynthia Bowen and Anita Ga boon, the tallest Bulldog at 5-11, in forming the nucleus of the squad. Depth will be limited, Re spess says, by the number of freshmen on the bench. “We’ll have to work a lot har der due to a lack of experience,” she says. And, she adds, the Lady Bull dogs will try to rely on quick ness on offense and defense — looking to fast break on offense and pressure on defense. LADY BEARS BEAR GRASS — The ques tion for 1987-1988 TBC Coach of the Year Jerry Rogerson is: will Janet Rodgerson, the TBC’s leading scorer last season, get some help? “That’s the big question,” Rogerson says. “I hope Janet doesn’t have to do it all. If she gets some help, it will open our offense up some more and get her away from double teams.” Rodgerson, a 6-1 junior who emerged the TBC’s leading scorer last year with a 19.2 points-per-game scoring aver age, did it all for the Lady Bears. She rebounded, blocked shots and brought the ball up the floor against the press. But, this season, Rogerson feels 5-8 senior Christie Peele can contribute offensively and take the load off first-team all area performer Rodgerson and help the Lady Bears earn the playoffs for the first time in over five years. Rodgerson joins returning steers Marsha Lilley, Tameka Little, Cathy Taylor and Melissa Rawls in addition to letterwin- ners Dana Mobley and Shelby BEST WISHES TO ALL AREA TEAMS MOORE’S FORD-MERCURY, INC. 852 W. S'” St. Washington, N.C. 946-9104 Leary as the core of the Lady Bears squad. 'Two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen round out the roster, giving Rogerson some depth to work with. “We’re going to play a lot more man-to-man defense this year because of our depth,” Roger son says. “We’re going to run ‘em in and out and we’re going to pick up full court. It’s going to be hard for them to do but they’ll have to sustain their in tensity.” LADY WARRIORS LEGGE'IT — Shonika Hill, a 4-feet-ll, was a dynamo on and off the court last year for the North Edgecombe Lady Wafe_ riors. After playing taking to the hardwoods for 32 minutes. Hill would rush off the floor, freshen up and jump into her cheerlead er’s outfit and cheer on the boys’ team. She averaged 13 points a game andjoinedTonyaLee(10ppg)as the Lady Warrior scoring lead ers. Those two join Mary Avent as North Edgecombe’s return ing starters. Karen Tillery and Nicky Carter are the returning letterwinners from a squad that finished 12-lOafter advancing to (See TBC GIRLS, Page 9) Bath Lady Pirates
West Craven Highlights (Vanceboro, N.C.)
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