Playoffs
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East Forsyth's girls also
are in the 4-A West Regional.
The Eagles (25-2) have a
Thursday night date against
Morganton Freedom (25-2).
Of the teams remaining
from this area. Parkland is
probably the biggest enigma.
The Mustangs, whose 19-9
record is the worst of all the
teams still alive in the play
offs, were the preseason
favorites in the rugged Pied
mont Triad 3-A Conference,
but came out slow at the out
set. One reason was because
Parkland's football team won
the state 3-A football cham
pionship and many of the'
Mustangs' players didn't join
the team until after Christ
mas.
It took Parkland awhile to
get going, but it finally got in
high gear during the confer^1
ence season and finished sec
ond.
"We've thought all along
that we were one of the top
10 teams in the state," coach
Mike Pennington said. "But
we haven't played that way
all season. We think we've
played the best 3-A schedule
in the state, and we're play
ing in the best 3-A confer
ence in the state. We still
have two teams from the
conference that are still in
the regionals (Greensboro
Dudley is the other)."
The Mustangs advanced
to the regionals by defeating
Greensboro Smith and
Southern Durham in the sec
tionals last week. Parkland
got strong play from its vet
eran backcourt, which is led
by seniors Ray Bristow,
Mark Mason and Marcus
Jordan. Pivot man Phillip
McCandies also played well
in the paint for the Mustangs,
but it was the play of the
perimeter players that boost
ed Parkland.
"I think our guards com
plement each other very
well." Pennington said,
referring to the one-two
punch of Bristow, a three
year veteran, and Mason,
who transferred from West
Forsyth. "Ray's got the abili
ty to penetrate and make a lot
of things happen. Then
Mason can hurt you with his
ability td hit the 3-pointer."
Last week Mason con
nected on eight 3-pointers
and scored 29 points in the
Mustangs' victory over
Greensboro Smith. With
most teams focusing on
those two, Jordan is often
overlooked.
"When you get down to
it, Marcus Jordan is the for
gotten man," Pennington
said. "Last year he averaged
15 points, and that's down to
11 this year. But he still gives
us a boost and he causes
matchup problems for most
teams that we play."
Against Kinston, which
brings a 26-3 record into
Thursday's game, Penning
ton said the Mustangs will be
at a considerable height dis
advantage. Kinston's front
line goes 6-7, 6-9, 6-7.
"That's going to cause us
matchup problems, but
we've had that problem a lot
this season," Pennington
said. "We have to make the
game as fast as possible. We
have to press, trap and run at
every opportunity. If we get
into a faster game than they
want, it's going to negate
their size."
That's what happened last
week in the sectional final
against Southern Durham.
"Against Southern
Durham, we were giving up
two or three inches and about
25 pounds per man op the
front line," Pennington said.
"They were very big. But we
put pressure on them early
and late. We played the game
a whole lot faster than they
wanted to play, and that wore
them down in the fourth
quarter."
With such a decided
advantage, f the Mustangs
can't afford to allow Kinston
to set tempo.
Parkland can't afford to
get behind by a wide margin.
"We have to keep the
score close," Pennington
said. "We have to try to stay
close and then try to win it in
the fourth quarter."
Jones
from page BI
"The thing I told them was to
play as hard as they can and
never give up," he said. "Shaw is
a really outstanding team with
great talent. But sometimes the
team with the best talent doesn't
always win. We saw that on
Thursday night when Elizabeth
City came from 21 points behind
to beat Virginia Union."
When it comes to today's tal
ent, Jones said there is a wealth
of talent throughout the nation.
North Carolina, which has pro
duced its share of talent through
the years, continues to send top
players to the collegiate and pro
fessional ranks each season.
"We've had some great talent
in this state," Jones said. "The
only difference now is the fact
that players can pick and choose
where they want to go to school.
When I was coming along, we
didn't have those options.
Because of segregation we had to
attend black schools. That's what
made the CIAA such a great con
ference."
Even though the teams in the
C I A A
have to
battle
against the
major uni
versities,
the talent
level still
remains
high,
Jones said.
That's one
of the rea
sons NBA scouts attend the
CIAA Tournament each season.
"There are some guys here
who can play in the NBA," Jones
said. "Don't let anybody tell you
these guys can't play. Everyone
this year wants to see the kid
from Shaw (Ronald Murray), but
he's not the only guy who has the
ability to play in the NBA."
What many of the players
lack, according to Jones, is expo
sure and to be put in the right sit
uation.
"I think every player has a
weakness in his game," Jones
said. "The thing is, some pro
grams are able to hide them bet
ter than others. It all depends on
where you end up."
Jones said today's players are
blessed with more natural ability
but don't work hard enough on
the fundamentals and on their
weak areas.
"I meet a lot of people that
tell me that I whs the guy who
perfected the art of the bank
shot," he said. "But I really didn't
perfect it. I liked shooting
straight on, but my coach thought
1 should work on shooting off the
backboard because I was so good
making layups with my left and
right hands. So I would just go
out in practice every day and
work on shooting all my shots off
the backboard. Then when I got
in the game, it came naturally."
The celebrity status that
Jones has received since leaving
NCCU was somewhat difficult
for him to accept in his early
years, especially when he
returned home to North Carolina
and encountered segregation in
the '50s and '60s. But he said he
has no regrets about the way his
life has unfolded.
"People come up to me and
say I was one of the best and I
was a special player," he said. "I
really appreciate hearing that and
knowing I've made a contribu
tion to the game."
Davis
from page Bl
Trailblazers in 1974. He later
became the First African Ameri
can named to the Wake Forest
Sports Hall of Fame.
After spending more than a
dozen years in corporate busi
ness. Davis returned to his alma
mater to work in its athletic
department. From 1995-2000
he served as the assistant athlet
ics director for the student-ath
lete enhancement and commu
nity programs. That position
allowed him to gain valuable
experience in sales, marketing,
operations and development.
He said those experiences
helped him immeasurably in his
current duties.
"I have to look at the
resources available to this pro
gram very realistically," he
said.
"Obviously we don't have
the resources that we did at
Wake Forest, but that's no rea
son why we can't have a top
notch program. As long as we
have committed people like
coach (Luke) D'Alessio and
others who are very capable
and competent, we'll be fine."
Davis and his wife. Linda,
who have been married 31
years, have gotten settled in
Crofton, Md? near the Bowie
campus. Davis said the move
has been good for all parties
concerned.
"I miss being in Winston
Salem, but I also enjoy what
I'm doing." he said. "I'm in a
position that I always aspired to
be in, and it has been very
rewarding so far."
Press Box
from page BI
day night and appeared
primed for a run at this year's
crown. However, the Rams
had no solution for Ronald
"Flip" Murray, the CIAA's
Player of the Year, who scored
25 points in the win over
WSSU. Murray and the Bears
went on to capture their first
CIAA Tournament title with
an 82-68 victory over Johnson
C. Smith.
WSSU, which has been
among the league's top defen
sive teams in each of the past
four seasons, had a whole lot
of trouble against Murray and
defending against the Bears'
front line. The Rams went to
intermission with a 40-38
lead, but completely broke
down defensively in the sec
ond half. Murray took charge
down the stretch when he
scored 19 points in the final 11
minutes.
"I took what the defense
gave me," Murray said in the
post-game news conference.
"They opened up lanes for me
and gave me wide open shots
and I took them."
That struck a nerve in
coach Philip Stitt, who said
before the game that his
team's defense would be the
key to the game. After surren
dering 80 points to the Bears,
the Rams spent a whole lot of
time this week in preparation
for tonight's game working on
their defense.
The Rams also need to
work on their half-court
offense when they fail to pro
duce turnovers that allow
them to get into their transi
tion game. That was a critical
point for the Rams in their loss
to Shaw. WSSU had trouble
scoring points during a stretch
in the second half and the
Bears went on a 12-2 run to
take a 64-54 mark from which
the Rams never recovered.
During that stretch Stitt
appeared to be frustrated with
his team and. rather than dia
graming plays to get his team
back in gear offensively,
resorted to rotating players in
and out of the game.
WSSU's inside game also
failed the Rams miserably.
The Rams showed in their
previous matchup with the
Bears that they are capable of
handling Shaw's size. In their
meeting on Jan. 15, the Rams
came away with a 76-69 victo
ry. But first the Rams need a
victory over Wingate, of the
South Atlantic Conference, to
set up a rubber match for the
Rams against the Bears and
give WSSU an opportunity to
put their tournament loss
behind them and help them
toward their No. 1 goal for the
season. If not, the Rams, who
carry a 21-6 record into the
game, will consider the 2001
2002 season one that got
away.
arm
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