The Choice for Africun-Americun Sews
The Chronicle
SportsWeek
^ ? ? ? ? ' 1 ' -* ? march 14, 2002
Reynolds, Parkland looking for state basketball titles
Surprising Demons vying
for third consecutive state
4-A championship
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE ?
The prospects for a third consecutive state 4-A
basketball championship looked slim when R.J.
Reynolds began the 2001 -2002 basketball season.
However, the Demons are within one game of
accomplishing that feat. RJR will travel to the
Dean E. Smith Center on the campus of the Uni
versity of North Carolina on Saturday night for a
battle against Fayetteville 71st in the state 4-A
championship game.
Coach Howard West of Reynolds said his team
has exceeded expectations and with a few pieces
falling in place stands a good chance of raising its
third banner inside its gym. The Demons earned
Set Reynolds 0/1 B3
Photo by Bruce Chapman
Travis Holcomb-Faye scored 25 points in
Reynolds' victory over \Vosf Forsyth in the 4-A
West regional championship game.
Photo by Bruce Chapman
The leadership of seniors Mark Mason, left,
and Ray Bristow has been crucial to Park
land's championship run.
Mustangs pull off another
big upset to earn state 3-A
championship berth
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
Parkland had every reason to believe it didn't
belong among the state's elite basketball teams
when the Mustangs ventured into Minges Coliseum
at East Carolina for last week's 3-A East Regionals.
The nine losses sustained during the season by
the Mustangs were more than the other three teams
entered in the regional combined. However, Park
land never doubted itself and came away with the
regional championship title last Saturday night and
with it the right to play in Saturday night's state 3-A
championship game in Chapel Hill.
The Mustangs accomplished the feat in dramat
ic fashion. They went up against perhaps the state's
finest player and came away with the victory despite
See Parkland on B3
r$
Rams' seniors end careers
with heart-wrenching loss
From The Press Box
^ Sam Davis
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - It took only a
matter of 29 seconds for Winston-Salem State to go
from sheer jubilation to pure heartache.
After taking a 61-60 lead on Devonaire Deas'
layup with 29 seconds left to play, the Rams could
not hold on for a victory against Shaw. The Rams
Best
Oliver
Thompson 1
English '
1
Henry c
t
played great defense on the
Bears first thrust, forcing
Shaw to take a timeout with
17 seconds to play. But the
Bears regrouped and Ronald
Murray found Steve Bynes
for an open dunk with 13
seconds remaining to give
the Bears a 62-61 lead.
WSSU rushed the ball
upcourt but failed to get a
final shot off.
When the final horn
sounded ending the NCAA
Division II South Atlantic
Regional semifinal game, it
also ended the collegiate
careers of eight Winston
Salem State seniors.
As soon as the buzzer
sounded, most of the seniors
lay sprawled on the court of
Holt Fieldhouse on the cam
pus of Carson-Newman Col
lege. They lay there motion^
less for several minutes
before finally making their
way to the WSSU dressing
room. The heartbreak of hav
ing played their final game in
the Rams' crimson and cream
seemed to have hit them over
the head like a ton of bricks.
It came in dramatic fash
ion, but- then that's the way
heir careers unfolded after
;oming to WSSU with for
mer coach Rick Duckett four
rears ago. Five members of
his year's squad were
iround when the Rams
.hocked the field and cap
uredthe 1999 CIAA Touma
Tient championship. The
tarns burst on the scene out
>f nowhere in winning the
ournament for the first time
n 21 years. The Rams
epeated the following year
vhen Corey Thompson,
Russell English, Marcus
Jest. Kamal Oliver and
Cevin Henry were sopho
nores. Even though they
lidn't win the tournament
itle in 2001. the Rams still
advanced to tne South Atlantic Kegional and made
a run at the title before bowing out in the title game.
At the start of this season, the Rams had even
more to prove after losing Duckett. who chose to
move on to the University of South Carolina and
becomS an assistant to former Wake Forest coach
Dave Odom. When Duckett left the scene, the
Rams' players rallied around Philip Stitt. who was
Duckett's chief recruiter and the No. 1 assistant
coach. The seniors openly endorsed Stitt, who was
given the job on an interim basis. They began the
See Press Box on B2 |
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MP SI/1
Murray leads Shaw to
Division II regional title
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE ,
JEFFERSON CITY,
Tenn. - Maybe Shaw Univer
sity really is a team of des
tiny. Judging from the way
the Bears captured their final
two games to win the NCAA
Division 11 South Atlantic
Regional, you could certainly
make the case for them.
Shaw defeated Winston
Salem State on a last-second
basket by Steve Bynes in the
semifinal round last Friday
night, then got three clutch
free throws by Ronald Mur
ray in the final minute and
withstood a final errant shot
at the buzzer to defeat Car
son-Newman to capture the
regional championship game.
The Bears' victory earned
them a berth in the Division
H's Elite Eight in Evansville,
Ind.. where Shaw will begin
pursuit of a national champi
onship on March 20.
Shaw's regional title was
one of many firsts that the
Bears experienced during the
2001-2002 season. The Bears
had never captured a CIAA
championship before their
victory over Johnson C.
Smith in the CIAA Tourna
ment's championship game
on March 2. The Bears' sud
den rise has come in only two
seasons under coach Joel
Hopkins, who played on N.C.
Central's 1989 Division II
national championship team.
"This is definitely a team
of destiny," Hopkins said
Photo by Bruce Chapman
Ronald "flip" Murray, of Shaw, celebrates after his team's
CIAA Tournament Championship. Murray scored 36 points
to lead The Bears to victory in the South Atlantic Regional
championship game.
after the Bears' 69-68 victory game.
over Carson-Newman, the "I just thank God for this
No. 1 seed in the regional and team and this opportunity,"
the host team. "These kids said Hopkins, who was
really believed in them- ordained into the ministry
selves, and I'm very proud of during the season. "We came
the way they held together
and fought back to win the
Sec Shaw on 62
Ueo Hill Jr. ligures
prominently in Shaw's
recent turnaround
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
JEFFERSON CITY. Tenn. - How did the
Shaw University basketball program, which
only two years ago posted an 8-18 record,
come so far so fast?
One of the reasons for the quick turnaround
is the efforts of Cleo Hill, the Bears' top assis
tant coach.
If the name Cleo Hill sounds familiar to
Winston-Salem State fans, it is because Hill,
officially Cleo Hill Jr.. is the son of the former
WSSU standout who led the Rams to two
CIAA championships under coach "Bighouse"
Gaines and became a first-round NBA draft
pick. Cleo Hill Jr. played at N.C. Central from
I984-S8 and finished his career among the
school's all-time leading scorers, with more
l 1
"Coach Gaines did a great job oj
recruiting me, and I really liked him and
Winston-Salem State. But I thought there
would be too much pressure because of
all the things that my father did there."
? Cleo Hill Jr.
than 1,000 points.
Hill is responsible for obtaining many of
the talented players on the Shaw University
team.
Hill spent several years at Mount Zion
Christian Academy working alongside Joel
Hopkins before heading off to the University
of Nebraska. At Nebraska. Hill made contact
with many of the current Shaw players. When
Hill left Nebraska to come to Shaw two years
ago to become an assistant to Hopkins, his con
tacts led to several of them following Hill.
"The main thing was maintaining contact
with them," Hill said, "That's something I
learned from the coaches that I've been
around. You have to network to be successful
in this business."
Sec Hill on B2
J.C. Smith falls to Carson-Newman
Controversial call spells doom for Steve Joyner's Golden Bulls
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
jfcr r kksun CITY, 1'enn. -
All coach Steve Joyner could do
was shake his head. His Johnson C.
Smith team fought through several
rough spots and had put itself in
position to make one final run. But
the Golden Bulls were dealt a death
blow and their chances for an upset
victory over top-seeded Carson
Newman evaporated on one call.
Joyner's team, which had been
the recipient of several unfavorable
calls, couldn't pick itself up after
this one. With the lead finally down
to 7 points, Antoine Sims appeared
to have a clear path to the basket.
However, a Carson-Newman player
reached out and tried to swat the
ball out of Sims' hands. Sims gath
ered the ball in both hands and then
made a bas
ket.
However,
Sims was
called for an
offensive
charge and
instead of cut
ting the lead
to 5 and hav- I
ing a chance
to go to the
Joyner
free-throw line and cut the lead to 4.
Carson-Newman was given posses
sion. The Eagles went down and
converte^to increase their lead to 9
and that was basically it for the
Golden Bulls' chances for a win.
Carson-Newman, hosting the
NCAA Division II South Atlantic
Regional at Holt Fieldhouse. made
key shots down the stretch to
escape with a 77-66 victory to
99.AA9/I ? M n error*on
advance to Saturday night's region
al championship game against
Shaw.
"That had to be the most crucial
play in the game," Joyner said. "I
thought the kids had done a great
job of fighting back and getting in
position to make that final run. But
we just couldn't overcome that
call."
Joyner, a Winston-Salem native,
was gracious as always in defeat.
"Certainly I have to give credit
to coach Dale Clayton and his
team," Joyner said. "They played a
good game and took us$ut of some
of the things we wanted to do."
The Golden Bulls fell into a
deep hole in the first half, trailing
by as many as 14 points.
Antoine Sims, who finished the
game with 20 points to lead the
Golden Bulls, struggled with his
l/rcn Akin a Iirnir- m .. P
outside shot. Sims had been mired
in a shooting slump since the final
two games of the regular season
and had difficulty hitting his out
side shot in the CIAA Tournament.
That was one of the reasons the
Golden Bulls lost to Shaw in the
CIAA Tournament championship
game. With the Golden Bulls strug
gling to find points in the first half,
Gardner-Webb jumped out to a 29
19 advantage at the half. Sims made
only one of eight shots and had only
3 points at intermission.
Sims began to penetrate with
the ball rather than rely on his out
side jumper in the second half and
the Golden Bulls cut the Gardner
Webb advantage to 4 midway
through the second half. The Eagles
pushed the margin back up to dou
See l.C. Smith on B3