Bulldogs Beat Warriors in SED Semis
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style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Bulldogs Bite Is As Big As Their Bark:
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"Verdana","sans-serif"'>It was a packed house at The Kennel at King's Fork High
School on Tuesday night for the Southeastern District Tournament semifinals as
the host Bulldogs played their archrival, the Nansemond River Warriors for a chance
at playing for a Championship in three days.
normal'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>While the two teams technically split during the
regular season due to the Warriors have to forfeit a victory over King's Fork
from early in the 2012-13 campaign, King's Fork was chomping at the bit beat a
Nansemond River team that won two head-to-head meetings on the court, plus the
last three on their home floor.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>After seeing their lead of 17 get cut down to just four
with 1:21 remaining, King's Fork closed by scoring seven of the game's final
ten points to prevail 71-63.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"There are times when we're up and people want to speed
it up to make us play fast. Just because
they want to play fast doesn't meant we have to speed it up.
style=> That's something we have to continue to grow
and get better at," admitted King's Fork Head Basketball Coach
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Josh Worrell.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They know what's at stake.
style=> Any time whether we're playing Nansemond
River or Lakeland, it's a rival game. It
doesn't matter who the five is on the floor for them or who the five is on the
floor for us. I think we did a great job
defensively understanding what we wanted to do."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Four players scored in double-figures for the Bulldogs,
who shot 49% from the field in the first half.
Nansemond River hit a season-high nine three-pointers in defeat.
style=> King's Fork outscored the Warriors in the
paint however, 40-26.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Player of the Game:
style=> King's Fork senior guard
class=SpellE>Jacorey
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Smith.
It was such a balanced attack for King's Fork that you couldn't go wrong
picking two or three different guys with the tag of Player of the Game.
style=>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Although Smith didn't have a field goal in the second
half, he got King's Fork off to a fantastic start, scoring 15 of his 17 points
in the first half with a pair of assists (four for the game).
style=> He scored nine points in the second quarter
when the Bulldogs outscored Nansemond River 22-12 in the eight-minute stretch
before half-time. They turned it over
only twice in that period as well.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"In the previous games against them, we were playing
too passive and trying to be too unselfish," Smith noted afterwards.
style=> "We've just got to keep attacking and more points
will come. Defensively, we're fine, we
just have to get more shots up, play hard and the shots will come."
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mso-highlight:yellow'>Keys to Victory:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
- - Penetration & Balance:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Consistently,
King's Fork drove it to the rack on Nansemond River in the first half and it
paid off with bucket after bucket. It
wasn't just Smith either.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Point guard
normal'>Akanni White had
14 points. Forward
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Donte
normal'> Ralph inside scored 13 points, many of which came off the guards'
penetration because he got only one offensive rebound, but scored five baskets,
four in the lane. Then there was guard
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Rod Parrett, another senior eager to
help the Bulldogs put up a district tournament Championship banner on the wall.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Parrett
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finished with 12 points and only three of them were from long range, a
specialty of his. He also dished out
three assists. Parrett wanted to get his
defenders off their feet.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They say I'm known as a shooter, but then some people
think that's all you can do," Parrett said.
"Coach always tells me to pump-fake, so when I got the ball, I was
looking to do that and go to the cup. It
worked."
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#2 - - Unsung Workers Inside:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In
the first two matchups of the season between Nansemond River and King's Fork,
Warriors senior forward Ed Drew haunted
the Bulldogs and so did others with their length on the front-line and shot
blocking. Drew ended up with 10 points,
10 boards and seven blocks, and Nansemond River swatted away nine shots as a
team.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>But the Bulldogs kept Drew off the foul line as he only
attempted two shots from the charity stripe, and Nansemond River didn't
bludgeon them on the boards with King's Fork getting 13 offensive rebounds.
style=> Ralph's scoring and
normal'>Wallace McDowney's
rebounding, collecting eight of his nine boards in the first half, neutralized
the Warriors' front-court weapons.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They're just the workhorses for us," Worrell said of
Ralph and McDowney.
"At first, I started calling them out, but then I said it was a great,
collective team effort.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I think we limited Ed Drew on [all but] maybe one
offensive post move the whole game. Now,
did he get some buckets and get some shots off second chance buckets or tips, yeah,
but he had only had it one time and that was in the first half.
style=> The guys really bought into what we wanted to
do against him."
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#3 - - Activity on Defense:
style=> While the Warriors put up 63 points and
got 27 of those from behind the three-point line, a couple of times their runs
were thwarted by a defensive play, usually from King's Fork senior wing
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Byron Taylor.
style=> His activity and hustle on the defensive end
of the court, resulting in 10 rebounds and three blocks to go with his nine
points, proved be large.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>He had two key rejections early in the fourth quarter,
one preventing a fast-break lay-up for Nansemond River that could've brought
them closer before the Warriors' Devon
Oakley hit three shots from long distance in the game's final six minutes.
style=> Oakley scored nine of his 18 points in the final
quarter. Nansemond River's other two
perimeter players of note, Scott Spencer
and Kendric
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Washington, combined for just 11
points on 4-of-14 shooting.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Additionally, four of King's Fork 10 steals came in the
fourth and final stanza with four different players swiping the ball away.
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mso-highlight:yellow'>Next Up: King's
Fork plays Western Branch for the Southeastern District Tournament Championship
on Friday night at The Kennel.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The Bulldogs will be trying to claim their first
district tournament crown since 2003.
They beat Western Branch in both regular season meetings.
style=> Whichever team wins gets the #2 seed for the
region playoffs and will play at Western Branch, while the loser gets the #3
seed and faces the Beach District Tournament Champ at Princess Anne HS in
Monday's opening round.
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style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Postgame Audio with King's Fork Coach
Josh Worrell
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"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
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