Eagles Lions Advance to Conf. 1 Final
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>6A-South
Conference 1 Tournament Semifinals:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Final - - #1 Landstown 46, #5 Cox 34
Final - - #2 Tallwood 54, #6 First Colonial 45
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The top-seeded Landstown
Eagles shook off a sluggish start and got its act together in the second half
to take care of business at home against the Cox Falcons, 46-34 in the
semifinals of the Conference 1 Tournament on Monday night in Virginia
Beach.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Pushing their win streak to 10 games,
class=SpellE>Lanstown moved to 19-4 overall.
style=> Early on, the Eagles fell behind 6-0 with
3:30 to go in the opening quarter and trailed 10-5 going into the second period.
style=> While Cox had some success with its 2-3 matchup zone on defense, the Falcons couldn't mustard up much at all offensively, turning the ball over 14 times in the first half, yet managed to go to intermission deadlocked at 17.
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Landstown
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> opened
the second half on a 6-0 spurt with baskets from 6-foot-8 junior center
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Darius Bolstad,
junior wing R.J. Nicholson and
sophomore guard Tyriq
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Nady.
style=> They were able to widen their lead to as many
as eight by the end of the third quarter on a three-pointer from
class=SpellE>Daryus
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Evans.
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Bolstad
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>, a
Player of the Year candidate in 6A-South, finished up with a double-double of
10 points and 10 rebounds despite being in foul trouble.
style=> Nicholson and Nady
combined for 13 more. Cox,
class=GramE>which closed out the season at 10-12 overall, got 12 points from
Cole Johnson, including a pair of
three-pointers.
normal'>Wes Horbal added nine points on 7-of-9
shooting from the foul line.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Regardless of what happens in the Conference 1
Tournament Championship later this week, Landstown is
set to open up 6A-South regional play against Kecoughtan,
the #2 seed from the Monitor-Merrimac Conference.
style=> The two schools have never squared off before
in the postseason.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the Conference 1 Tournament Championship on Thursday
night at the Norfolk Scope, the Eagles will take on #2 seed Tallwood,
which rallied with a 12-2 run to close the game to eliminated upset-minded #6
seed First Colonial, 54-45.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>It'll be the third crack at Landstown
for Tallwood, which lost the previous two meetings in
the regular season to their city rival by a total of eight points.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It's going to be my first time ever playing at the
Scope. I'm excited about it, but I wanted
to get the W. That's all I care about,"
remarked Lions senior guard Tyler
Peterson, who finished with 23 points, shot 13-of-16 from the foul line and
collected 10 rebounds.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Peterson scored 14 of his team's 18 points in the first
half, consistently scoring on pull-up jumpers inside the arc and finding his
way into the teeth of the defense when needed.
First Colonial was able to buckle down defensively and get back in the
game after trailing 6-0 just five minutes in, plus got an offensive lift from
senior reserve guard Wayne Gibbs.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Gibbs supplied 11 points and three treys off the bench
for the Patriots, who used an 18-6 run to go into half-time tied.
style=> In the second half, the Patriots leaned on
6-foot-3 junior guard Gerrard Simpkins and
he delivered with nine of his teams first 13 points in the third quarter,
making an array of shots and playing arguably his best game of the season.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We knew if we didn't stop Simpkins, we were going to
be in trouble," admitted Tallwood Head Basketball
Coach Tom Gunsalus.
style=> "He's just a catalyst for their team.
style=> If he penetrates and we're forced to help,
then they've got those shooters sitting on the outside that can knock it down."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Simpkins finished with identical scoring and rebounding
numbers as Peterson - - 23 points and 10 boards.
style=> His two free-throws with 4:23 to play gave FC
a 42-40 lead in the fourth period. From
there, First Colonial's offense was stymied with several role players, most
notably Nicolas-Jakim
Driver, Quincy Jones (4 blocks)
and Clifton Spann (11 points, 7
boards), stepping forward.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I was just looking to be aggressive and do whatever I
could to help my team get the win," Peterson said.
style=> "The second half, it was all my teammates.
style=> They stepped it up and it was a team effort.
style=> We were in the bonus, so we knew we could get
to the line as long we stayed calm and attacked the basket."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Spann's steal and basket with 1:30 to go gave the Lions
a four-point advantage. They never
looked back from there.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For Tallwood, win or lose
against Landstown, they are locked in to playing
Monitor-Merrimac #1 seed Woodside in the opening round of regional action.
style=> Woodside beat Tallwood
59-42 back in December and the Wolverines are currently ranked #1 in the state
in Group 6A, having gone 19-1 over their past 20 games.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It's a different level of intensity once you get to
the playoffs. If you don't win a game,
then your season is over with," noted Gunsalus.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
href="https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/914/1517007.WMA">
none;text-underline:none'>Postgame Audio with Tallwood
Coach Tom Gunsalus
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>�
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