Forget a city sweep.
Playing on their home court, the King’s Fork boys and girls basketball teams pulled off a school sweep in the Southeastern District basketball tournaments Friday night.
TaShauna Rodgers scored 31 points - 25 after halftime - to lead the King’s Fork girls to a 74-60 victory over Indian River in a worth-the wait showdown that began more than an hour late after the Braves’ bus was stuck in traffic.
The Bulldogs (22-3) won their second consecutive tournament title and snapped the Braves’ winning streak at 12 games.
The King’s Fork boys built a 21-point halftime lead on their way to avenging two regular-season losses to top-ranked Nansemond River. The Bulldogs, led by Jamar Wertz’s 21 points, won their first district title of any kind.
All four finalists have spots in next week’s Eastern Region tournament. Both regular-season champions - the Nansemond River boys and King’s Fork girls - already had earned No. 1 seeds.
The King’s Fork boys, blown out by the Warriors in both previous meetings, raced away Friday by scoring 14 unanswered points in the final 5:40 of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs’ swarming defense held Nansemond River to a measly four points in the first quarter.
“Our defensive was the key,” King’s Fork coach Josh Worrell said. “To hold Nansemond River to four points in a quarter, I’ve never seen that. To hold them to 40 points when they just scored 94 the other night, was an amazing feat for us.”
The Warriors (22-3) finished the first half 5 of 24 from the floor and misfired on all six of their 3-point attempts. King’s Fork led 33-12 at the break.
For Nansemond River, it was one of those nights when shots just weren’t falling and many were rimming in and out. During one fourth-quarter possession,
Quinton McDuffie’s layin went in and out, and Nick Wright’s follow dunk attempt did the same.
King’s Fork’s Jaquon Parker scored 17 points, while Andre Jones led the Warriors with 17.
With three Suffolk teams in the finals, the gym was nearly full by 6 p.m. Friday - the girls’ scheduled tip-off time.
But the Indian River girls’ bus was stuck in a traffic snarl and had not yet arrived.
By tip-off, the gym was packed and fans were worked into a frenzy.
They were treated to a second-half show by Rodgers, who knocked down four 3-pointers after halftime, many of them at least 3-4 feet behind the arc.
“I just came in and caught fire,” Rodgers said. After one or two 3s, “I’m in the rhythm. You hit one of those shots and the crowd just (is) live. It just makes your confidence go up.”
Rodgers hit back-to-back pull-up 3-pointers in the third period from well beyond the top of the key that brought the crowd to its feet. She buried a dagger of a 3-pointer - again from the top of the key - with 5:09 left and two minutes later buried a gym-shaker for King’s Fork’s largest lead at 67-45.
“The first two of those shots, we’re like, 'No, no, no - Yes!’ “ Bulldogs coach Garry Murphy said. “On the third one, she’s hot and we’re going to ride her.”
Indian River’s top two scorers, Keiara Avant (24 points) and Courtney Medley (12 points), missed significant minutes with foul trouble. Medley and another starter, Chelisa Painter, fouled out in the fourth quarter.
King’s Fork’s Ransheda Jennings scored 20 points.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
