The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
Landstown came into Friday’s much-anticipated Beach District showdown with Tallwood expecting a fight.
What it got instead was a pushover.
The host Eagles, ranked No. 8 in South Hampton Roads, had little trouble handing No. 5 Tallwood its worst defeat of the season with a 68-45 victory.
Landstown (8-3, 2-0 Beach) did it with stifling defense. The Eagles led by four after the first quarter but put the clamps on Tallwood (10-3, 1-1) the rest of the way. The Lions shot 26 percent in the final three periods, including woeful 3-of-16 shooting in the third quarter.
“That’s what we take pride in is our defense,” Landstown forward Donte Morales said. “We are there for each other and we have each other’s back.”
Landstown did an incredible job defensively, including holding Tallwood leading scorer Jarrett Jernigan to just nine points.
“He’s the heart and soul of their team and we knew if we stopped him then we’d have a chance,” Morales said.
Eagles coach Dwight Robinson felt if they slowed Jernigan, everything else would fall in place.
“You know what they say, if the head’s not there then the body falls,” he said. “We tried to contain him and make him a jump-shooter. And when he drove we wanted to make him pass it, and if he didn’t want to pass it, we’d stay there and take the charge.”
The Eagles frustrated Jernigan throughout. He had three fouls in the first half and eventually fouled out at the start of the fourth quarter to finish with his second-lowest output of the season.
Morales led Landstown with a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds. Daryl Woodmore and Julian Norfleet also contributed with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The victory helped the Eagles, the preseason favorite, grab the early lead in the district after beating the top two contenders in Tallwood and Salem.
“It definitely makes it easier,” said Morales. “But we know we can’t take any one team in the Beach District lightly because they can sneak up on you.”
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