Nansemond River stuns Beach champ Landstown

VIRGINIA BEACH

Kerrington Harris and his Nansemond River teammates shut down the long-range attack of Landstown in Monday's Eastern Region first round, then used a little ballistics of their own to pull off a stunning 62-58 upset.

The Warriors hit a trio of 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to end the playoff hopes of Landstown - the fourth-ranked team in the state that had won 17 in a row.

Nansemond River (15-10) advances to an 8 p.m. quarterfinal Wednesday at Scope, where the Warriors will face Kecoughtan - a 94-89 winner over Lake Taylor.

The Warriors took their first lead at 51-49 when Brian Clarke made his second 3-pointer with 6:10 left to play. Harris gave his team a five-point margin two minutes later with his third 3 of the night.

"Unbelievable," Harris said. "I thought we could do well against them because we matched up good.

"But I have to admit, I was pretty concerned in the first half with the way they were shooting."

Landstown (22-5) sizzled from behind the arc early. Julian Norfleet was especially damaging - hitting four-consecutive 3-pointers in the first quarter. But despite the hot-handed Eagles - Landstown finished with eight 3s - the Warriors were only down 36-31 at the half.

A defensive change by Nansemond River coach Ed Young proved to be the difference.

"I told the guys at the half to introduce themselves to the Landstown shooters," Young said. "They were shooting everything from 24 feet out for crying out loud."

It worked as Norfleet - who led his team with 20 points - failed to connect from outside in the second half.

Nansemond River employed a variety of swarming defenses in the final two quarters, and kept its composure even after Landstown built a seven-point third-quarter lead on a layup by Norfleet.

Clarke got seven of his team-high 20 points in a third quarter that saw his team scratch to within three heading into the final period. Landstown tied it at 56 with two minutes left. But Clarke nailed his final 3-pointer for a lead the Warriors wouldn't relinquish. Clarke then hit the front end of a one-and-one with 8.2 seconds left for the final margin.

"We really stepped it up in the second half," Harris said. "And we handled their pressure well at the end.

"Nobody gave us much hope. But I always knew we could win."

Lee Tolliver, (757) 222-5844, lee.tolliver@pilotonline.com