Salem halts Princess Anne's Beach streak at 141

VIRGINIA BEACH

Salem senior Areana Davis practices what she preaches.

"You can't let pressure get to you," she says. "You have to be relaxed."

In a packed-house, pressure-cooker match-up between the top two teams in South Hampton Roads on Friday, Davis calmly walked to the foul line with her girls basketball team down by a point with 16 seconds remaining.

Even after a hard foul that took her to the floor and left her limping to the line, the SunDevils forward hit nothing but net on both tries to give second-ranked Salem a one-point lead over defending Group AAA champion Princess Anne.

Galaisha Goodhope's desperation attempt from the right baseline with two seconds left hit the side of the backboard and Salem held on to win 56-55 for one of the school's biggest victories in more than a decade.

The win also ended Princess Anne's 141-game winning streak over Beach District opponents. The top-ranked Cavaliers (9-2, 0-1) hadn't lost since a four-overtime thriller against Kellam in the 2004 district tournament.

"It was bound to happen sometime," Princess Anne coach Darnell Dozier said. "Our younger kids were a little shocked by this big game and crowd. We just missed too many free throws."

It was fitting that Davis gave her team the win from the line. Free throws played an important role in the outcome as Salem (13-0, 2-0) hit 23 of 31 attempts and Princess Anne made 19 of 32.

"We're a much better foul- shooting team than last year," Salem coach Tim Carr said. "Free throws were big for us tonight."

Davis was 4 of 5 from the line.

"I knew I had to hit those last two," said Davis, who finished with 12 points. "I didn't feel any pressure. I couldn't if I wanted to make them."

Teammate Shaleise Boyd was 5 of 6 from the line, Brehanna Daniels was 9 of 12 and Nachea Burrus hit her three attempts after being fouled on a 3-pointer immediately after coming off the bench. Daniels led the SunDevils with 14 points, while Alliyah Floyd scored 13.

The game's championship feel was amplified by Princess Anne's comeback from a 10-point halftime deficit that was 15 with a minute left in the second quarter.

As expected, Goodhope led the charge, scoring 17 of her game-high 25 points in the second half. Goodhope also had seven rebounds, while teammate Morgan Cooper led both teams with 13.

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