Norcom captures Eastern Region in Virginia boys basketball playoffs

Norcom (Portsmouth, Va.), defending state champion and ranked No. 5 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 boys basketball rankings presented by the Army National Guard, advanced to the Eastern Region finals with a nail-biting 54-53 win over Kellam Saturday night.

Virginia Tech-bound Dorian Finney-Smith made two free throws to give Norcom a 54-50 lead with 15 seconds to play, but Kellam's Ramone Snowden responded with a 3-pointer to pull his team within one.

Norcom failed to get the ball inbounds giving Kellam (27-1) one last chance with 4.7 seconds remaining, but the inbounded pass was deflected and as both teams' players scrambled for it, time expired.

"It was a hard fought game," Norcom coach Leon Goolsby said. "We didn't play as team in the first half, which was disappointing, but we played with a lot of energy and executed better in the second half."

Smith finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Decarlos Anderson had a game-high 19 points for the Greyhounds.

Kellam's Trey Freeman had a team-high 18 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds and had five blocks and three assists in the losing effort.

Norcom (26-1) advances to face Phoebus (Hampton, Va.) (21-7) in Monday's 8 p.m. final.

"Phoebus is a real good team that is jelling at the right time of year," Goolsby added. "They shoot the ball well and play hard defensively. It' s going to be another tough game for both teams."

Phoebus, behind Troy Williams' 20 points and 13 rebounds, advanced to the final with a 74-69 win over Booker T. Washington (22-5).

MaxPreps boys basketball playoff brackets

TOUGH SCHEDULES PREPARE DELAWARE'S TOP SEEDS
Red Lion Christian Academy (Bear, Del.) (17-3) earned the top seed in the 2011 Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Basketball State Tournament and will play the winner of the DuPont (Wilmington, Del.) (13-7) vs. Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) (10-10) game.

"We are excited with the opportunity to play in the state tournament," Red Lion Christian coach Tom Purse said in an e-mail shortly after the draw was announced. "We feel that our tough regular season schedule has prepared us for the challenges that we will face."

Red Lion Christian's lone regular-season loss to a Delaware team came at the hands of No. 19 St. Georges Tech (12-8). The schools will not meet in the tournament unless both reach the championship game. Red Lion Christian's other two defeats were against New Jersey schools.

All first-round games will be played Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the higher seed, with second-round games slated for Friday night.

In the Girls State Tournament, Henlopen Conference champion Smyrna (Del.) (20-1) is the top seed. The Eagles, who will play the winner of the Indian River (Dagsboro, Del.) (15-5) vs. Caravel (Bear, Del.) (9-11) game, are led by James Madison-commit Crystal Ross and one of the country's top recruits, Betnijah Laney, who has narrowed her college choices to Duke, Oklahoma and Rutgers.

"Our girls have worked very hard to get to this point," Smyrna coach James Kiger said. "Looking over the bracket, we have a tough draw ahead of us with several very good teams that we potentially could play. We are going to go out and leave it all on the court and see what happens. Our goal is to take one play at a time and let the chips fall where they may. We believe our tough schedule this year has prepared us for what lies ahead."

Ross did not play in Saturday night's Henlopen title game against Indian River after suffering an undisclosed injury during warm-ups. The Eagles won easily, 83-67, and Kiger said Sunday morning in an e-mail that the talented center is expected to play Thursday in the team's first tournament game.

First-round games for the girls tournament begin Tuesday at 7 p.m., with second-round play to take place Thursday night.

MaxPreps girls basketball playoff brackets

PATTERSON BOYS CAPTURE BALTIMORE CITY DIV. 1 TITLE
Patterson (Baltimore) sophomore point guard Aquille Carr scored 25 of his game-high 32 points in the second half as the Clippers pulled away to capture the Baltimore City Division 1 title with a 75-59 win over two-time defending Class 2A state champion City on Friday night at Morgan State.

"This means a whole lot — we haven't won one since 1976," the 5-foot-6 Carr told The Baltimore Sun. "Coach [Harry Martin] told me the second half was my show. I got in some foul trouble early, but he said the second half, it's in my hands."

Myrek Fowlkes scored 18 points and Rickey Meekins added 13 for Patterson.

Senior guard Nick Faust had a team-high 25 points for City, while senior guard Mike Cheatham added 13.

Patterson (21-1, 10-0) will now begin its quest for the Class 4A North region title when the Clippers host Dulaney (Timonium, Md.) Monday at 5 p.m.

SIMMONS BREAKS VIRGINIA SHOT PUT RECORD
Woodbridge (Va.) senior Isaiah Simmons set a state record in the shot put at the Virginia AAA indoor championships with a push of 68 feet, shattering the meet record of 65-51/2 set by Bayside High's Dan Krueger in 1978.

"I'm really happy. I'm excited," Simmons, a Miami recruit, told The Washington Post. "There's been a lot of talk about how I was the best hope to break the indoor record. That monkey's off my back."

Great Bridge's Brian Waterfield was runner-up with 57-21/2.

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Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and on the broadcast team for the 1290AM The Ticket High School Football and Basketball Games of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.