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Rams upend Tabb, join Poquoson in final
By Marty O'Brien
mobrien@dailypress.com | 247-4963

YORK — Cedric Jones used the dunk and spinning jumper from point-blank range to lead Lafayette High to victory in its Bay Rivers District boys basketball tournament semifinal. Chad Pinder’s weapon of choice in Poquoson’s semifinal win Wednesday was the 3-pointer.

Jones, a 6-foot-7 center, notched 17 points and 15 rebounds to lead the fifth-seeded Rams to a 65-46 rout of regular-season champion Tabb. Pinder, a 5-foot-11 guard, scored 16 points in the No. 2 Islanders’ 50-38 win over No. 6 Jamestown.

Jones and Pinder will showcase their different styles when Lafayette (17-7) and Poquoson (18-6) meet in the championship game at 7 p.m. Friday in the Islanders’ gym. At stake is a home game in Monday’s Region I tournament quarterfinals.

Poquoson already had qualified for the regional by sharing second in the district regular season. Lafayette must win the tournament final to qualify for the regional because it finished fifth in the district.

Otherwise, the district’s third seed will go to New Kent, which tied Poquoson for second. Tabb (19-5) — which hosted both semifinals — goes into the regional as the district’s top seed for winning the regular-season crown.

"Friday’s game is just as important for us as it is for Lafayette," Poquoson coach Todd Bowden said. "We really want to play our regional game at home."

LAFAYETTE 65, TABB 46
Lafayette coach Tony Clark guessed that the difference between his Rams and the Tigers was a matter of motivation: The Rams had to win to keep playing, and the Tigers didn’t. Whatever the reason, the Rams were as dominant as they were in a 17-point win over the Tigers nine days earlier.
Jones staked the Rams a 13-7 first-quarter lead with eight points and five rebounds. The Rams stretched the lead to 26-15 at halftime.

If the Tigers collapsed on Jones, it opened up lanes for guards Art Crew (14 points) and Dominique Brown (13 points). When Tabb extended its defensive pressure to the perimeter, the Rams got the ball to Jones.

After the Tigers cut the deficit to seven points late in the third quarter, Jones threw down a monster dunk on an alley-oop pass from Tiawen Hollis to make it 40-31.

Steve Sherwood (14 points) led a Tabb comeback that whittled the lead to 43-39 early in the fourth quarter. But Lafayette rolled from there.
Jones scored inside, added his second dunk of the night and hit a free throw as the Rams outscored the Tigers 22-7 in the final seven minutes. Crew added six points, while Tommy Dover scored two baskets inside during the game-clinching run.

"We came in here as the fifth seed, but we felt we should’ve been the number one seed all along," Jones said. "Now we’re playing like a number one seed."

POQUOSON 50, JAMESTOWN 38
The Islanders led only 9-8 early in the second quarter before Pinder began his 3-point barrage with a basket from the left corner. Then he buried another 3, and another, and another and another.

He made five of six 3-pointers in the second quarter. Luke Hunter added another for good measure as the Islanders stretched their lead to 27-19 at intermission.

"That was all my teammates," Pinder said. "They penetrated and kicked the ball to me. I just didn’t think about anything when I was shooting, and the shots were going in."

The Eagles (15-9) could not close the gap because they were almost equally awful offensively in both halves. They were 8-of-20 from the field in the first half and 7-of-21 in the second.

"It was all one pass and shoot, two passes and shoot, or dribble, dribble and shoot," Eagles coach Lee Underwood said. "And when we missed, they got all of the rebounds."

Gene Efird scored 14 points in addition to leading the Islanders’ rebounding effort. Justin Bollinger added 12 pointsfor the Islanders.