Saturday, March 13, 2010
Bull's-eye on Cave Spring at state high school basketball tournament
Brunswick lost to the Knights 39-33 in overtime in last year's state title game.
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RICHMOND -- Did they scrimmage against teams who only wore red and black uniforms?
Did they stick voodoo pins in posters of J.J. Redick?
Did they practice with a cardboard cutout of Josh Henderson under the basket?
Just listen to Brunswick basketball coach Bryant Stith.
"Ever since November the 16th we have been preparing for one team, and I think everybody knows who that is," Stith said.
Roanoke knows. Southside knows.
It's Cave Spring vs. Brunswick again for the VHSL Group AA Division 3 championship at 1 p.m. today at VCU's Siegel Center.
Cave Spring (24-4) took the title with a 39-33 overtime victory last year over the Bulldogs. Once basketball season began, every Brunswick practice has been geared toward reversing that outcome.
"Ever since the beginning of the year, we talked about finishing on the other side of the basket," Stith said. "We talked about doubling-down low in the post. We talked about making sure we closed out on the shooters. Because we've had Cave Spring in the mind ever since November 16th."
Cave Spring coach Billy Hicks left VCU after Tuesday's 71-59 victory over New Kent without a preference of opponents.
Following Brunswick's 67-58 semifinal win over Northside, Hicks started his full-speed preparations for the Bulldogs (24-3).
Much of the Knights' focus will be on stopping 6-foot-3 forward Casey Walker, who scored 37 points against Northside and has 68 in two state tournament games, within range of the Group AA record of 91 set by Nansemond River's Antoine Willie in 1995.
"He hit some shots against us last year, but nothing like we saw Tuesday," Hicks said. "You can get a hand up in his face but he's going to get his shot off. The thing that impresses me about them is their overall length."
Brunswick does have a problem with its depth.
Stith's son, Brandan, would have started in the middle for the Bulldogs but he suffered a season-ending bone bruise to his knee. Brandan Stith had been the replacement for original starter Curtis Jefferson, who became academically ineligible when he fell below the Brunswick school system's 2.0 grade point average minimum.
"They made the decision that too many kids were getting looked over because their grades weren't sufficient," Stith said. "It took awhile. We lost a number of kids the first couple of years, but I think the kids that have come through our middle school program know its books first, everything else second.
"It sent a message to the rest of our team that nobody is above the law, and you have to do your work to be able to reap the benefits of being out here in front of such a huge crowd."
Cave Spring basked in the glory last year and is in position to repeat largely on the strength of 6-11 center Josh Henderson and 6-4 forward Clay Lacy, who combined for 53 points and 33 rebounds against New Kent. Henderson, who had 31 points and 22 boards in the semis, has signed with Vanderbilt. Lacy recently was offered a scholarship by Division II Davis & Elkins (W.Va.).
While Stith starred in the ACC at Virginia and played in the NBA for 10 seasons, Cave Spring's program hasn't lacked in either department.
The Knights had their NBA moment earlier this week when Redick -- who led Cave Spring to the 2002 Group AAA championship before becoming a two-time Rupp Award winner at Duke -- sent the team an e-mail during a break in his duties with the Orlando Magic.
"It was pretty inspiring," Hicks said. "One of the things he said was he had played in ACC championship games and the NBA Finals, but the thing that meant the most to him was winning the state championship with his friends. That was pretty cool."
