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Patient Devils prevail

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Mark Gormus / Times-Dispatch

Meadowbrooks’ Jaquan Daily left, and Hopwewell’s David Gholson battle for the ball.

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HOPEWELL 48, NO. 8 MEADOWBROOK 37

Central District

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WELDON BRADSHAW SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Published: January 8, 2009

-- As the first quarter ended last night at Meadowbrook, Reggie Simon, Hopewell's basketball coach, was wracking his brain for answers.

For the first eight minutes of the matchup of Central District hopefuls, Meadowbrook, fresh off its championship in the Henrico Holiday Hoops Tournament, controlled the boards (19 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end, to 10) and the scoreboard (15-8).

Milton Gholson, Simon's 6-0 senior point guard, was on the bench with three fouls. The Blue Devils were shooting 3 for 13 and, to make matters worse, they were a step slow adjusting their 2-3 zone to the Monarchs' overloads.

"But I kept looking up at the clock," Simon said, "and I thought, 'We're in the game. We're in the game.' I felt that if we played a little better offensively and were a little more patient, executed and got some baskets, we could close the gap."

His answer came from his subs, from his defense and from his guys' ability to find their offensive rhythm.

The result was a 48-37 victory that left the second-year coach smiling.

"What we asked the guys to do," he said, "they worked really hard to do.

"We forced them to shoot from the outside and try not to allow them to get easy buckets. Before I knew it, we'd taken the lead."

Meadowbrook, No. 8 in the Times-Dispatch Top 10, led midway through the second quarter, but Hopewell ended the half with an 11-0 run and 24-19 lead.

"That wasn't really us at first," said Anthony Tyler, a 6-0 senior forward who sparked the Blue Devils off the bench. "Then we picked it up. We started hustling and playing team ball."

Sticking with its zone defense, Hopewell limited the Monarchs to 8-for-32 shooting in the first two quarters and outrebounded them 10-5 in the second.

"In the first quarter, we just weren't moving," Simon added, "and we had to adjust to what they were doing. Once we did that, our defense took over."

The Blue Devils increased their lead to 40-31 after three quarters and led by as many as 15 (48-33) with four minutes to go.

"We had a tough time getting in the game," said Hopewell's David Rose, a 6-0 junior guard who finished with 19 points. "I had to get my head in the game.

"We had to start setting the play up, drive and dish, rebound more, work hard in the paint."

Hopewell shot 21 for 50 from the field. The Monarchs were 16 for 56 and 5 of 15 from the foul line. Meadowbrook outrebounded the Blue Devils 41-35.

"This," said Rose, "was the real Hopewell team."

HOPEWELL (2-1, 6-4)

Ruiz 2, D. Gholson 4, Myrick 0, Berrios 16, M. Gholson 3, Rose 19, Cadogan 0, Creel 0, Tims 4, A. Tyler 0, T. Tyler 0, Wheeler 0. Totals: 21 6-10 48.

MEADOWBROOK (1-2, 5-2)

Harmon 0, Martin 4, Aiken 2, Carter 0, Kearney 0, Brewer 12, Daniel 4, Davis 0, Tucker 2, Mormon 8, Coble 0, Simmons 0, Daily 5. Totals: 16 5-15 37.
Hopewell ------------------------- 8 16 16 8 -- 48
Meadowbrook ------------------------- 15 4 12 6 -- 37