SVCC falls 108-106 in State Semifinals
The Southside Virginia Community College men’s basketball team fought to the end but Thomas Nelson CC scored with 3.5 seconds left to pull out a 108-106 win over the two-time defending state champions in the semifinals of the 2011 VCCS state tournament.
 SVCC trailed by four with 31 seconds left to play when a TNCC player was whistled for a personal and technical foul.
Markee Brooks and Tre Person hit four straight free-throws for SVCC to knot the score at 106 with 31 seconds left to play.
TNCC inbounded the ball and ran the clock down before hitting a short jumper for a 108-106 lead.
SVCC freshman point guard Marcus Williams pushed the ball up court and his runner at the buzzer did everything but fall as TNCC advanced to the finals with the two-point win.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with TNCC jumping out to a 37-25 lead before SVCC fought back to knot the score at 41 at the 5:05 mark on a bucket by Javon Lockett.
A big dunk by Kierre Winfield at the 2:00 minute mark tied the score at 49 but TNCC took a 55-53 lead to the halftime break.
SVCC came out hot to start the second half as Person knocked down a jumper and Winfield added a layup to give the local team a 62-57 lead at the 17:34 mark.
TNCC took an 81-71 lead at the 11:22 mark but Person hit a short jumper and Markee Brooks knocked down a trey to cut the lead to 81-77.
Devon Parham came off the bench and knocked down a trey and added a bucket to help SVCC close to 92-89 with 5:07 left to play.
Brooks knocked down three free-throws with 1:02 left to play to trim the Gators lead to 102-100.
Tre Person led SVCC with 26 points and three assists in the game while Kierre Winfield added 20 points and six rebounds. Lockett tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds while Brooks scored 16 and Marcus Williams added 10 points and 13 assists.
“Our kids gave everything they had,” said SVCC coach Dennis Smith. “It was a heavyweight fight between two teams playing good basketball.”
SVCC……53 53 - 106
TNCC……55 53 - 108
SVCC – Brooks 16, Williams 10, Person 26, Drumgold-Seward 0, Boyd 6, Dugger 5, Lockett 16, Winfield 20, Parham 5.
SVCC, 97-76 in Quarterfinal
SVCC overcame a 40-39 halftime deficit to blitz Virginia Western CC (Roanoke) 97-76 in a state quarterfinal contest on Friday night.
SVCC jumped out to an 11-2 lead over the first four minutes but the Stars fought back to take a 21-19 lead at the 7:03 mark.
Tre Person scored six straight points for SVCC to knot the score at 25 at the 4:36 mark.
A trey by Markee Brooks gave SVCC a 28-25 lead at the 3:17 mark but Virginia Western took a 40-36 lead with under twenty seconds to play before Javon Lockett hit a trey at the buzzer to cut the Stars lead to 40-39 at the halftime break.
SVCC opened the second half on a tear as a trey by Person and a bucket by Marcus Williams gave the local team a 50-49 lead.
Two 3-points plays by Person and Brooks extended the SVCC lead to 59-49 at the 13:54 mark and the local team pulled away down the stretch.
Person led SVCC with 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Lockett added 20 points and 13 rebounds. Kierre Winfield added 18 points and 10 rebounds while Brooks scored 11 points.
DeVone Dugger added nine rebounds in the win for SVCC.
SVCC…….39 58 – 97
VWCC……40 36 – 76
SVCC – Brooks 11, Williams 3, Person 32, Drumgold-Seward 2, Boyd 2, Lockett 20, Winfield 18, Parham 7.
(c) 2011. Southside Virginia Community College. All rights reserved.
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