The Virginian-Pilot

urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:1234 HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com http://www.pilotonline.com The Virginian-Pilot 2010-03-12T01:21:01-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545848 Miami 'ready to go' against Hokies after cruising past Wake 2010-03-12T02:04:42-05:00 2010-03-12T02:03:22-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

By Mark Berman GREENSBORO, N.C. For the third straight year, Virginia Tech will meet Miami in the ACC tournament. The No. 12th-seeded Hurricanes squashed fifth-seeded Wake Forest 83-62 in the first round Thursday to advance to a quarterfinal meeting with Virginia Tech at 2:30 p.m. today at the Greensboro Coliseum. "We've got adrenaline pumping. We're going to be ready to go," said Miami guard James Dews, who had 15 points. The fourth-seeded Hokies (23-7) eliminated Miami (19-12) the past two years, winning in the quarterfinals two years ago and in the first round last year. The teams split the regular-season series this season. The Hokies cruised to an 81-66 win at home on Jan. 13, going 7 for 9 from 3-point range in the first half to build a 50-23 halftime cushion. "They stun-gunned us in the first game," Miami coach Frank Haith said after his team's win Thursday. "They really got after us. We turned the ball over, particularly early in that ballgame, and they got going in transition." In the rematch, Miami snapped a four-game skid in the series, winning 82-75 at home on Jan. 31, shooting 70 percent from the field in the first half to build a 17-point lead. "I don't anticipate doing that" today, Haith said. The Hurricanes shot 63.2 percent from the field in the rematch, and sank nine 3-pointers. It was one of only four ACC regular-season wins for the team. On Thursday, Miami won without its best player, forward Dwayne Collins (12 ppg, 7.8 rpg). He will miss his third straight game today with an injured right foot. Redshirt freshman center Reggie Johnson, starting for just the fourth time, had a career-high 22 points Thursday. He was 8 for 8 from the field. "Everyone's coming together without Dwayne," Johnson said. Sophomore forward Julian Gamble added eight points and tied his career high with 13 rebounds. "Without Dwayne, we need Reggie and Julian and Cyrus (McGowan) and Adrian Thomas to step up, and they have," Dews said. Miami made eight 3-pointers, including six in the first half. The Hurricanes built a 27-15 lead with 9:46 left in the first half and led the rest of the way. "We were back on our heels the whole game," said Wake's Ishmael Smith, who had 14 points. With a 9-7 ACC regular-season record and an RPI of No. 32 entering Thursday, Wake (19-10) is still a safe bet for an NCAA tournament at-large bid. But the Demon Deacons aren't playing like a team anyone will want to pick in their bracket. They have lost 5 of 6 games, with the lone win coming in the regular-season finale against Clemson. "Our defense usually triggers our offense, and then that's when we get going. We didn't do a good job of it today," Smith said. "We did a great job of it against Clemson. That's why I guess you guys are kind of looking at this like it's a head-scratcher, for us to have a big win against Clemson and then just come out and just kind of blow our tires flat here." Norfolk, VA Anonymous Miami 'ready to go' against Hokies after cruising past Wake The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545848 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545847 Season of lowly firsts gets worse 2010-03-12T02:02:50-05:00 2010-03-12T02:01:41-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

GREENSBORO, N.C. Rarely seen at the ACC tournament - acres of green seats in the upper reaches of the Greensboro Coliseum for a North Carolina game. Never, positively ever seen - the Tar Heels seeded 10th in this little get-together. But this is a when-cows-fly kind of season for the Tar Heels, isn't it? The season, an encore to a national championship, when topsy called turvy's bluff - and then went all in. A season when mournful lyrics to an increasingly sad song rose from Chapel Hill as the meandering began around mid-January, and rolled into Greensboro on the fumes of a 32-point pounding in Durham five days ago. You know the conspicuous message of "The Anomaly, 2010:" Ol' Roy Williams' Heels are too young, too injured, too defensively challenged, too biorhythmically and cohesively discombobulated. All resume and no results, these guys. Can't shoot, can't protect the ball, can't defend, can't win. And so, the appropriate coda came Thursday in their 62-58 first-round loss to Georgia Tech - the Tar Heels' first, first-round ACC loss since Naismith hung his peach basket. That stuff about not being able to execute all those fundamental things? Yep, North Carolina (16-16) played down to its billowing frustration as the clock ran out, the time that always haunts coaches and players the most. Till then the Tar Heels had turned in a redeemable, game-long effort built on the back of sophomore Tyler Zeller's 17 points and 10 boards. Heck, the Heels led 34-24 at the break, fueled by 10 points off Yellow Jacket turnovers. North Carolina could win this. Well, OK, not this searching and answerless North Carolina team. As if on a silent signal, the Heels went without a field goal the last five minutes, mishandled the ball and couldn't stop the seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets when the decision was still tilting and leaning. "That kind of year," Williams said. "We played in stretches." Outrebound the other guy all you want; the Heels grabbed 10 more offensive boards than the Yellow Jackets. Stuff it into the paint till you're giddy; UNC got 42 points there to Tech's 34. It all dissipates if you come off a screen for a wide-open 3 - as did Will Graves with 1:21 left, UNC trailing by five - and clank it. If you get three more long-range looks - Maurice Miller, Larry Drew and Graves again - and your number on the scoreboard never moves. "I hate to keep saying the same thing, but we couldn't get the ball in the basket," Williams said. Williams has been known to psycho-analyze and get all weepy dramatic over a couple decades of head coaching, but there wasn't a whole lot more to add, although Williams patiently obliged. He's had plenty of practice. It's been clear for weeks that the Heels had mounted one of the most futile title defenses in history. Florida missed the last two NCAA tournaments following its back-to-back championships, but the Gators at least won 24 and 25 games. Should they play no more - the NIT seems likely, since they are .500, and Williams says they'll accept - the Tar Heels own a dubious claim to being the second-worst defending champs since 1945. Only Michigan State, post-Magic Johnson in 1979-80, finished worse at 12-15. "If you feel like you've given the team everything you can and yet it still doesn't work out, what are you supposed to say?" said Williams, who's never had a Kansas or Carolina team finish worse than 19-12. "It's the most inadequate feeling I think any coach can ever have.... "I couldn't get the right buttons pushed; I didn't know what those buttons were." Too late now to hit "rewind." The search commences for "renew." Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com Norfolk, VA Anonymous Season of lowly firsts gets worse The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545847 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545845 Church members pack meeting on Va. Beach jet zones 2010-03-12T01:59:35-05:00 2010-03-12T01:56:44-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

By Jaedda Armstrong VIRGINIA BEACH Members of Kempsville Presbyterian Church were dominant at a meeting to get the public's opinion on what to do with the patchwork of fields between Oceana Naval Air Station and Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field. After the federal government decided that more homes would cause more noise complaints from residents, Beach officials launched a $228,000 study to figure out what development best suit s the 4,700 acres of land. Kempsville Presbyterian, on Kempsville Road, recently b ought more than 500 acres of land near the center of the study area. The church plans to build a larger facility to accommodate its growing ministry. About 100 members of the church attended the meeting. In 2005, the federal government overturned the city's initial development plans for the section, called the interfacility traffic area, when it threatened to move the master jet base out of Virginia Beach because too many homes surrounded Oceana. Jets traveling between Oceana and Fentress fly over the interfacility traffic area, and federal officials were concerned that more homes would generate more jet noise complaints. Virginia Beach agreed to limit residential development in the area and even b ought nearly 150 acres in the ITA since 2005 for about $5.8 million. Many residents said the meeting was loud and disorganized, and they couldn't give their input. "It's great that so many people turned out, but it's so many people that the meeting became uneffective," said Councilwoman Barbara Henley, whose district, Princess Anne, is in the study area. Norfolk, VA Anonymous Church members pack meeting on Va. Beach jet zones The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545845 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545844 U.Va. men live to play another day 2010-03-12T01:55:03-05:00 2010-03-12T01:48:26-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

By Doug Doughty GREENSBORO, N.C. Virginia, which had never ended a season with more than five consecutive losses, didn't want to end this one with 10. The Cavaliers didn't, and lived to play another day. They ended a nine-game slide Thursday, beating Boston College 68-62 in the first round of the ACC tournament. Junior guard Sammy Zeglinski scored 21 points to lead five Cavaliers in double figures as they held off the Eagles at the Greesnboro Coliseum. Ninth-seeded U.Va. will meet No. 1 seed and fourth-ranked Duke (26-5) at noon today in the quarterfinals. "Nobody wants to go into the summer with a 10-game losing streak," said Jeff Jones, who converted 5 of 6 free throws in the final 54 seconds Thursday. "It was great getting that weight off our shoulders." The Cavaliers (15-15) were playing without leading scorer Sylven Landesberg and did not have a double-figure scorer in their starting lineup. Landesberg was suspended before U.Va.'s final regular-season game, a 74-68 loss to ACC co-leader Maryland. Landesberg's suspension, for missing class, was followed by Monday's announcement that fifth-year senior guard Calvin Baker would not play again for personal reasons. But U.Va. seemingly benefitted from a tighter rotation. Coach Tony Bennett used only eight players Thursday and two - Will Sherrill and Assane Sene - played six and four minutes, respectively. Twice in a recent three-game span, Jones failed to score from the field and was quickly benched. The increased minutes seem to allow him the opportunity to play through his mistakes. "I've always thought that," Jones said. "If you look, whenever I've played 20-plus minutes or 25 minutes, I've been able to put up some good stats. " Jones is 7 for 11 on 3-pointers in the last two games, including 3 for 5 against the Eagles. But the spark Thursday was provided by Zeglinski, who had 16 first-half points. After Boston College built a 23-17 lead, Zeglinski hit a 3-pointer to give U.Va. a 24-23 lead. Corey Raji responded with a basket, but the Cavaliers scored the next 10 points to complete a 17-2 run. Only eight days earlier, the Eagles had beaten U.Va. 68-55 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. "The coaches told us that one of the announcers (ex-Providence coach Tim Welsh) said during the last game, 'Virginia left their toughness at the hotel,' " Jones said. "We're better than that.... We can match up with Boston College. " After U.Va. built an 11-point lead early in the second half, the Eagles (15-16) trimmed it to 49-46 with 8:44 left. However, 6-foot-8 junior Mike Scott hit a short jumper, then converted a rebound basket that pushed the Cavaliers' lead to 53-46. Scott, a former Deep Creek High standout who is the Cavaliers' leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, was held out of the starting lineup but finished with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. He took offense at Welsh's comment, saying "it was definitely a slap in the face." Boston College junior Rakim Sanders had 22 points to lead all scorers. Virginia had a season-low five turnovers. "Ceretainly it helps when some shots are going down," Bennett said, "but what I really like is, when things got a little shaky in the second half, our kids battled back and showed some resolve. They didn't falter. "You have to do that when your tank isn't full." Norfolk, VA Anonymous U.Va. men live to play another day The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545844 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545843 Dominion's plan to give refunds to customers OK'd 2010-03-12T01:47:59-05:00 2010-03-12T01:46:36-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

State regulators have approved Dominion Virginia Power's latest proposal to forgo a requested rate increase and grant refunds to customers.

State regulators have approved Dominion Virginia Power's latest proposal to forgo a requested rate increase and grant refunds to customers. The final order of the State Corporation Commission clears the way for Dominion's 2.3 million customers to receive their first refund, as a credit on their bills, within 60 days. The agreement also will reduce bills - from $108.36 to $99.07 for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, not including taxes and some surcharges, this year. That customer would see an estimated total bill reduction of $153 over the next 10 years. The decision caps a yearlong process since Dominion filed a request to increase its base rates. Base rates cover Dominion's operating costs, plus a profit - or a return on equity. Dominion's base rate hasn't changed since 1999. In September, Dominion put its requested rate increase into effect on an interim basis - as state law allows - amounting to $5.22 per month for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours. The commission ordered Dominion to return base rates to their prior levels and refund customers the difference charged since September, amounting to about $42, plus interest, for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours. Dominion also will refund customers for two other surcharges it added in January to cover its costs to build two power plants. It can begin imposing those surcharges again this year. Dominion will retain current base rates through Dec. 1, 2013. Base rates do not include fuel charges, which cover the company's costs to buy fuel to run power plants and can change annually. The commission estimated that the total return to consumers is worth $726 million. That includes $529 million of Dominion's 2008 earnings that the commission deemed excessive and that will be used to offset the rate increase and other charges that the company would have imposed on customers. Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com Norfolk, VA Anonymous Dominion's plan to give refunds to customers OK'd The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545843 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545842 NSU's season, star's career come to an end 2010-03-12T01:46:19-05:00 2010-03-12T01:41:34-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Honored before the game, Norfolk State's Michael Deloach was crestfallen after it. As the final buzzer sounded on Hampton's 73-70 MEAC quarterfinal win over NSU on Thursday night, ending the Spartans' season and Deloach's career, the senior all-conference guard buried his head on the press table. A pair of NSU 3-point attempts had just missed - one by Kyle O'Quinn with eight seconds left and another by Brandon Wheeless with two seconds remaining. Deloach rested his head on the table until finally making his way to the locker room with his jersey pulled over his face. "I didn't think it would be over this early," Deloach said later. "I was going to fight to the end." Both he and the Spartans did, but it was an uphill struggle all night. Plagued by foul trouble and missed free throws - as well as some porous first-half defense - NSU trailed by 14 early in the second half. The Spartans stormed back to take a 3-point lead with 6:19 left, but Hampton responded to beat NSU for the first time in three tries this season. Hampton (14-17) plays Morgan State in a MEAC semifinal today. The Pirates jumped out early behind the shooting of guard Vince Simpson, who hit four first-half 3-pointers, each one deeper than the last. Hampton made 7 of 14 in the half. Deloach, honored before the game as an All-MEAC pick, went just 2 for 7 in the first half. Norfolk State shot 50 percent, but committed 10 turnovers and missed 8 of 15 free throws. Point guard Aleek Pauline picked up two fouls in the game's first three minutes. O'Quinn, a forward, picked up his second foul with 13:02 left and sat the remainder of the half. The foul trouble continued in the second half, and so did the struggles from the line. Starter Tim Zephyr picked up his fourth foul with 14:34 left. O'Quinn was called for his fourth with 11:11 remaining. The Spartans (11-19) had a run left in them, though. NSU began chipping away behind Deloach's drives to the basket and pressure defense that forced Hampton into turnovers and rushed shots. A Marcos Tamares steal and Deloach reverse dunk cut Hampton's lead to one. A layup by Pauline with 8:11 left gave NSU its first lead since the game's opening three minutes. "We started to defend," NSU coach Anthony Evans said. "We were able to limit them to one shot and get out on the fast break." Hampton regained its composure, though. Simpson, who had a quiet second half, hit a pull-up jumper to put Hampton back up three with 4:11 left. A Darrion Pellum layup pushed it to five. Deloach blew by Simpson to cut the lead to two with 1:49 left. But Pauline was called for a charge and the Pirates hit 3 of 4 from the line in the final minute. "We knew they had no quit in them," said Pellum, who led Hampton with 19 points. "Where there's Michael Deloach, there's no quit." Simpson and Deloach, each wearing No. 2, went at each other all game, with the Hampton player hitting deep threes and NSU's senior slashing to the basket. Deloach had 21 points, while Simpson collected 18. The Spartans' Rob Hampton had 20. Afterward, Simpson crossed the court and helped Deloach up from the scorer's table. He said Deloach had done the same thing for him when NSU won at Hampton. "I told him what he told me, 'Keep your head up.' He may be able to play for pay somewhere." Possibly, but Deloach was hoping to play a few more college games first. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com Norfolk, VA Anonymous NSU's season, star's career come to an end The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545842 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545840 Norfolk School Board's Billy Cook to run for City Council 2010-03-12T01:39:29-05:00 2010-03-12T01:36:40-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

School Board member Billy Cook will announce his bid for the City Council at a rally this evening. Cook is challenging Councilman Paul R. Riddick, who has served on the City Council since 1992.

School Board member Billy Cook will announce his bid for the City Council at a rally this evening. Cook is challenging Councilman Paul R. Riddick, who has served on the City Council since 1992. Cook said Ward 4, which encompasses the eastern side of Norfolk from Berkley to the airport, generates an "inordinate share" of Norfolk's revenue, yet has received less reinvestment from the city than other wards. Much of the city's retail venues, including The Gallery at Military Circle and Janaf Shopping Yard, lie within the district. Cook is an Army officer and faculty member at the Joint Forces Staff College. His campaign kickoff will be at 6 p.m. today at the Americas Best Value Inn, 235 N. Military Hwy. - Meghan Hoyer Norfolk, VA Anonymous Norfolk School Board's Billy Cook to run for City Council The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545840 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545837 House, Senate agree on benefits overhaul 2010-03-12T01:31:58-05:00 2010-03-12T01:30:25-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

RICHMOND The Senate and House of Delegates agreed Thursday on major changes to Virginia's public-employee retirement system that will mean less-generous benefits for state, local and school employees hired after July 1. Current employees will not be affected by the changes. Faced with a $4 billion-plus budget gap and concerns over the long-term viability of the retirement system, lawmakers concurred on a series of cost-cutting measures. Key among them: New employees will have to pay 5 percent of their salaries toward their retirement benefits. Current employees have paid nothing toward those benefits since 1983. Retirement benefits for new employees will be calculated on the average of the employee's five highest-paid years of salary, instead of the current three years. The effect will be a lower benefit. For a new employee to qualify for full retirement benefits, the employee's age and years of service must total at least 90. Current employees can retire with full benefits at age 50 with 30 years of service. At the insistence of Senate negotiators, the House dropped its proposal to reduce the pension multiplier - the number used to calculate an employee's pension - from 1.7 to 1.65 percent. The main voice of dissent in the House came from Del. Ken Plum, D-Fairfax County, a retired educator. "If we have to save money," he said, " let's do it across the population, not on the backs of our state employees and teachers." Bill Sizemore, (804) 697-1560, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com Norfolk, VA Anonymous House, Senate agree on benefits overhaul The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545837 Change 0 Usable urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545834 ODU's Green has no streak to worry about this time 2010-03-12T01:29:13-05:00 2010-03-12T01:27:08-05:00 Copyright The Virginian-Pilot

You think you know about mental anguish? Shadasia Green knows a little about it too, and says it's not fun. Not fun at all. A year ago, Green was part of the first Old Dominion women's basketball team to lose in the CAA tournament - the first team in 18 years that wouldn't punch its ticket to the NCAA tournament. A 17-year run that began in 1992 came to a screeching halt with a 62-41 undressing by eventual tournament champion Drexel in the semifinals. It ended a 52-game streak by ODU in the tournament. Green, a starting sophomore guard/forward on that team, said being the first ODU squad to come home empty left her in a major funk. "I'm a basketball junkie, but if basketball was on the TV, I turned it off," Green said. "And my mom is always calling me to talk basketball, but if her number popped up on my cell phone, I wouldn't answer it. And I didn't touch a basketball for days. The feeling lingered for a while. "We made negative history. We lost a lot of our fan base. And our direction and drive was in question. And as a team, that's all we thought about. It was not good." Green saw it coming. The Monarchs were weakened by injury throughout the season, cohesiveness was elusive and they finished fourth in the regular-season standings. And there was always "the streak" hanging around. Which makes this year's trip to the tournament all the more pleasant. That pink elephant has left the room. Ask Wendy Larry, however, and she'll respond, "What pink elephant?" "As coaches and as a program, we tried to never talk about it," she said. "If it wasn't for the media, it would have never been discussed. But in the end, I know that each year's seniors were taking on a 'not-on-our-watch' approach. They didn't want to be the class that didn't win it." And Larry couldn't help but step back and marvel at what ODU had done all those years. "Pretty remarkable... when you think about it," she said. "You get ready to play every day and for the longest time, there are no blips on the screen. And the longer you go without a blip, the larger the expectation that you are just going to win regardless." The Monarchs roll into this year's tournament as the top seed after winning the league's regular-season title, but without the same pressure to win the tournament. The Monarchs' 14-4 record in league play marks the most losses for a team to ever come away with a regular-season title in the CAA. The tournament is as wide open as ever. ODU (16-12) overall, knows it will have a postseason beyond the CAA tournament - as regular-season champ, the squad is assured a berth in the women's NIT - and Green says there is a calm determination throughout the team. ODU plays at noon today against Northeastern to open its championship bid. Green is ODU's leading scorer at 11.4 points a game. And if any team wants to focus its attention on stopping her, she welcomes that. "That's the beauty of our team," she said. "You can't focus on stopping one player like Delaware's Elena Delle Donne or James Madison's Dawn Evans. We've got four players who can lead us in scoring any given game." Junior guard Jasmine Parker has led or tied for the team lead in scoring 10 times. Green has done it nine times, while senior forward Jessica Canady has done it six and sophomore center Tia Lewis five. "You cannot concentrate your efforts on any one player on our team," Green said. "And that should make us something to reckon with." Norfolk, VA Anonymous ODU's Green has no streak to worry about this time The Virginian-Pilot urn:publicid:pilotonline.com:545834 Change 0 Usable