Hoopsters delve into March Madness

It is a long way from high school basketball in Northern Virginia to the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the top Division I leagues in the country.

But Chay Shegog, a 2008 graduate of Brooke Point High School, has handled the transition. Shegog, a 6-foot-5 freshman center at the University of North Carolina, was named to the all-freshman team in the ACC earlier this month.

“They got me physically prepared. You have to love to compete,” she said of her high school program. “I think I have adjusted to it. I had to get stronger. I had to get quicker.”

Shegog averaged 18.5 minutes, 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest in 30 regular-season games. The Tar Heels will find out March 16 who they will play in first round of the NCAA tournament.

“I am really excited about March Madness,” she said. “I have been watching it since I was young.” Shegog scored 10 points with seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench in a win against Clemson on March 6 in the ACC tournament. She had three points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes as a reserve in a loss to Maryland on March 7 in the tourney, but UNC is a sure bet for an at-large bid to The Big Dance.

While Shegog is concluding her first college season, North Stafford High grad Chris Darnell ended his career this past weekend at the Colonial Athletic Association men’s tournament at the Richmond Coliseum. Darnell was a senior forward this season for No. 10 seed William and Mary, which lost March 6 to No. 7 seed James Madison, 63-38, in the first day of the event. Darnell had two points and two rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench for the Tribe, who made just one of 18 shots from 3-point range.

“We just didn’t bring it tonight. They beat us physically, mentally and every way they could,” said Darnell, standing outside the Tribe locker room after the game. “We had bad shot selection. You are not going to win that way.”

It was the first time in six years JMU won a game in the CAA tourney. JMU then faced George Mason on March 7 in the quarterfinals and lost, 61-53. The Tribe lost to George Mason in the tourney title game in 2008.

“Obviously we are thrilled to have won a CAA tournament game,” said first-year JMU head coach Matt Brady. “That is not how I thought the game was going to go. We played two close games with them this year. Our energy level was good.”

“I thought we handled the pressure reasonably well,” said Tony Shaver, the Tribe head coach. “But we seemed very passive against it.”

William and Mary was outrebounded, 39-28, had 13 turnovers and made just 35.2 percent of its shots from the field and just nine of 18 shots from the foul line.

Darnell missed a 3-point attempt as the shot clock expired with about 14:00 left in the game and his team trailing by 10 points. JMU got the rebound but was not able to score at the other end. He hit a baseline jumper with about 630 left in the game to make it 55-36 but the outcome was already sealed.

Darnell ended regular-season play with 17 starts in 26 games with an average of 21.4 minutes, 4.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He shot 37 percent from the field and a career-best 83 percent from the foul line. The Stafford resident averaged 2.6 points per game as a freshman, 1.9 as a sophomore and 4.4 as a junior. He averaged 2.2 boards as a freshman, 1.8 as a sophomore and 3.7 as a junior. This year the Tribe was 10-20 overall.

Darnell, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, came off the bench to post a season-high eight rebounds against Georgia State on Jan. 31. He had a season-high 14 points and seven rebounds in a win over Radford in November.

Shegog, meanwhile, was born in California and lived there six years before the family moved to Hawaii. Her family lived in Washington, D.C. for two years before they moved to Stafford.

What are her thoughts of her first year in Chapel Hill?

“It has been more than I expected,” she said. “I love my team and my coach.”

She said UNC recruited her as a junior.

“That sealed the deal,” she said.

David Driver is a contributor writer for The Stafford County Sun. He can be reached at info@staffordcountysun.com.