DINWIDDIE - Like the old adage says an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Well, in Petersburg's Frank Mason's case, draining a 3-pointer a game or more keeps the other team away.
Unlike the first half where Dinwiddie held the junior to four points, Mason unleashed and hit seven straight 3-pointers in the third quarter to guide the Crimson Wave to a 76-49 Central District victory over the Generals Tuesday.
This is Petersburg's fourth straight district win and its seventh consecutive overall.
"I've always told the guys that if a player is hot you better feed them. Frank is definitely special and you could see that he was getting emotional but what I thought was good was that Kevin Green was getting him the ball to set Frank up for the shot," said Petersburg coach Bill Lawson III. "I liked how [Green] got all of his teammates involved."
In the first quarter, Petersburg came out firing on all cylinders going on a 12-2 run with 4:58 before Dinwiddie went on to make a little run of its own.
Even though the Generals were only able to get within eight points of the Crimson Wave, the game was still manageable to go on a possible run. Lawson knew coming into the game that Dinwiddie was going to out-rebound his squad so the visitors had to make other adjustments.
"We really wanted to pack in the defense because we knew they were going to beat us on the boards. I thought that we came out strong and made a good run but then we went into a drought and we needed to start penetrating," Lawson said. "Once we made some key changes on defense in the second half where we were using our passing more and with Frank having a special moment it was hard for them to get back. Everything that Frank threw up dropped."
The Generals who started off the season going 5-0, battled in a tough Fort Lee tournament where they lost back-to-back games to Douglas Freeman and Clover Hill. But with the home-court advantage, the Crimson Wave knew it wasn't going to be easy.
With Generals maintaining a height advantage, Petersburg had to find other ways and that was just the trick as Mason ignited in the third quarter.
After a 33-24 lead at halftime, the junior guard didn't waste anytime as Mason threw up his first trey of the quarter. Then his second, then his third, then his fourth and so on.
Mason was hitting right on key. Plus his teammates were feeding and working together to get him the ball.
"I just started off attacking and believing in myself. I was out of control and was getting to the wrong spots on the court and confused with some of the plays," Mason said. "But I knew that I was a shooter and believed in my shot. Once I started hitting that second and third one I was on a roll and I was happy because my teammates were helping to make sure they got me the ball."
Before Mason had gone on his roll, Dinwiddie had gone on a run as Lamonte Fields went inside for the easy layup followed by another Fields basket and one by Terrill White.
The home team was within seven at 39-32, but after nailing his first trey of the quarter, that seven-point deficit went to a 19-point deficit at 53-34 in a matter of two minutes.
"Frank had a special night and I thought down the stretch we were able to play more as a team because they were able to get Frank the ball.
Plus Kenneth Barnes has been great off the bench as well as Marcus Hoosier who we've had doing different jobs on the court," Lawson said.
"I've always told them that when your number is called be ready because we need to come in and intensify us."
Despite that strong burst by Petersburg, one big positive for Dinwiddie was point guard Kisharn Gregory, who steadily over four quarters, tallied up 19 points with many trips to the foul line.
Both Michael Jones who hit two treys himself and Fields both finished with six points each.
For Petersburg, while Mason finished with 25 points, Marcus Hoosier, Edmund Maxwell, Quadree Walker and Kenneth Barnes combined for 32 points.