Bombers have something to build on

Dumfries, Va. - Backing down wasn't an option Saturday night. Steve Miles wouldn't even consider such a notion.

The Beltway Bombers' captain plays basketball exactly one way: to win. And though there have been many reasons for him to give up on a season that's been rife with frustration and deflating losses, Miles took the court at Potomac High School for the final time this winter with hopes of giving the team something to build upon in 2011.

"For us, we're like North Carolina this year," he said. "We've just got to keep fighting and keep battling. This year didn't turn out like we wanted it to, but next year we'll get it turned around."

A last-place finish was entirely unexpected. At least Miles didn't see it coming.

Basketball teams coach by Chaz Dudley rarely ever lose, which made the first-year Bombers something of an aberration.

With Miles at shooting guard, they were supposed to be one of the elite teams in the Eastern Basketball Alliance. But their inaugural season didn't materialize the way anyone envisioned and, no matter how hard they tried, winning remained just out of reach.

Even a season-high 30-point performance by Miles couldn't alter the downward spiral as the Bomb-ers (1-8) lost in their home finale -- falling to the Southern Conference champion Norfolk Tru Hope Trail-blazers, 112-104.

"The effort is going to always be there. To me, we probably played the toughest schedule of any team in the league and we've been right in games," Miles said. "It's the little things -- turning the ball over, not making free throws. Those things came up again tonight and that's going to kill you.

"Against great teams you can't have those lulls. It's definitely disheartening because everybody came to play tonight. We played well, we shared the ball and we came up short."

Six of the Bombers' seven losses have come against playoff-bound teams, including the defending EBA champion Delaware Destroyers (9-1), Empire Division co-leading New York Wizards (9-1) and Dominion Division front-runner Norfolk (10-1).

Miles aspires to be among that group. Dudley does too and he has every intention of leading the Bombers in that direction.

"What I love is, at the end of the day, we're competing," the legendary coach said. "I'm really looking forward to next year. We'll be more stable and I can get more local guys."

The current group of Bombers features some exceptional players. The problem is many of them have to travel long distances and aren't always available on games nights, which has made it difficult to create any sort of chemistry.

Miles is the one guy who has never missed a game and he gives the Bombers their best chance at vic-tory.

Saturday's gritty effort was another example of that. He hit his first four shots -- all 3-pointers -- and nearly brought the Bombers back from a 14-point deficit. Miles wound up dropping in six 3-pointers, while forward Devon Neckles finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Forward Chris Darnell scored 22 points, guard Kareem Collins had 15 and R.E Lee High School graduate SirValiant Brown added 11 points and eight rebounds in his Bombers debut.

But year-long enemies -- sloppy passing and poor foul shooting -- negated all those terrific individual efforts.

After using an active zone defense to build a 42-30 lead early in the second quarter, the Bombers allowed it all to slip away in a seven-minute stretch.

Then Norfolk, behind a career-high 38 points from former Frederick Community College guard Chris Harper, began to pull away in the third-quarter. Harper had 16 field goals overall and tallied 25 points in the final 24 minutes as the Trailblazers improved to 10-1.

Despite getting to the free throw line on 53 occasions, the Bombers couldn't rally. They missed 19 foul shots -- with 14 of those coming in the second half -- and trailed 88-74 at the end of the third quar-ter.

"Our job was to get them in foul trouble and be in the bonus each quarter and we did that. If we make the free throws it puts the pressure on them and we probably win going away," Dudley said. "It's been a frustrating, long season and tonight was a microcosm of the whole year -- missing free throws and costly turnovers down the stretch.

"All we can do is go back in the lab, get more guys who are reliable, dependable and talented and come back next year. I guarantee you it will not be a repeat of this season."

Staff writer Dave Utnik can be reached at 703-878-8059.

NORFOLK TRU HOPE

TRAILBLAZERS 112,

BELTWAY BOMBERS 104

NORFOLK (10-1)

Robinson 4 0-0 9, Smith 3 0-4 6, Ruffin 9 2-5 20, Bryant 1 0-0 2, Stith 8 2-7 19, Harper 16 4-6 38, Moustapha 0 0-0 0, Arrington 4 0-0 8, Clark 5 0-2 10. Totals 50 8-24 112.

BOMBERS (1-8)

Miles 8 8-11 30, Darnell 5 11-14 22, J. Collins 1 1-2 3, Birdsong 1 0-0 2, Brown 3 4-8 11, K. Collins 6 3-6 15, Neckles 7 7-12 21. Totals 31 34-53 104.

Halftime -- Norfolk 58-54. 3-point goals -- Norfolk 4 (Harper 2, Robinson, Stith); Bombers 8 (Miles 6, Brown, Darnell)