Maurice Fofana coaches the speedy King’s Fork girls basketball team. He’s also a drag racer.
Maurice Fofana’s method of unwinding between King’s Fork’s win over Powhatan in the Class 4 girls basketball state quarterfinals on Friday and the win against Manor in the state semifinals on Monday was to drive his 1967 Camaro at 110 mph.
Before you go reporting him to Bulldogs athletic director Randy Jessee, Fofana did it legally. His weekend hobby this time of the year is drag racing on tracks in Dinwiddie and Hertford, North Carolina.
“I like the sound of the cars and the smell of the (methanol) alcohol (used to fuel the cars),” he said. “There’s a feeling of adrenaline and excitement, especially when the big-time guys like (NHRA racing star) John Force go by.
“And I like the speed.”
That sensation very much defines King’s Fork (22-3), which will face Millbrook (25-2) at 12:30 p.m. today for the Class 4 state championship at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center in Richmond. The Bulldogs have run most of their opponents out of the gym early in games this season by pressing on defense, then racing on offense at breakneck speed.
“We’re able to play faster than most of my other teams in the past because of the size and athleticism of the kids we have,” said Fofana, who has his King’s Fork girls back in the Class 4 state final for the first time since their 60-59 loss to Monacan in 2017 at VCU.
One of the most athletic of the bunch is Cyriah Griffin (15.5 points a game, 7.0 assists), the Bulldogs’ point guard.
“She does a good job of getting the ball to Niyah Gaston (16.0 ppg), who is arguably one of the best 3-point shooters in the state, and she gets Arlisha Boston (15.5 ppg) and Yasmine Brown (18.5 ppg) going,” he said. “I think she’s the best point guard in the state.”
Fofana can identify with her because he played point guard for the Nansemond River boys team that beat Northside 84-57 for the 1995 Group AA boys basketball title. He learned the position at Nansemond River under the tutelage of late Suffolk high school coaching icon Spencer Mayfield.
“He taught me about strategy and about being a man,” said Fofana, who played in college at Virginia State University.
That state title was the last of four for Mayfield — who won two each at Suffolk schools John F. Kennedy and Nansemond River — an accomplishment that underscored for Fofana the importance of high school basketball in the Peanut City. So, before he jumps back into his Camaro and shifts gears into more high-speed racing, he’ll settle for a leisurely bus ride back from Richmond clutching a state championship trophy.
“I remember what a great atmosphere it was when we won the state championship (at Nansemond River),” he said. “All of Suffolk was behind us.
“To be able to win a state championship means a lot. To win one for the city you come from, with all the people who came before you and laid down the foundation, that means more.”
Marty O’Brien, mjobien@dailypress.com, 757-247-4963, Follow on twitter @MartyOBrienDP
Thursday’s game
Class 4 girls state championship
King’s Fork (22-3) vs. Millbrook (25-2), 12:30 p.m. at VCU’s Siegel Center, Richmond
