VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Winning and Princess Anne girls basketball go hand-in-hand and the Cavaliers have Darnell Dozier to thank for that.
The legendary head coach earned career win No. 700 on Friday with Princess Anne's 42-35 victory over Landstown and followed that up on Tuesday with a 76-51 triumph at First Colonial. After the latest contest, Dozier reflected on his success.
"It means a lot," he said. "It just tells you that the program we have at Princess Anne... we've been nationally ranked as high as two in the country here in years past. We're coming back and everybody knows it, so the fear is getting there."
Dozier took the reins of the program in 1995 and has led the Cavaliers to new heights. The team has appeared in 15 state championship games and won 12 state crowns, including a stretch of eight in a row from 2014-2021. That streak was snapped last year when Princess Anne fell in the Class 5 state tournament.
"As long as I know my kids gave all they had and the coaches gave all they had, it doesn't matter whether we're one, two or three," said the head coach. "We already got our rings and somebody else deserved it. That's what happened last year."
Will this season's Cavaliers start a new streak? Princess Anne is 15-1 on the season and Dozier says his team might be too young to "know what motivation is right now," but he feels strongly the program is heading in the right direction. He may not win another 700 games, but he expects to be at the helm of the program for the foreseeable future.
"My health is good, I'm good. Ain't nobody give me a heart attack yet, so I'm good," he smiled. "Why should I end when I'm winning?"
Dozier and the Cavs get back to action on Friday when they travel to Kempsville, a rematch of last year's Region 5A championship game.
