Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 4, 1990 TAG: 9003042068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JEFF MOTLEY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RUSTBU LENGTH: Medium
The Lancers blew a 10-point halftime lead and wound up getting blown out by the Bulldogs 74-64 in the Region III boys' high school basketball championship game Saturday night.
It was Laurel Park's fourth loss of the season to Martinsville and came just one week after the Bulldogs rallied from a 21-point deficit with five minutes to play for an 88-86 win in the Piedmont District title game.
Both teams advance to next week's state Group AA tournament in Charlottesville, which is a road Martinsville coach Husky Hall knows very well. Hall has nine state titles under his belt and says this is his 15th trip to the state playoffs.
"We just lost to a good club, again," said Lancers' coach Frank Scott, shaking his head as he sat on a table in his team's locker room.
The trouble started for Laurel Park after Odell Hodge opened the fourth quarter for the Lancers with a layup.
Martinsville's Curtis Pilson sank a 3-pointer, one of his four on the night, then Travis Wells hit a layup, Pilson scored twice more and Troy Brandon made two free throws to put the Bulldogs up 59-55.
The Lancers never got closer than two points again.
The big key for the Martinsville comeback was defense, a phase of the game the Bulldogs often don't get enough credit for.
"I'll tell you what, we've won 10 state titles [overall] and we haven't done it with offense, that's for sure," Hall said.
The offensive key for Martinsville was Pilson. He led the Bulldogs with 22 points and a lot of inspiration.
"Nobody else wanted to play, but I did," Pilson said. "I got the spark going and then everybody else responded."
While not trying to make excuses for his team's demise, Scott said fatigue was a factor. The two schools are located in Martinsville, which is about 90 miles from here.
"We had to play up here last night and then tonight," Scott said. "I don't know why the game wasn't moved back to Bassett or somewhere, but I've learned not to worry about things I can't control."
Martinsville played on Thursday night and had Friday off.
Even though the Martinsville comeback seemed inevitable, the Lancers were looking like the team that would best represent the Piedmont at the state playoffs in the early going.
Led by the strong inside game of Hodge, a 6-foot-7 sophomore who finished with 20 points, Laurel Park turned a 16-all first-quarter tie into a 31-21 lead on a Lemont Wells dunk.
There was little the Bulldogs could do to stop Hodge inside, but Hall put a press on the Lancers that took Hodge and his bruising moves to the basket out of the game.
"I thought we did an excellent job on him when we had to," Hall said. "We put the pressure on them and that took away their inside game." LAUREL PARK (64)
D. Hairston 2 3-4 7, Strange 1 0-0 2, Dillard 5 0-0 12, Wells 9 0-2 18, Hodge 8 4-7 20, Morrison 2 1-1 5. Totals 26 8-14 64. MARTINSVILLE (74)
Pilson 8 2-3 22, Wall 2 0-0 4, T. Brandon 4 12-15 20, Wells 2 11-12 15, Spencer 1 0-0 2, Meadows 1 0-0 2, C. Brandon 4 1-2 9. Totals 22 26-32 74. Laurel Park 16211611-64 Martinsville 16112126-74 Three-point goals: Dillard 2, Pilson 4. Team fouls: Laurel Park 19, Martinsville 14. Fouled out: Morrison.
by CNB