Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 1, 1990 TAG: 9004010104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Fitzgerald, a junior, and Anderson, who is headed to Radford University on a scholarship, are the boys' and girls' Timesland basketball players of the year.
Fitzgerald, an All-Group AAA first-team selection this season, heads a boys' team that includes Maurice Davenport of Group A runner-up James River, Timesland scoring leader Kevin Martin of Fieldale-Collinsville, versatile Jamie Lee of George Wythe and sleeper John Breedlove of Tunstall.
To earn Timesland player-of-the-year honors, Anderson had to beat out Salem's Lynn Holliday, the Group AA girls' player of the year; and Rose Ellis, who led George Wythe to the Group AA championship. The All-Timesland girls' team also includes Radford junior Paige Martin, the area's top scorer; and Cave Spring guard Kay Caldwell, who led the Knights to their second consecutive Group AAA tournament berth.
Fitzgerald is the third consecutive junior to be voted the top boys' player in Timesland, and he might be the first not to spend his senior season at Flint Hill Prep in Falls Church.
George Lynch, who was the 1988 Timesland player of the year after leading Patrick Henry to the Group AAA championship, opted for Flint Hill less than two months later. He later accepted a scholarship to North Carolina, where he played a prominent role as a freshman.
Fleming's Mark Ward headed to Flint Hill after winning Timesland's top honor last year, when he helped lead the Colonels to the Group AAA tournament.
Times have changed. Flint Hill recently was sold and might not be recruiting players outside Northern Virginia. If it was, Fitzgerald would be a candidate.
But he said flatly: "I'm not going to Flint Hill; I'm coming back to play for William Fleming."
Fitzgerald had an outstanding junior year on the court, but his season was full of questions off the court. The biggest mystery arose the night of the Roanoke Valley District tournament championship game, when Fitzgerald showed up for the game with a knee injury.
Fitzgerald refused to discuss the incident that sidelined him as Franklin County beat the Colonels for the district title. Fleming coach Burrall Paye later said Fitzgerald told him he had injured the knee while chasing his girlfriend.
A week later in the Group AAA Northwestern Region tournament, Fitzgerald played all but two minutes at Potomac, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Fitzgerald averaged 22.1 points and is the top rebounder on the All-Timesland team, with a 13.3 average.
"It [the season] could have been better," he said of his season. "If I hadn't gotten hurt, we could have gone farther [in the tournament]."
Fitzgerald said things will be different next season. "I believe we're going to win the state," he said. "But then I'm always confident."
Anderson, the Group A player of the year and the only repeat performer on either All-Timesland team, finished her career at Fort Chiswell with 1,814 points and 966 rebounds.
"If I had to guess, I'd say she had 300 assists," said Danny Jonas, the Pioneers' coach. "She's quite a passer."
Said Anderson, "It was my goal to get 1,000 rebounds."
Her high school career ended when Fort Chiswell had the misfortune to be placed in the same Region C bracket as Glenvar. The Highlanders, who lost in the Group A championship game, eliminated the Pioneers 56-40 despite a 34-point effort by Anderson.
The loss prevented Anderson from playing in the state tournament and increasing her rebound total.
Anderson may have been one of the best-kept secrets in Virginia.
"Bigger [colleges] have come after her, but I don't believe a lot of them realize we play fall basketball," Jonas said. "I still get a letter or two and calls from coaches. If she had waited to sign, I think some big-name schools would have come after her."
For Anderson, it makes no difference. Despite playing center at 5-foot-11, she is an accomplished outside shooter, which means she'll fit right in at Radford University.
"I'm looking forward to to the competition in college," said Anderson, who usually was the tallest player on the court in Mountain Empire District games. "I'll like not being the biggest player."
Anderson doesn't play any other sport, but she is a versatile athlete. She's been a black belt in karate since she was 12.
"I think a lot of her athleticism comes from her parents," said Jonas. "Her father is a karate instructor. I tried to get her to play volleyball, but she was always playing AAU basketball."
Kevin Martin, Timesland's leading scorer with a 28.9 average, and Breedlove come out of the tough Piedmont District that had four players among the top 10 in Timesland.
One rival coach said Martin, who played for a team that won only five games, was impossible to stop. Martin, who finished with 1,300 career points, was fantastic from the free-throw line, hitting 166 of 186 for 89.2 percent.
Breedlove, who scored 1,141 points, also played for a team that had little success, but he was able to average 26.4 points to rank third in Timesland. The Piedmont District player of the year averaged 12.4 rebounds despite standing just 6-2 1/2.
Davenport had the lowest scoring average among All-Timesland players, at 19.8, but that was understandable since two other Knights averaged more than 19 points a game. In the last two years, with Davenport as the dominant scorer, James River went 48-8 while he scored 1,033 points.
Lee, said he who is leaning toward either Marshall or VMI, has scored 1,527 points and was one of Timesland's Sizzling Sophomores two years ago along with Davenport. Lee is one of the most versatile players ever to make All-Timesland. He led the New River District in scoring (21.5), free-throw percentage (81.6), rebounding (12.3) and assists (6.0).
The second team includes Patrick County's Jeff Reid, who just missed making the first team even though he was Timesland's No. 2 scorer and No. 1 rebounder (17.4). It was the toughest call in the All-Timesland selections, which are made in consultation with coaches.
Joining Reid on the second team are Martinsville's Curtis Pilson, who beat out teammate Travis Wells as the two led the Bulldogs to the Group AA semifinals; Blacksburg's Jay Purcell, who has signed with Virginia Tech; James River's Don Turpin, whose quickness helped free Davenport inside; and Paul Jordan, who led William Byrd to the regular-season Blue Ridge District title and nearly took them to the Group AA tournament.
Holliday, who may attend Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., capped a tremendous career at Salem by leading the Spartans to a state tournament for the third consecutive season. As a sophomore, Holliday was the team's leading scorer as Salem made the Group AAA tournament. The Spartans have made the Group AA tournament the last two years.
Ellis was a dominant inside player for George Wythe, leading the Maroons to the Group AA title. She also averaged 10.3 rebounds.
Paige Martin was the leader for Radford as the Bobcats finished second in the Group AA tournament. She had a deadly jump shot, and her quickness was a big reason she was able to score almost at will.
Holliday, Ellis and Martin made All-Group AA as Timesland dominated that division in the fall.
Caldwell was a second-team All-Group AAA performer as Cave Spring had another outstanding season. The senior guard's strength is her speed, allowing her to move inside and get off her shot ahead of the defenders. The Knights went unbeaten on the court until losing their final two games in the Northwestern Region final and Group AAA tournament. (Cave Spring also had to forfeit two regular-season games for using an ineligible player.) Caldwell also was effective from the free-throw line, hitting 79.5 percent.
The girls' second-team selections also were outstanding. Una Broady led a young Martinsville team to the Group AA tournament; Cammi Beason was the leader of a junior-dominated Glenvar team that just missed the Group A title on a last-second shot by Clintwood; Patti Fisher was an all-around athlete at Northside who excelled in basketball and will be a Division I prospect as a senior; Dawn Coleman led Parry McCluer to its finest season, including a berth in the Group A tournament; and Christie Stringer paced a Marion team that saw its bid for a state tournament berth ended by Wythe in a Region IV semifinal.
by CNB