Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 18, 1993 TAG: 9312180211
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BUCHANAN LENGTH: Medium
And the winner of this year's first bout between Group AA Lord Botetourt and Group A James River, in a unanimous decision - make that a technical knockout - is Lord Botetourt 77-39.
The Knights, woozy and staggering - but still standing at the end - will get an immediate rematch. The teams meet again Tuesday night at Botetourt's gym in Daleville.
Botetourt (3-1) simply had too much experience, depth and firepower for James River. Twelve players scored for the Cavaliers, who were led by Shannon Williams (18 points) and Gabe Sanders (14 points).
Botetourt used a stifling defense and a barrage of 3-pointers to open a 21-10 lead after the first quarter. The Cavs, substituting freely, expanded their advantage to 41-14 just before halftime.
James River (0-2), which started three sophomores, held the lead briefly at 4-2. But turnovers, poor floor shooting (15-of-48) and horrendous free throw shooting (8-of-24) kept the Knights on the ropes.
"I thought we played pretty well in the first half," Botetourt coach Don Meredith said. "We shot the ball better than we have been."
The Cavaliers made nearly 50 percent (16-of 33) of their field goal attempts in the first two periods.
Botetourt appeared to become complacent in the third period, enabling James River to close within 20 at 49-29 when a heated Meredith called a timeout.
Botetourt made just three of 16 field goal attempts in the third period, and the third came at the buzzer on a steal and assist by Jonathan Neal. John Morris scored the bucket.
Meredith's talk worked. The Cavs went on a 17-4 run and iced the game early in the fourth period.
James River's coach Randy Howard blamed his team's defeat on inexperience.
"They're young; they got panicky," he said. "Whenever Botetourt threw pressure at us, we kept blowing it. We didn't attack.
"It doesn't help that with this young team we open against three AA schools [James River's first game was against Rockbridge County]. But that's the quirk of the schedule."
Keith Bryant, the Knights' only senior starter, paced his team with 13 points. Isaac Minnis contributed eight points, six during the Knights' third-quarter spurt. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB