Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9411040004
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Long
The reign of terror continues unabated.
If this were war, opposing armies would be throwing down their arms and fleeing for their lives, scattering gear behind them.
This isn't war. It's just girls' basketball.
But Floyd County High School is at it again.
The 1993 Group A champions are back in the business of vanquishing the strong and frightening the weak.
``They're good, all right,'' says David Wheat, a Texas-bred tactician whose Group AA Lord Botetourt team gave the Buffaloes as close to a tussle as they're likely to get any time soon.
Yes, the Cavaliers gave a fine accounting of themselves, losing 63-56 this season. Wheat may not be tickled with a seven-point spread, but perhaps he should be.
That's considerably better than 69-43 (Blacksburg, the two-time defending Group AA champ), 67-40 (Salem), 74-25 (Fort Chiswell), 84-41 (Christiansburg) or 112-39 (Grayson County).
Now, before you go assuming these are gratuitous butcherings, it should be noted that against Christiansburg and Grayson County, the entire Floyd County roster played and every one of the Buffaloes scored.
The leading scorer for Floyd County in the Christiansburg game, 6-foot-1 senior Carrie Chaffin, had 12 points.
Are the Buffaloes to blame for having girls who can play?
``Not many teams are going to have everybody score in a game,'' says guard Melissa Cantrell, the daughter of coach Alan Cantrell.
Melissa Cantrell is one of four Floyd County players who are central figures in a winning streak that had, by the end of the past week, grown to 34 games.
The others are Chaffin, who despite being rendered nearly mute by a bad cold last week, scored in double figures in both games; 5-10 Laura Harman; and 5-8 Pursifull. All but Cantrell, who is a junior, are seniors.
Add to the mix five players off the junior varsity, including two freshmen and two sophomores, and Floyd County faced something of an iffy situation going into the season.
``We weren't used to playing with the younger players and we really had to adjust,'' Harman says. ``But once the season got started, we blended together well.''
Proving there's more talent in the pipeline, sophomores Sara Conner and Sonya Hylton and freshmen Julie Sowers and Jill Quesenberry have responded to the next level of competition. The rest - senior Emily Edwards and juniors Sara Fralin, Stacy Wimmer, Charity Shrewsbury and J.J. Sowers - have been ready to answer the call whenever needed.
The young players already have caused some excitement.
``They're hard workers and they listen well and have learned quickly,'' Pursifull says.
Pursifull is a relentless competitor who has started for parts of four seasons at Floyd. In a grand tradition, she probably is the most versatile player on a team that demands as much from each member.
An illustration was the havoc she wreaked on Christiansburg: 11 points, 10 rebounds, nine steals and seven assists.
Pursifull and Chaffin are Division I college prospects who already have had requests for home visits from several schools - Chaffin from North Carolina-Wilmington and Liberty and Pursifull from Winthrop and Boston College. Harman is good enough to play college ball somewhere, and Melissa Cantrell figures to be a prospect next year.
The marquee performer of a year ago, 6-1 Lynette Nolley, Timesland's player of the year, is a Virginia Tech Hokie now.
Certainly it is remarkable a place as small as Floyd County has produced players with the size and skill of Nolley and Chaffin.
``We tell people that it's the water up here,'' Alan Cantrell says.
Coaching certainly has something to do with it. Cantrell coaches the girls and boys at Floyd County, and both programs have been highly successful.
Cantrellball is a high-octane blend of full-time pressure defense and full-speed-ahead offense. The results can be staggering. In the Region C tournament last year, once-beaten Rural Retreat coughed up 24 turnovers in the first half alone against Floyd County's girls.
While this sort of swashbuckling style may be a nightmare for foes, it's a delight for those on the Buffaloes' roster.
``The style of play we have, five people aren't going to be able to do it,'' Alan Cantrell says.
Thirteen is more like it. Extended pine time is a foreign concept at Floyd County, even for freshmen and sophomores.
``We aren't going to bring them up unless we're sure they're going to get quality playing time,'' Cantrell says. ``At this point, you can't even really call them rookies any more.''
Sure, there's talent here. But there has been arduous labor to develop it. Everybody on the team had an active summer with team camps and a round-robin tournament against the cream of Group AA Piedmont District programs such as Timesland powers Bassett and Magna Vista.
Additionally, Chaffin, Pursifull, Harman and Melissa Cantrell played for AAU teams. Chaffin, Harman and Cantrell hooked up with the best of the players from the terrific program at Pulaski County, including Kim Crews, Jodie Howlett and Carrie McConnell and won the state under-16 championship and went to the national tournament. Along the way, they beat a Roanoke team that included the heart of a very good Cave Spring squad and Pursifull.
``They beat us by one point,'' Pursifull says, ``in overtime.''
Clearly, any one of a number of Floyd County players would dominate the statistics and playing time on another team.
Alan Cantrell worries the uninformed might look at the numbers - Chaffin at 13.2 points per game (to go with 7.1 rebounds) and Pursifull with 13 (3.8 assists, 3.8 steals and 5.7 rebounds) are the only double-figure scorers - and conclude his players may not be as hot as advertised.
Such is the downside of playing on a team 13-strong.
Pursifull is untroubled by such talk. ``People know what our situation is here,'' she says. ``They know we have talent.''
People also can figure out what the team has in mind.
A championship in the brand-new Three Rivers District alone won't do.
``Nope,'' Harman says.
Nor will another Region C crown.
``Uh-uh,'' Pursifull says.
Neither will a state semifinal victory by itself suffice.
Chaffin shakes her head.
Says Melissa Cantrell: ``We know what we want. It's obvious.''
by CNB