Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990 TAG: 9003081454
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Today, Laurel Park and Marion play at 3:45 p.m. in the first round of the Group AA Tournament.
Some may consider it surprising that each team made it this far, given that each starts only one senior. However, when talent is considered, the teams' reaching the state tournament is no surprise at all.
The teams have a combined 37-15 record. Their best players return in 1990-91 and they have a lot of size for Group AA schools.
In all, five Timesland boys' teams will be involved in first-round, state-tournament action today. The other Group AA game involving Timesland teams sends Martinsville (24-2) against George Wythe (20-4) at 8:45 tonight in Charlottesville.
In Williamsburg, Franklin County (17-8) takes on Wakefield (24-3) in the Group AAA Tournament at 8:45 p.m.
The Marion-Laurel Park battle pits 6-foot-7 sophomore center Odell Hodge of Laurel Park against a Marion team that has three players 6-5 or taller.
Hodge has scored 1,002 points in less than two seasons. While 6-5 Shannon Archer is the showpiece for K.W. Lawson's Scarlet Hurricane, Marion starts 6-7 Robbie Jones, the only senior with a lot of playing time, in the post. He is backed by 6-6 sophomore Eddie Boothe.
"We don't depend on any one individual and we think that makes us a better club," said Lawson, who took over at Marion in 1988-89 after making Rural Retreat a successful Group A program for four years.
"It's not that I didn't think we could make the state," Lawson said. "We lost a lot of people from last year, but we knew we had a lot of young talent coming back. We had a good junior-varsity team and a lot of players who didn't start on the varsity, but got a lot of quality times."
Marion (19-6) is paced by Archer, averaging 15.2 points per game, and Jones averaging 14.4. The Scarlet Hurricane also has three other players averaging close to double figures.
As for Laurel Park (19-8), "we're definitely playing our best ball right now," said coach Frank Scott. His team has won 17 of its past 20 games.
"The first part of the season was discouraging, but it was also a motivating factor because of the way we lost games," Scott said. "Three of the games were by two points and we were tied with Martinsville before we lost by seven.
"We never thought about folding it up. Maybe if we had lost by 20 points, we would have folded the tents. But the kids continued to believe in themselves."
Hodge, averaging 24.6 points, isn't the only top player for the Lancers. Lemont Wells, a 6-4 junior, averages 19.6 to give Marion a lot to worry about on defense.
"The thing that has helped our team are our guards [Deronde Hairston and Kemal Dillard]," Scott said. "They've really come through late in the year."
Martinsville and George Wythe haven't been to the Group AA Tournament since 1986. The Bulldogs eliminated the Maroons 42-38 in the semifinals that year on the way to winning the state championship.
Wythe coach Al Copenhaver knows about Martinsville from his days as an assistant coach at G.W. Carver, which lost two close games to the 1986 Martinsville team that won the state.
"This is a typical Husky Hall team," said Copenhaver of the Martinsville coach. "It's guard-oriented and very quick. It plays a lot of pressure defense.
"I know essentially what Husky's teams try and do. I guess it's of some advantage, so I didn't need a scouting report."
Wythe is paced by 6-4 swing player Jamie Lee (21.4 ppg), a legitimate Division I prospect. Lee has scored 119 points in four postseason games (29.8 ppg).
Martinsville counters with point guard Travis Wells (21.3 ppg), Timesland's leading 3-point shooter at 61.4 percent, and 6-2 swing player Curtis Pilson (17.1), who also is a 3-point threat.
The odds are against Franklin County unless Mark Mitchell repeats the 41-point performance he had in an 88-87 Northwestern Region victory over Fauquier County. The Eagles have no height inside and rely on three perimeter players - Mitchell (19.3 ppg), Carlos Trotter (14.0 ppg) and Travis Fuller (13.9 ppg).
Franklin County got a break by escaping a possible first-round game against South Lakes, which has 6-8 Grant Hill in the middle.
"I'm happy we don't have to face a 6-8 or a 6-10 player right off," said Ed Holstrom, Franklin County's coach. "But Wakefield still has a 6-5 and a 6-6 player. They also have some similarity to us in their backcourt as their guards are fairly quick."
What encourages Holstrom about the first-round game is that Wakefield plays a lot of zone.
"I think we can get the 3-point shot," he said. "Obviously, as the smallest team in the tournament, we have to shoot the 3-pointer. It's hard to get that when you're against a man-to-man defense and they're bigger than you are."
Defensively, the Eagles will have to contain 6-6 forward Travis Spencer and 6-2 Rayfield Boyd, both averaging more than 20 points per game.
by CNB