Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990 TAG: 9003082035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
After a 2-pointer tied the score in the last second of regulation last weekend, Haysi went on to lose the Region D final in overtime.
"My assistant told me after the game that James River had beaten Bland by 40 points," said Haysi coach Larry Compton, referring to his team's opponent in Wednesday night's Group A Tournament opener.
"I thought maybe we should have gone for three [instead of two] points at the end of regulation. We'd have been better off."
How right he was.
A win would have meant avoiding James River and opening the state tournament against Bland. Instead, Haysi faced the Knights, who never took a deep breath Wednesday in blasting the Tigers 82-52 on Wednesday at University Hall.
That puts James River in the state semifinals Friday at 3:45 p.m. against Sussex Central, which walloped Woodstock Central 90-74.
By the end of Wednesday's game, James River coach John Shotwell was looking around for people in the crowd to put in the game and keep the score respectable.
Haysi (18-9) started three sophomores and two juniors, so it wasn't a surprise that James River (25-1), the state's No. 1 Group A team, dominated.
James River had nine steals in the opening quarter and scored 29 points, two short of the Group A Tournament record for the most prolific eight minutes.
"Talk about shell shock," said Compton. "That was the first quarter. If we were playing seniors, I'd have been ready to cut my throat."
The Knights wound up with 19 steals for the game, led by guard Don Turpin's eight.
"I thought we played great defense again and created a lot of opportunities for easy baskets from our press," Shotwell said.
Turpin also wound up with a game-high 27 points and had eight assists. It didn't escape Turpin's attention during his busy night that University of Virginia basketball coach Terry Holland slipped into press row after the game started.
"He did that last year," said Turpin, who sat out James River's state-tournament appearance last year with a broken ankle.
"I wanted to impress him," said Turpin, who has applied to Virginia as a student with hopes of walking on to the team.
Turpin also wanted to talk about James River's defense, which suddenly has become as well-publicized as the Knights' powerful offense the past couple of weeks.
"Our defense does so well, that it gives us more opportunity to score," Turpin said. "I think it's gone unnoticed because we score so many points."
The Knights next will put up their 1-3-1 press against against Sussex Central, which has a misleading 15-12 record against a schedule that included many bigger Group AA and AAA teams.
"They looked pretty good," said James River's Maurice Davenport, who added 22 points and hauled down a game-high 11 rebounds. "We won't have trouble running our defense. We'll just go out and play."
Shotwell said Sussex Central "has a lot of stallions."
"It'll be a tussle," he said. "If we have trouble running our defense against them, we'll be in trouble. It's too late to change anything at this stage, and we'll go with what got us here."
The Knights built a 50-22 lead at the half, then eased through the final two quarters.
Haysi's lone bright spot was Jamie Hackney, who blocked five James River shots, most of them against the first unit.
Davenport, who had a couple rejected against him, also had three monstrous blocks that brought the crowd to life.
George Thompson added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Knights. HAYSI (52)
Mock 6-13 1-3 13, Rashake 2-8 0-0 5, Hackney 6-9 0-2 12, Sutherland 1-3 0-0 2, Gulley 7-22 0-0 15, O'Quinn 0-3 0-0 0, Counts 2-3 0-0 5, Rains 0-2 0-0 0, Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Caudill 0-1 0-0 0, Owens 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-66 1-5 52. JAMES RIVER (82)
Davenport 11-16 0-0 22, Thompson 9-16 1-1 19, Critzer 2-5 0-0 4, Jones 0-3 1-2 1, Turpin 9-15 7-9 27, Baker 2-2 0-0 4, Christian 1-4 0-0 2, Rodgers 0-4 0-0 0, Wilhelm 1-1 1-2 3, Shotwell 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 35-68 10-16 82. Haysi 8141614-52 James River 29211814-82
Three-point goals-Haysi 3-12 (Rashake 1-3, Gulley 1-6, Counts 1-1, Rains 0-1, Owens 0-1), James River 2-6 (Turpin 2-5, Christian 0-1). Assists-Haysi 6 (Mock 3), James River 18 (Turpin 8). Rebounds-Haysi 39 (Mock 6), James River 43 (Davenport 11). Steals-Haysi 10 (Gulley 3), James River 19 (Turpin 8). Team fouls-Haysi 12, James River 7.
by CNB