Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 1, 1991 TAG: 9102010713
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Ray Cox
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Patrick Smith, the Bland High basketball sensation, enters tonight's game at Shawsville lacking 46 points of 1,000 for his career.
Walter Smith of Blacksburg, the basketball starter who has been out for several weeks with a sprained ankle, ran a little for the first time Tuesday and played three minutes in a scrimmage.
"He's not very mobile but at least he could get up and down the floor on it," Blacksburg coach Bob Trear said. "I don't know when he's going to be ready. It may be Friday and it may not. What usually happens if you come back too quick is you favor one foot too much, come down on your other one all the time and end up turning it."
. . . Count Trear among those mourning the passing of the old New River District. "The district is pretty hard to get used to. All we play is Radford, Carroll, and Christiansburg. You start wondering, when are we going to play Giles, when do we play [George] Wythe then you remember they aren't around any more. You're halfway through the season and you only have played three teams.
"I liked the old New River District. I just hate to see it go. The way it used to be, you could come out of the district and have seen every defense there is."
Transferring to another school has turned out to be more troublesome than first assumed for Preston Snell, the erstwhile Radford High basketball star. An update:
Snell's family hopes he'll be enrolled somewhere at the start of next week. Early this week, it seemed a certainty that he would be going to Gateway Christian in Lusters Gate.
But after a one-day trial run at the school, Snell concluded that he wouldn't fit in. Now, it's back to the catalog. Other possibilities may still include Roanoke Catholic or another New River Valley public school.
One point about Christiansburg's last-second 53-51 loss to Blacksburg that irked Blue Demons' coach Gerald Thompson most mightily was the number of un-exercised options his team had at game's end. Of particular concern to him was the two fouls his guys had to give but for whatever reason, chose not to.
. . . Shawsville was shooting close to 47 percent from the floor early in the season but since has misfired its way down to a 30 percent clip. Surprisingly, the Shawnees overcame the inaccuracy to go 2-2 in its four most recent games going into Wednesday's clash with Floyd County.
. . . Shawsville's David Sisson, a 6-1 senior, is eligible as of tonight's game with Bland. Sisson, who played basketball for the varsity as a sophomore, did not play basketball at all last year. "We'll move him around in the post positions, wherever we need him," Shawsville coach Mike Davidson said. "He's going to be able to help us, especially defensively. He's worked very hard in practice. I've been very impressed with his hustle."
When Giles beat Floyd County 73-66 Monday night, that was the Spartans' highest point total this season. In fact, Giles has scored as many as 60 only twice before, both those occasions coming before Christmas. One was a game in which Giles had 60 in overtime and the other was when it scored 66 at Rocky Gap, which has a much smaller than standard-sized court.
. . . Talk about inconsistency: Giles scored 42 points in the first half of the victory over Floyd County; the very next night, the Spartans had 10 at intermission on the way to getting drilled 68-39 by Fort Chiswell. The Spartans were a horrendous 5-for-27 in the first two quarters. "You'd think you could just cross midcourt and sling it up there and do better than that," Giles coach Rusty Kelley said.
"I don't understand it. We play two of the best teams in the [Mountain Empire District] on consecutive nights and have 42 one night in the first half and 10 the next - same players and everything."
Bland barely held off visiting Galax 58-52 Tuesday night, an unexpected show of force that Grayson County coach Rick Cormany said may be an indication of things to come.
"Galax could be really tough in the tournament," Cormany said. "They're playing well now. They've probably got the best athletes in the district, but they're really young. It should be a heck of a tournament. It will be wild."
by CNB