Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 2, 1991 TAG: 9102020420
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DALEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The 6-foot-2 junior, Timesland's second-leading scorer, fired in 30 points to spark Northside's 60-53 victory. In the second half, he made nine of 10 shots and scored 21 of the Vikings' 36 points.
It wasn't just a shooting show that Baker put on. He also had 10 rebounds, four assists and one steal to key a victory that leaves the Vikings (12-1 overall, 3-0 district) as the only team unbeaten in Blue Ridge play.
"John realized we had to have some clutch shots," Northside coach Billy Pope said. "He was more than willing to take it and I was more than willing to call his number."
For the night, Baker made 13 of 19 shots from the floor. His only miss in the second half was an air ball on a 3-point try that ended a streak of five bull's eyes. His shooting lifted Northside from a 29-24 halftime deficit into a 43-38 lead. Joining Baker in sparking the run was 6-1 1/2 guard Ron Glass, who had six of his game-high 11 rebounds in the third quarter.
"We were stagnant the first half and Coach [Pope] challenged the team for someone to step in and show leadership," Baker said. "[Point guard] Chad [Briscoe] and the others did a good job getting me the ball and our press got us going. But I hit a 3-point shot [his second goal of the half] and I really started feeling [hot]."
For Botetourt coach Don Meredith, it wasn't anything new to see a Northside player dominate his team.
"When we put someone on Baker," Meredith said, "they'd run him off a pick. We couldn't get through it.
"If we switched, we had a 5-8 man on their big man [6-2 Pete Taylor]. If we didn't, Baker would have a wide-open shot on the baseline. It's something they did with [Neil] Burke and [Gary] Martindale, their other big scorers from past years."
Botetourt (12-2, 1-2) was down 45-41 after three quarters, but the Cavaliers were far from finished despite having several players weakened by the flu. Botetourt scored the first six points of the final quarter for a 47-45 lead as Bobby Prince completed the run with two free throws.
Prince, who led the Cavs with 11 points and eight assists despite being double-teamed much of the night, made two more free throws for a 52-50 Botetourt lead with 4:11 left. It was the Cavaliers' final lead. Briscoe's layup tied the score with 3:39 left and Baker followed a missed shot with a layup that made it 54-52 with 2:38 remaining.
Prince made a free throw to make it 54-53, then Glass missed two one-and-ones that could have clinched the victory for Northside, which went to a four-corners after Baker's basket. Briscoe, however, nailed two free throws with 16 seconds left for a 58-53 lead to settle the game.
Prince shook off the physical defensive work by the Vikings.
"That's part of the game," said the junior guard. "Baker did what he always does, played great. I thought I could have handled the ball better in the second half. I might have had eight assists, but I bet I had eight turnovers."
However, Northside set its defense for Prince. "He's a super penetrator and we wanted to be aware of him on every coverage. Chad worked hard on him," Pope said.
Northside made only 11 of 30 shots in the opening half, but the Vikings were 14-of-22 after intermission. Northside also held a 39-28 rebounding advantage. The Cavaliers went from hitting 12 of 24 shots in the first two quarters to 8-of-24 after the half.i NORTHSIDE (60)
Baker 13 1-2 30, Ballard 1 0-2 2, Taylor 5 0-1 10, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Briscoe 3 2-2 9, Hill 1 0-0 2, Glass 2 2-5 7. Totals 25 5-12 60. LORD BOTETOURT (53)
Crawford 4 1-3 9, Layman 2 0-1 4, Cronise 2 2-3 6, Harris 3 0-0 7, Prince 2 7-10 11, Loyd 2 0-0 4, Bramblett 2 0-0 5, Dooley 3 1-2 7. Totals 20 11-19 53. Northside 11132115-60 Lord Botetourt 11181212-53 Three-point goals: Baker 3, Briscoe, Glass, Harris, Bramblett. Team fouls: Northside 18, Lord Botetourt 14. JV: 62-58, OT, Northside.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB