Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 1991 TAG: 9102060329
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN WEBSTER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Botetourt (13-2 overall, 2-2 in the district) led 48-26 early in the third quarter before Salem (5-9, 1-3) began its comeback. The Spartans scored seven consecutive points on a stickback by Nathan Routt and a 3-pointer and medium-range jumper by Mark Byington.
Suddenly, Salem, which shot as if a lid were on the basket in the first half, was hitting from all angles. With a little more than a minute left, the Spartans had cut the deficit to 60-56 and had the ball. Byington took a 3-pointer that could have cut the Cavaliers' lead to one, but it bounced off the rim.
Salem still had an opportunity to close the gap when it forced a turnover, but a Spartans shot was blocked by Botetourt's freshman center, Jeff Cronise, who was immediately struck in the back of the head by a Salem player.
That brought players off both benches onto the court with 11 seconds left. Before order could be restored, the officials whistled an intentional foul on the Spartans for roughing up Prince. Salem coach Len Mosser argued - to no avail - that because Cronise was fouled first, he should be the player sent to the free-throw line.
Prince, who led all scorers with 17 points, made good on both free throws and the Cavaliers kept the ball because the foul was intentional. On the inbounds pass, Prince was the victim of a Salem flagrant foul. He made both shots, sealing the victory.
Botetourt's junior guard was surprised when he was told he was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
"I thought I missed one [free throw] earlier in the game," he said. "But if the scorebook says I was 8-of-8, I'll take it. Until tonight, I haven't been shooting too well from the free-throw line. But I just had to make those last four because everyone on our team had played so hard to get where we were at."
Cronise was the forgotten man in the fray at the end. "Because of all the ruckus, I guess the referees must have forgot that I got hit in the head from behind," he said.
Lord Botetourt coach Don Meredith said, "I knew when we came in here it was going to be a physical game. But they [the Spartans] played over-physical and there is no place in high school sports for what happened tonight - and you can quote me on that."
Mosser wouldn't comment on the controversial ending. "I thought we came out flat tonight and quickly dug a hole for ourselves and that was the story of the game," he said.
LORD BOTETOURT (64)
Harris 2 2-4 7, Prince 4 8-8 17, Martin 1 0-0 2, Loyd 3 6-7 12, Crawford 3 3-3 10, Layman 2 4-5 8, Cronise 4 0-0 8. Totals 19 23-27 64.
SALEM (56)
Sandy 4 0-1 9, Epperly 3 0-0 7, Routt 3 1-2 7, Byington 3 0-2 8, Arthur 6 1-1 13, Shelor 4 2-3 10, Minahan 1 0-0 2, Johnson 0 0-2 0. Totals 24 4-11 56.
Lord Botetourt 19231012-64
Salem 1681319-56 Three-point goals: Harris, Prince, Crawford, Sandy, Epperly, Byington 2. JV: 67-38, Salem.
by CNB