Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 2, 1991 TAG: 9103010415
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Ray Cox
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Probably countless times, but that's all right. Gateway basketball is Lusters Gate's most visible national export.
To be sure, there are quite a few from the big cities of Woodbridge and Chesapeake who are now familiar for the first time with this quaint village down the hill from Blacksburg.
The Crusaders spread the fame of their hometown far and wide across Virginia last weekend by winning the Old Dominion Association of Church Schools A (for schools less than 50 students) state tournament.
It was the third time in 11 years that Gateway has won the state, the most recent occasion being 1986. But this is the first time that Gateway will qualify for the national tournament.
"This is all new to me," Crusaders coach Jeff Aikens said.
Perhaps, but not winning. Gateway has done plenty of that through the years. However, this was not automatically assumed to be one of them before the season started.
Coming into the current season, the Crusaders had lost four seniors from last year's team. Furthermore, there were only two players with starting experience back and it seemed certain that but six of the 10 available players would be able to help. The experience of the other players ranged from extremely light to none.
Then, the team's most veteran player, Joey Linkous, spent a large part of the season either injured or ill.
"They were real young, but I thought they might have a chance to be a pretty good team by tournament time," Aikens said. "That turned out to be pretty prophetic."
Indeed.
They're still young. Matt Linkous, one of the team's better players, is an eighth-grader. Joey Linkous is the only senior.
Four players - Matt Linkous, Joey Linkous, Tim Henderson and Dan Osborne, score between 10 and 15 points per game. The fifth and sixth men, Sam Moore and David Arthur, average 12 points between them.
However, trouble looms as the Crusaders prepare for a preliminary playoff game with the West Virginia champion March 9. Gateway may have to do without Osborne, the center who is averaging team-leading totals of 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Osborne broke a thumb in practice this week and may not be able to play against the West Virginia champs.
At the state, Osborne had 24 points and 21 rebounds in a 62-57 victory over Great Hope Christian of Chesapeake in the opening round and came back with nine points and 14 rebounds in the 63-52 victory over Heritage Christian of Woodbridge in the title game.
Both Osborne and Henderson were chosen all-tournament. Henderson was the tournament's most valuable player.
"Until Dan got hurt, I kind of liked our chances," Aikens said. "That's an ouch."
Still, the Crusaders don't appear as though they're not going to let anything spoil their fun.
"Just getting to the state was fun for us," said Aikens, whose team also had to win a regional tournament to qualify for the state. "The rest is gravy. Even if we lose early [at nationals], we've still had a great season."
Henderson, the point guard, was a key figure in the victory over Heritage in the championship. As part of his 23 points, he sank seven of eight free throws as the Crusaders pulled away in the fourth quarter.
The team went 14-for-16 from the stripe while outscoring Heritage 22-12 in the fourth.
"We didn't beat ourselves and we made our free throws down the stretch," Aikens said. "You can win a lot of basketball games when you do that."
If the Crusaders beat the West Virginia champion (which will be determined this weekend at a tournament in Beckley) in the preliminary portion of the national tournament, then they will proceed to the national tournament March 13-16 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
As a footnote, Gateway flirted with having erstwhile Radford High sharpshooter Preston Snell on the roster for the stretch drive. Snell chose to attend school elsewhere, though.
It isn't the Gateway style to mourn those who they don't have. They'd rather celebrate those they do.
"We don't have anybody outstanding," Aikens said. "Matt Linkous has potential because he's young and Henderson is solid, but the rest of them do a really good job of playing together."
by CNB