Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 6, 1991 TAG: 9103060268
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The veteran coach pulled Dontel Arrington to the bench for a minute in the first quarter, and the transformation in the Colonels' senior guard was amazing.
"He told me to take better shots and get into the offense," said Arrington.
The 5-foot-8 Arrington did just that, scoring a game-high 19 points and helping Fleming beat Albemarle 77-56 in the Group AAA Northwestern Region boys' first-round game at the Salem Civic Center.
The Colonels (16-7) travel to Fauquier County for a semifinal game on Thursday. A trip to the state tournament awaits the victor.
"My last two games [in the Roanoke Valley District tournament], I wasn't into the offense. My mind was in it, but then my mind wasn't in it," said Arrington. "But yesterday [Monday] I had a good practice. We had a good practice. And that usually means a good game."
The Colonels dominated, hitting 29 of 57 shots (50.9 percent) and picking the Patriots' defense to pieces. The offense worked so well that Fleming wound up with 15 assists; Tee Jennings dished out five and Champ Hubbard four.
Sophomore Carlos Rhodes, who replaced Arrington in the first quarter, wound up with 13 points.
Rhodes was another story because he didn't play against Patrick Henry in the RVD championship game last week.
"I forgot my shoes," said Rhodes, who had another pair that he doesn't normally wear for basketball.
Paye said, "Carlos is going to be a good one, but I was scared to put him in the PH game because he was wearing strange shoes. He might have slammed on the brakes and twisted his ankle.
"And that game wasn't important [in getting to the region]."
The Colonels had qualified to move on when they beat Cave Spring in the RVD semifinals.
Fleming didn't move way ahead right away, and the fans were a bit laid back when Terrell Milam, who scored 14 points after missing his first five shots, woke them up with a rafter-shaking dunk that made it 32-23.
"That was a 10," said the senior forward. "We needed something to get us going."
It was 40-32 at halftime, and Fleming scored 12 of the first 14 points in the third quarter to remove any suspense about the outcome. The Patriots (19-4) were reduced to trying 3-point shots, and they sank only four of 21 attempts.
Albemarle's DuPratt Johnson, the player of the year in the Western District, finished with 17 points, but he had only three shots and four points in the second half.
"We've played a lot of good teams," said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard, whose team beat Woodbridge during the season and lost by eight points to Fauquier County. "Tonight we played very poorly. It's our first time in a while in the region, and I don't know whether that's the reason we played so poorly."
Albemarle hit 20 of 54 shots (37 percent) and was outrebounded 39-37.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB