Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 14, 1991 TAG: 9103140355
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: Ray Cox SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Cougars joined Cave Spring in Friday's semifinals of the Group AAA tournament by dispatching frustrated Petersburg 45-38 at William and Mary Hall.
The Cougars, who never before have been to the tournament, play the winner of the Phoebus-R.E. Lee of Springfield game at 3:45 Friday. Cave Spring, which has been to the tournament three previous times but never advanced beyond the opening round, plays James Madison 2 p.m. Friday. The Knights beat Huguenot 63-55 Wednesday.
Pulaski County's inexperience in this tournament may have showed in the awful time the Cougars had shooting the ball. The Northwestern Region champions shot 20 percent in the first half and were 27.8 percent (15-of-54) for the game.
"I think a lot of that was mostly nerves," said Pulaski County point guard Terri Garland, herself 3-for-16 from the floor.
Yet the Cougars (23-2) hung in there with a 2-1-2 zone defense and tenacity on the backboards. Pulaski County came up with 17 steals, 15 in the second half, and forced 17 of the Lady Wave's 25 turnovers after halftime. Most of that came when Petersburg's guards insisted on forcing the ball inside when nothing was open.
"Seventeen turnovers in the second half? I didn't know that," Petersburg coach Ben Dyer said. "I don't have any idea how that happened. I felt very inadequate. I'm in a state of shock."
A situation that Cougars coach Rod Reedy could have only hoped for when he switched to the zone in the second half.
"We didn't think they were shooting very well from the perimeter," he said. "We wanted to keep the ball on the perimeter."
Petersburg (22-5) certainly was consistent, zone or no zone. The Wave shot 36.8 percent in the first half, 36.8 percent in the second half and 36.8 percent (14-of-38) for the game. Only forward Melanie Noise, who never took a shot outside of her range, scored in double figures. She had 11 on 5-for-7 shooting.
After falling behind 11-4 after one quarter, Petersburg bounced back to take a 18-14 lead at halftime.
"We were a lot more intense in the first half than we were in the second," Petersburg guard Cheryl Taylor said. "I don't know why that was. We wanted to win the game, but I guess it wasn't meant to be."
One of the reasons was the smaller Cougars took control of the rebounding. Pulaski County held a 41-34 rebounding edge with Cindy Martin and Lena Jones combining for 22.
"The 2-1-2 zone really helped us," Reedy said. "We picked up a lot of easy rebounds on the backside."
Aside from Martin, a junior forward who made six of 10 shots for 12 points, the Cougars had a dreadful night of field goal shooting. The rest of the team went 9-for-44 (20.4 percent).
But the Wave could not take advantage, as they too floundered offensively.
"They kept trying to force it inside when it wasn't there," said Garland, who sank 10 of 13 free throws and finished with 16 points. "It was easy to double-team then inside out of the zone. They didn't seem like they wanted to shoot it outside."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB