Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 16, 1991 TAG: 9103160383
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Bitterly disappointed after being upset in the 1989-90 Group AAA state title game by a team it had beaten twice, the Warhawks have approached the current season as though they have a personal account to settle with the world.
On Friday, Cave Spring became the 29th straight team for whom James Madison's bill came due, losing 79-61 in a state semifinal game that was settled before the end of the third quarter.
The Warhawks, 71-49 losers to Robinson in the last year's final, will play for their first girls' basketball championship when they take on glass-slippered Pulaski County 1 p.m. today at William & Mary Hall. Pulaski County stunned previously unbeated Phoebus 44-42 in the other semifinal Friday.
James Madison will be looking to the future today with its eye on its past.
"We've done a lot of that this year," said point guard Jackie Freeman, 99-13 as a four-year starter. "We've had a lot of little goals that we wanted to reach this season. . . . We're on a revenge kick to come back here and finish what we've started."
Madison finished off Cave Spring in the third quarter. After the upstart Knights played them remarkably close in the first half - the score was 35-35 a minute before halftime - the Warhawks bared their fearsome talons.
Starting with Windsor Coggeshall's two free throws with 49 seconds left in the half, Madison methodically constructed a 24-7 blitz that buried the Knights.
"They just came out tired,"said Madison's Denise Wojciech, who had 19 points, three assists and two steals. "We tried to run it up and down the court as much as we could and we still had plenty left. They tried, but they couldn't run with us."
In the second half, Madison had 15 field goals to Cave Spring's four, shot 53.6 percent to the Knight's 28.6 and forced 12 of Cave Spring's 21 turnovers.
"We never backed down, and that's the biggest thing I'm proud of," Cave Spring coach Dave Layman said. "But you didn't have to know a lot of basketball to see what side of the floor the talent was on."
Madison will seek to be the sixth-straight and 10th in the past 12 years from the Northern Region to win the state championship. Cave Spring, which was making its fourth trip to the tournament, had never reached the semifinals. The Knights (22-5) were crushed 58-43 by the Warhawks last year.
Cave Spring got 14 points each from sophomore point guard Kim Stewart and senior Ali Colgrove and 12 points and nine rebounds from center Lisa Hodges.
Cave Spring outrebounded Madison 42-33, but Hodges did not have the sort of inside success she had in a 63-55 victory over Huguenot in the quarterfinals. She scored 25 points and added 21 rebounds then.
"They packed it inside and made it hard to move around," Hodges said. "You had to be really physical to move to the open spot."
Madison had four players in double figures. Aside from Freeman and Wojciech, the Warhawks got 14 from sophomore forward Coggeshall and 12 points and nine rebounds from center Renee Jaksch.
Wojciech, Freeman and Coggeshall were a combined 6-for-8 from 3-point range. Cave Spring did not have a 3-point goal in three attempts.
"Like I said last year, we're going to keep doing this until we get it right," Layman said. "We'll play [in the championship] on Saturday one day."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB