Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 7, 1991 TAG: 9104080349
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PH's Timmy Basham takes the boys' honor as Timesland's top sophomore for the 1990-91 season to join past winners George Lynch (1987) and Troy Johnson (1989), who shared the honor with William Fleming's Dontel Arrington. Byrd's Sherry Banks is the top 10th-grader for girls, giving the Terriers two in a row after Angie McDaniel won in 1990.
Basham heads up what might be a future Piedmont District all-star team as Martinsville's Maurice Spencer and Michael Frasier join Tunstall's Terrance Carter on the first team. Galax's Jeff Spells is the other first-team choice.
Roanoke players take all five spots on the girls' Sizzling Sophomores first team. The tallest player is 6-foot-3 Jennifer Lambert of Salem, who already is being watched as a possible recruit by the University of Virginia.
The other first-team girls are Glenvar's Nikki Hall, William Fleming's Marqueeta Randolph and Cave Spring's Kim Stewart.
For Basham, the question is can he be another Lynch? By the time he finishes his high school career, Basham could be as highly recruited by Division I schools as Lynch, who led North Carolina in rebounding this year.
"He's a better outside shooter than George was, but he's not as big," PH coach Woody Deans said. "He still does a good job on the boards. I would say at this stage [in their careers], Timmy can do a few things better than George, who could do a few things better than Timmy."
Like Lynch, the 6-5 Basham never started as a sophomore. He still was PH's second-leading scorer at 14.7 points per game and leading rebounder at 8.6. Basham made 43.2 percent of his 3-point tries during the regular season and stepped that up in the tournaments as the Patriots made the Group AAA tournament. Basham was his team's leading scorer during the tournaments at 17.5.
"Timmy never really played like a sophomore," Deans said. "He played more like an experienced player. Like George, I'm sure Timmy will move into a starting role as a junior. But from talking to Timmy, he felt more comfortable in coming off the bench."
It isn't much of a surprise that Banks won the girls' award. She was coming off a good freshman year and was Byrd's leading scorer this year at 15.8 per game on a team that was ranked No. 2 in Timesland fall basketball. She has scored more than 700 points in her career.
"Sherry is really versatile," William Byrd coach Richard Thrasher said. "She'd play small forward or even at the point guard, and this was her second straight year to lead a team with some other good players in scoring."
Banks also averaged 4.8 steals and Thrasher said she was Byrd's second-best defensive player. On offense, Banks averaged 3.2 assists and 5.7 rebounds.
"When she started as a freshman, I didn't expect this," Thrasher said. "She hadn't played that well in junior high. But Sherry has become a better player because of her work ethics."
\ SIZZLING SOPHOMORES
TIMESLAND'S TOP 10TH-GRADE BOYS
\ FIRST TEAM Timmy Basham, 6 feet 5, 14.7 ppg, Patrick Henry
Terrance Carter, 6-5, 14.1 ppg, Tunstall Michael Frasier, 6-0, 10.0 ppg,
Martinsville Jeff Spells, 6-1, 19.0 ppg, Galax Maurice Spencer, 6-1, 9.8
ppg, Martinsville
\ OTHERS TO WATCH Chris Foster, Pulaski County; Michael Hunter, Alleghany;
Brian Jennings, Jefferson Forest; Craig Phillips, Bath County; Carlos Rhodes, William Fleming; David Robertson, William Byrd; Chris Schill, Highland; Chris Waddell, George Wythe
\ SOPHOMORE OF THE YEAR Timmy Basham, Patrick Henry \
SIZZLING SOPHOMORES TIMESLAND'S TOP 10TH-GRADE GIRLS FIRST TEAM Sherry
Banks, 5 feet 7, 15.8 ppg, William Byrd Nikki Hall, 5-8, 8.2 assists per
game, Glenvar Jennifer Lambert, 6-3, 10.5 ppg, Salem Marqueeta Randolph,
5-8, 12.8 ppg, William Fleming Kim Stewart, 5-4, 10.1 ppg, Cave Spring \
OTHERS TO WATCH Kim Epperly, Staunton River; Kelly Fackler, Fieldale-Collinsville; Michelle Harrison, Salem; Sirena Martin, Martinsville; Suzanne Moore, Blacksburg; Maria Patterson, Alleghany; Kristie Ratcliffe, Pulaski County; Brandi Surkamer, Roanoke Valley Christian; Michelle Wyms, Radford, Nyree Valentine, Bassett
\ SOPHOMORE OF THE YEAR Sherry Banks, William Byrd
by CNB