WARRIORS DEAL BULLDOGS 1ST DEFEAT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 4, 1992                   TAG: 9201040194
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE                                LENGTH: Long
WARRIORS DEAL BULLDOGS 1ST DEFEAT
Brian Taylor scored 16 points and Magna Vista held Martinsville off by making all 12 of its free throws in the fourth quarter to squeak out a 67-65 Piedmont District boys' basketball victory on Friday night.
The Warriors (5-1 overall, 4-1 district) handed Martinsville its first defeat of the season and dropped the Bulldogs (5-1, 4-1) out of a tie for the district lead with Laurel Park.
Trailing 52-42 after three quarters, Martinsville rallied in the fourth. The Bulldogs twice cut the deficit to two points, but Magna Vista would not surrender the lead.
The Warriors got 12 of their 15 fourth-quarter points from the free-throw line, and Rodney Reed got the others on a 3-pointer.
Rodney Tanks added 12 points for Magna Vista and Tony Holmes scored 11. Maurice Spencer paced Martinsville with 18 points and Demetrius Martin added 17. \
Laurel Park 86
Bassett 58
BASSETT - The Lancers took a 12-point first-quarter lead and cruised to a rout of the Bengals in Piedmont District play.
Odell Hodge scored 24 points for Laurel Park (6-2, 5-0), and Ron Wilson had 18 and Lonzy Robertson 14.
Dytanyon Norman led the Bengals (3-3, 3-2) with 23 points and Art Wade added 17. \
Tunstall 65
Dan River 54
DRY FORK - A second-quarter surge pushed the Trojans to the Piedmont District victory.
Starters Tarrace Carter and Khris Law, who were benched in the first quarter for disciplinary reasons, played in the second quarter and scored six points each as Tunstall (3-4, 3-2) erased a 12-9 deficit to lead 31-25 at halftime.
Carter finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Law had 11 points, as did Greg Gammon, and Chris Walton had 12.
For Dan River (2-6, 1-4), Sonny Motley had 17 points and Brian Gunn had 12.
\ Gretna 63
Patrick County 43
GRETNA - The Hawks held the Cougars scoreless for the game's first four minutes, opened a big lead and cruised to the Piedmont District win.
Rodney Irvin's 15 points paced Gretna (4-4, 2-3), which jumped on cold-shooting Patrick County (0-7, 0-5) for an 11-point first-quarter lead and never looked back.
Chris Reynolds paced the losers with 16 points. \
Fieldale-Collinsville 83
Chatham 58
CHATHAM - Fieldale-Collinsville rallied from an early deficit to whip Chatham in a Piedmont District battle of the Cavaliers.
Chatham led 20-12 after the first quarter, then was outscored by 33 the rest of the way.
Thad Wade had 17 points, Scott Chitwood 16 and Ben Seay 14 for Fieldale-Collinsville (3-3, 2-3). Tim White had 11 and Ben Wright 10 for Chatham (1-6, 1-4). \
Bath County 61
James River 52
HOT SPRINGS - Todd Jenkins scored seven consecutive points to single-handedly repel a late Knights rally and lift the Chargers to the Pioneer District win.
The loss was James River's first in the league this season and only their third to Bath County in coach John Shotwell's 29 years of coaching. James River is 4-3, 4-1 in the league. Bath County is 5-2, 4-1.
The Chargers, who led 21-7 after the first quarter, saw the Knights trim the margin to 48-47 with 3 1/2 minutes left. But Jenkins made three straight shots, including a 3-pointer, to ice the Bath win.
Jenkins, who was 4-of-6 from 3-point range, led Bath County with a career-high 21 points. Craig Phillips added 13.
Troy Thompson paced James River with 20. \
Covington 96
Highland 53
COVINGTON - The Cougars disregarded an 8-2 first-quarter deficit to storm past the Rams for the Pioneer District victory.
Covington (3-3, 3-1) missed 13 of its 20 field-goal attempts in the first quarter, a shooting percentage of 35 percent. The Cougars made 34 of 57 (60 percent) in the last three quarters to bury the Rams.
Neal Dressler led Covington with 18 points. Keeno Jones had 16, Cory Hunter 14 and Tony Jeter 13.
Mike Ginn had 17 for Highland (0-6, 0-5), which committed 36 turnovers.
\ Lexington 65
Rockbridge 53
FAIRFIELD - After three quarters of see-saw action, the Scarlet Hurricane's pressure defense finally broke the Rebels in a Pioneer District game.
Leading 44-43 going into the final quarter, Lexington (5-2, 3-2) forced turnovers and outscored Rockbridge (2-6, 1-5) 21-10 to post the victory. Ethan Emma scored 23 for Lexington, and Gavin Clark added 12.
William Sensabaugh paced Rockbridge with 13 points. \
Galax 81
Bland 70
GALAX - Jason Ross and Jeff Spells had double-doubles to take the Maroon Tide to a Mountain Empire District victory.
Ross had 10 assists to go with 22 points, and Spells coupled 10 rebounds and 22 points.
Galax (2-4, 2-2) took control from the start as Ross scored the game's first three baskets on the way to a 10-2 lead. The Maroon Tide led 24-9 after a quarter and didn't look back.
Bland made it respectable by making 25 of 31 free throws. Brad Harden scored 28, and Toby Dotson added 20 points for the Rockets (0-3, 0-3). \
PH-Glade Spring 22
Rural Retreat 20
GLADE SPRING - The Rebels and Indians disdained offensive basketball as PH won the Hogoheegee District game.
John Hess rebounded a missed free throw and scored with eight seconds left to lift PH. Rural Retreat, which led 3-1 after the first quarter, fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the district. \
Lebanon 58
Chilhowie 50
CHILHOWIE - Brian Summers made six of the Pioneers' seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points as Lebanon remained unbeaten with a Hogoheegee District victory.
Leading 15-14 after a quarter, Lebanon (3-0, 1-0) outscored Chilhowie (1-3, 0-1) 32-13 over the middle quarters to break the game open.
Ben Campbell added 17 points for Lebanon. Sydney Barr paced the Warriors with 16 points, and Jason Fore added 14. \
George Wythe 73
Holston 62
DAMASCUS - George Wythe outscored Holston 14-3 in overtime to pull out a Hogoheegee District win.
With the help of a technical foul on Holston, the Maroons (3-4, 1-1) scored 11 straight points in the final 1:30 of overtime to shatter a 62-62 tie.
Chris Waddell had 30 points and Sie Dickinson 20 for George Wythe. Robert Blevins had 23 for the Cavaliers (3-3, 1-1) and Jason Rush added 21. \
Marion 80
Abingdon 57
ABINGDON - The Falcons outscored the Scarlet Hurricane 47-23 in the second and third quarters and cruised to the Highlands District victory.
Eddie Boothe had 20 points for Marion (6-1, 1-0) and Eric Hungate 19. Tyrone Brown led all scorers with 25 for Abingdon (1-7, 0-1). \
Thursday's game\ James River 62, Natural Bridge 49: At Buchanan, the Knights pulled away with an 18-9 run in the final five minutes and defeated the Rockets in a Pioneer District game.
The Knights (4-2 overall, 4-0 Pioneer) led 44-40 when coach John Shotwell decided to spread the offense. James River did a splendid job, committing no turnovers and scoring on almost each possession with either a field goal or free throw.
Forward Jody Steger had the best game of his career, scoring a team-high 19 points. Chad Caldwell added 13 points and Solan Wooden had 12. Ryan Shotwell brought down eight rebounds.
The Knights were 21-of-27 from the free-throw line, including 13-of-17 in the fourth quarter.
Marty Early paced Natural Bridge with a game-high 21 points. \
see microfilm for box score

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB