Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 4, 1992 TAG: 9201040223
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PATRIOTS HOLD OFF PULASKI COUNTY
The jinx of playing in the Arby's Classic boys' basketball tournament championship game nearly did in Patrick Henry for the third time in five years.The 1988 and 1989 Patriots lost their first game after the final of the Arby's Classic, but this year's PH team survived its post holiday-tournament test by holding off Pulaski County 68-56 on Friday night.
Unlike the other two years, PH's opponent wasn't William Fleming, which welcomed the Patriots home from Bristol, Tenn., with a loss. This year, Pulaski County certainly gave a good imitation of the Colonels in the opening Roanoke Valley District game for both teams.
Patrick Henry (9-0) survived with the help of seniors Troy Manns and Jonas Callis.
Manns performed more of his front-court magic by scoring a game-high 18 points, including six straight at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the last period to put a little distance between the Patriots and Cougars on the scoreboard.
Callis was terrific inside with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. He and Manns, who dealt out seven assists and had four of PH's 11 steals, led the defense.
However, both players were concerned when Pulaski County closed to two points behind the Patriots twice in the third period after trailing by 11 at halftime.
"We all came together and said we had to knuckle down," said Manns. "That we had to play better defense and get some rebounds.
"We were dragging from Bristol and all the excitement [of winning the title]. We came out a little lazy. We were reading our press clippings and talking on television when we should have been practicing."
Callis added, "All teams will make runs, but they'll cool off if you play good defense. Their shots can't keep falling."
Some might have wondered if the Cougars (3-4) would ever go cold. Chris Foster's layup made it 35-33 with 4:40 left. After Manns got a layup, Chris Burns' two free throws made it a two-point game again.
However, Manns helped PH pull ahead by seven after three quarters with two baskets in the last 28 seconds, including a jumper at the buzzer. Then he scored on a jumper with 6:44 left to make it 50-41, and from there the Patriots went into a delay game to pull the Cougars out of their zone and gimmick defenses.
"I felt like our kids had the composure to handle the situation," said PH coach Woody Deans. "We had played some close games in Bristol that helped us."
Pulaski County coach Pat Burns finally got a good effort out of his entire team.
"We showed a lot of mental toughness. We showed we can be a real good team if our kids put their hearts on the floor. We haven'tgotten that from everyone every night," said Burns.
It was a defensive game. The Patriots shut down Burns, the Cougars' leading scorer, with five points. At the same time, Pulaski County used triangle-and-two or box-and-one defenses on the Patriots' top scorers - Timmy Basham and Curtis Staples - to limit the pair to 18 total points.
Offensively, the Cougars got a top effort from playmaker Kevin Alexander with 12 points and six assists. Alexander took over the game in the Cougars' third-quarter rally, and he got inside help from Foster with 14 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Cougars led the rebounding 39-33 and got Basham, who had 10 rebounds, in foul trouble so that the 6-foot-4 junior missed much of the second half.
The difference came at the free-throw line, where the Patriots sank 17 of 25 free throws, compared to 8 of 19 for the Cougars. From the field, PH was 25-of-55 after going 7-of-9 in the final quarter when Pulaski County had to ditch its zone. The Cougars made 22 of 52 field-goal attempts.
"I was really impressed with how hard Pulaski County played and how they banged the boards," said Deans.
Burns said defense was a key.
"We kept switching up defenses to try and make them adjust to us," said the Cougars' coach. \
see microfilm for box score