Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 4, 1992 TAG: 9201040263
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NORTHSIDE WINS THRILLER
Northside High's boys' basketball team makes one wonder if the value of experience may be overemphasized.Playing with almost an entirely different cast of characters than the ones that terrorized this part of the state last year, the Vikings stayed cool in the clutch to beat Blacksburg 78-76 in a non-district thriller Friday.
Two Northside players - Matt Hill and Walt Derey - scored career highs, and Aaron Burford's running shot in the lane with six seconds left won it.
Blacksburg (3-3), which had handed the Vikings (7-1) their only loss, could not get organized for a last shot and suffered because of it. With two timeouts, the Indians called none.
"We'd gone over what we were supposed to do [during a timeout with 50 seconds left]," Blacksburg coach Bob Trear said. "We have a five-second offense that we run a lot and we wanted the timeout to go over it. But I can understand how you get lost in the crowd, though."
The one who hadn't gotten lost in the crowd was Northside's Burford, whom Trear and the Indians viewed with anxiety because of his quickness off the dribble.
"We were expecting the clear out for the guard [Burford]," Trear said. "We had a double-team with Matt Smith coming, but couldn't get it there in time."
Burford said it was a set play.
"First of all, it wasn't a clear-out," Burford said. " . . . I was looking to pass to Derey. . . . Then I looked to go back door, but that didn't work, so I went straight to the ball so we could start the set. Then I looked at the clock and saw there were 10 seconds left, so I tried to create something. Then I had the shot and took it."
Burford ended with 11 points, most coming in the same on-the-move fashion as the last two.
Earlier, the Vikings got their scoring from Hill, whose three 3-pointers were part of the 28 points he had before fouling out with 2:18 left. By that time, the Indians were well on their way to erasing a 17-point second-half deficit.
"Blacksburg has a good team," Hill said. "Coach [Billy Pope] told us that when you play [an up-tempo game] like we do, a 15-point lead really isn't that much."
Blacksburg was in plenty of trouble even without having to struggle from behind. Their top offensive threat, 6-foot-5 forward Jon Maher, had been ineffective all night and fouled out with nine points and six rebounds. To compound matters, Chris Smith, another 6-5 post player who had taken up some of the slack with 12 points, was dismissed with 2:19 left.
Part of the reason for that was nobody seemed to be able to handle the unheralded Derey. The Vikings kept pounding the ball inside and he kept producing.
Derey was bemused later that he was at least partially responsible for two opposing players fouling out.
"Usually it's the other way around," he said.
Derey finished with 24 points, the last four in a 51-second span that ended with his close-in shot with 1:10 left. That might have saved Northside.
That's because Matt Smith of Blacksburg, who never has played varsity basketball, turned in some clutch heroics of his own. Smith scored the Indians' last seven points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left that made it 76-76 and left him with 11 points.
"What an unbelievable shot," Pope said. "But the good thing for us was that nobody hung his head." \
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