Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 5, 1992 TAG: 9202050155
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
ALLEGHANY RIPS RADFORD 64-45
Alleghany High and host Radford had a reversal of basketball emotions Tuesday night.With Alleghany coming off what probably was its most wrenching defeat of the year and Radford sailing in with high spirits after its most satisfying victory in a discouraging season, nobody knew quite what to expect.
"I was very worried about coming down here," Mountaineers coach Jimmy Smith said.
He needn't have been. Alleghany held Radford without a field goal for almost 11 minutes in the first half, ran up double-figure leads and coasted to a 64-45 non-district victory.
Quite a contrast to Friday's game with Blue Ridge District rival Northside, which came from behind to beat Alleghany 66-65. Radford played a similar game Friday, upsetting Christiansburg 49-46 for its third victory of the season.
Smith checked out Radford's result in the newspaper and made his game plan accordingly.
"I saw from that score that they got Christiansburg into a half-court game," he said. "We don't want to get into a half-court game."
Nevertheless, Alleghany (9-6) did just that in the first quarter, which it squeaked through with a 9-8 lead. Smith had seen enough of that.
"We than started to get out and attack from the press," he said. "We also attacked their zone well and got some inside baskets. We got almost as many shots inside against the zone as we did from the press."
The primary beneficiaries were center Todd Wheatley, who banged in 16 points, and forward Michael Hunter, who slashed to the hoop for 17. Ten Mountaineers scored by the end of the night.
By the time Alleghany was packing up for halftime, it had wasted the Bobcats (3-13) with a 27-8 run.
"The half-court trap really bothered us," Radford coach Brenda King said. "We got rattled, then we got reluctant to attack. Then we had some shots blocked back in our faces and that further intimidated us."
Andy Clarke, who came off the bench, made all five of his free throws and a pair of 3-pointers for 11 points. Wayne Lineburg and Duane Pierson had 10 points each. \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: longer version ran in the State edition.