Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 14, 1992 TAG: 9202130275
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
BAD GAME INSPIRED SURGE OF CONFIDENCE
Jason Light's ascendance as an offensive force for Floyd County began with a blocked shot."We were playing Galax and I was going to go against Jeff Spells, who I knew is one of the best players in the Mountain Empire District," Light said. "My very first shot, he blocked it big time."
Light went on to hit only two of five shots in that game, an 80-69 Light Galax win, but two of the misses were blocks and a third was a gimme layup that he missed.
Light, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, went on to hit his last shot of that game. In the next two games, against Narrows and Bland, he hit 15-straight shots. Light had a career-high 23 points in the 97-70 victory over Narrows.
"I told somebody after the Galax game that if Jason doesn't improve after this game that he probably wouldn't this year," Buffaloes coach Alan Cantrell said.
"He played well against one of the best players in the district [Spells] and if that didn't give him confidence, nothing will. Jason wasn't intimidated."
Just as the coach predicted, Light's confidence surged.
"After the Galax game, I told myself that I would have to change some things," Light said.
Light's emergence is all the more remarkable because he's never played organized basketball before.
"Since last year was my first year here, he kind of slipped past me," Cantrell said.
"I didn't know him because I'm the girls' physical education teacher. But then somebody pointed him out to me and I said, `My gosh! Why isn't he playing basketball?' "
Cantrell recruited him for the team and Light agreed to play at the end of the 1990-91 school year. He played in a summer league in Stuart with the rest of his teammates and also attended a team camp at Radford University with them.
"I got to know the players," he said. "Playing in the league and going to camp helped a lot."
It also helped that his older brother, Jerry Light, was a prominent player on last year's team.
Jerry Light graduated and is a volunteer assistant for the Buffs this year while attending classes at Virginia Tech.
"I never was really interested in basketball until I got to high school," Jason Light said.
"Last year, when Jerry was having such a good year, I really enjoyed watching him play and I wanted to play, too.
"He's really helped me and encouraged me."
If making 15-straight shots wasn't enough of a feat, Jason Light did it with a broken pinky finger. He plays with a splint on his left hand, which also happens to be his shooting hand.
"It's affected the shot some because of the pain, but not that greatly," he said.
"It's been that way all season. Maybe I'll have to break it again next year."