Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 15, 1992 TAG: 9202150249
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
INDIANS CLINCH DISTRICT TITLE
The basketball opponents of Blacksburg High School have enough to fret about as it is.Bad news, though, dudes.
It's getting worse.
The Indians on Friday unveiled 6-foot-2 junior Kevin Schug, heretofore a bruiser of a role-playing inside player, as a legitimate offensive threat to go with the rest of the arsenal.
Schug scored a career-high 16 points - including a thunderous breakaway dunk - to go with six rebounds as Blacksburg swamped host Christiansburg 67-54 and clinched its second-straight New River District regular-season title.
"We've got a good overall team," said Schug, an All-Timesland football wide receiver last fall. "People are always coming along to take up the slack."
This is the second-straight game that a Blacksburg player has scored a career high. Matt Smith, who never played varsity basketball before this year, had a game-high 19 as Blacksburg beat Radford a week ago. Smith scored a modest two against Christiansburg, but he contributed in other ways, particularly on defense.
The Indians (14-4 overall, 5-0 in the district) squeezed 16 turnovers out of the struggling Blue Demons (5-13, 1-4), many of which fueled the Blacksburg fast break.
Schug was the recipient of numerous lead passes, as was forward Jon Maher, who had a game-high 25 points to go with four blocked shots, 10 rebounds and a dunk.
Blacksburg had a 29-23 rebounding edge. Steve Gregory had 10 rebounds for Christiansburg.
Gregory finished with 14 points, and point guard Mark Haden and forward Mike Smith had 10 each. Eddie Bentley scored 11 of his 19 before halftime.
When Blacksburg ran its offense, it usually had no trouble getting the ball to the right people.
"Matt Smith, Darren Morton, and Travis Bishop have been hitting well from 3-point range the last several games, and people have to respect that," Maher said. "That opens it up for us inside."
Morton, the point guard, scored 12 points, but half that came on free throws because his continuous forays into the painted area drew fouls. Morton was 6-for-7 on free throws; his teammates were 1-for-6.
Schug said Morton made the difference.
"He finds open people wherever they are," Schug said. "He's amazing. I don't know where we'd be without him."
Christiansburg led 11-2 in the first 4:31 before Blacksburg recovered its poise and picked up its defense to go three-quarters court. That produced an 11-0 run, and Blacksburg never trailed again.
"We weren't picking them up defensively until they'd crossed midcourt, and that wasn't what we wanted to do," Blacksburg coach Bob Trear said. "Christiansburg called a timeout and we told the players, `If you want it, go get it.'"
Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson has seen it all before.
"That's Blacksburg," he said. "They get down and they don't panic. They just get right back in it." \
see microfilm for box score