Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 22, 1992 TAG: 9202220247
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE: ROCKY GAP LENGTH: Medium
FLOYD CLINCHES MOUNTAIN EMPIRE
On senior night, Rocky Gap jumped to a surprising 11-3 lead, but with the Mountain Empire District regular-season championship at stake, Floyd County quickly turned things around and romped to a 78-39 boys' basketball victory Friday.Floyd (18-2 overall, 16-2 Mountain Empire) clinched when Fort Chiswell knocked Grayson County out of a first-place tie with a 74-70 victory.
Floyd County came on strong to lead 17-13 after the first quarter and used a second-quarter trapping press to take a 38-19 halftime lead.
No player for Rocky Gap (8-11, 7-11) reached double figures. \
Narrows 71
Auburn 57
NARROWS - The Green Wave emerged from a three-point halftime deficit and pulled away in the third quarter to even its record with a Mountain Empire District victory.
Narrows (9-9, 9-9) went to a box-and-one defense on Auburn scoring leader Bobby Sale after halftime and also outscored the Eagles 24-8 in the third quarter.
Auburn (11-9, 10-8) was led by Sale's 17 points. Narrows, with four scorers in double figures, was led by Tinker Wills' 14 points. \
Galax 79
Giles 69
PEARISBURG - The Maroon Tide won a foul-marred Mountain Empire District game on the road.
Galax (13-7, 13-5) got 23 points from Jason Ross and 21 from Jeff Spells, and made 23 of 35 free-throw attempts in the win. Giles (1-17, 1-17) was even better at the stripe, making 26 of 31.
The Spartans visit Rocky Gap tonight in a play-in game for next week's Mountain Empire tournament. \
Bland 59
Shawsville 54
BLAND - The Rockets erased an early deficit with a 34-15 run over two quarters on their way to a Mountain Empire District victory.
Toby Dotson scored 24 points and Kevin King 13 for Bland (4-16, 4-14), which fell behind 16-8 in the first quarter.
Mike Roop had 19 and Kenny Dow 17 for the Shawnees (3-17, 1-17), who cut the lead to one with less than two minutes remaining but pulled no closer.
Both teams will be in action tonight as the district's bottom four teams attempt to qualify for the tournament next week. \
Staunton River 74
Buckingham County 51
MONETA - Guard Eric Flood scored 25 points and the Golden Eagles led start to finish in this Seminole District regular-season finale.
Troy Smith added 15 points for Staunton River (11-9, 11-9), which outscored the Knights 39-19 over the middle quarters.
Gerry Torey scored 14 and Sam Lipscomb 13 for Buckingham (11-9, 11-9).
\ Liberty 71
Appomattox 59
BEDFORD - The Minutemen rallied for a Seminole District victory with the help of a 28-5 third-quarter run.
Patrick Patterson had 19 points, Scott Martin 17 and Chris Dean 13 with 10 rebounds for Liberty (8-12, 8-12). The three seniors combined for 23 points in the third quarter.
Chris Dillon led Appomattox (1-19, 1-19) with 23 points. \
Brookville 60
Jefferson Forest 57
LYNCHBURG - The Cavaliers' comeback came up short in a Seminole District loss to Brookville.
Greg Coffee scored 17 points, Damien Smith 14 and Ayo Lawson 10 for the Bees (16-4, 16-4), who pulled away from a one-point halftime lead with a 22-10 third-quarter run.
Jefferson Forest outscored Brookville 17-7 in the fourth quarter but couldn't catch up. The Bees made 18 of 23 free throws in the game, including five of six in the fourth.
The Cavaliers (11-9, 11-9) got 17 points from Brian Jennings and 13 from Ryan Gilleland. \
Christiansburg 58
Radford 38
RADFORD - Mike Smith scored 24 points to help the Blue Demons (7-13, 2-4) shut down Radford in a New River District game.
Kris Smith had 14 points and Duane Pierson 10 for the Bobcats (3-17, 1-5).
Radford will play Blacksburg in the opening round of the New River tournament next week, and Christiansburg will face Carroll County. \
Gateway Christian 84
Temple Christian 22
Gateway Christian raced to a 55-6 halftime lead and hung on for a victory in the semifinals of the Old Dominion Association of Church Schools Southwest District tournament at Lakeside Baptist Church in Salem.
The Crusaders (17-5), the tournament's top seed, will play in the championship today at 4 p.m. against Granite Christian from Wytheville. Gateway is shooting for its seventh straight district title. \
see microfilm for box score