Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 25, 1992 TAG: 9202250182
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BLUE RIDGE CROWN STAYS AT NORTHSIDE
Northside kept its stranglehold on the Blue Ridge District boys' basketball title Monday despite a furious Lord Botetourt comeback.What appeared to be a rout midway through the third quarter turned into another tense struggle between these two teams. The Vikings got the big plays at the end and won 90-83 in a playoff for the regular-season title. It was Northside's third Blue Ridge crown in four years.
The Vikings are in the Region III tournament with a favorable draw. They will have to win only one game to make the Group AA tournament for the second straight year. Botetourt, which had beaten Northside on Friday to force Monday's playoff, must earn a trip to the regional through the Ridge District tournament, which opens tonight at the Salem Civic Center.
Northside (17-4) held a 19-point lead midway through the third quarter and Lord Botetourt's prolific scorer, Bobby Prince, was on the bench with four fouls. The Cavaliers (14-7) stormed back and were only a basket from taking the lead in the final quarter.
"Give their subs credit . . . when [Prince] was on the bench with foul trouble, they picked it up," Northside coach Billy Pope said. "But there was tremendous poise on the part of our guys in the last four minutes."
The Vikings also had problems with Walt Derey, who scored 28 points, on the bench with four fouls, as was usual leading scorer Matt Hill.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers rallied from a 60-41 deficit behind Derek Loyd, who scored 11 of his 16 points after Prince went to the bench. A press led by Brad Martin helped fuel the rally.
"This team is capable of doing that anytime," said Prince, who had a game-high 33 points. "I don't feel it makes a difference if I'm on the court. They can play without me."
Botetourt's only shot at taking the lead came when Derey fouled out with 4:02 left. He was also whistled for a technical with the Vikings leading 76-73. The Cavaliers had a chance at four free throws, but Mike Bramblett missed a one-and-one before Prince's two free throws made it a one-point game. Then they missed a layup that was rebounded by Northside's Porter.
The only other time Botetourt had a chance at leading resulted in no shot. Prince stole the ball with his team down 82-81, then turned it over with 1:05 left.
Northside's Aaron Burford sank a pair of free throws, the Vikings forced another turnover, and Kelly Dampeer hit two free throws with 35 seconds left to make their lead 86-81.
Northside's Jim Porter followed with the play of the game. He blocked a shot by Botetourt's Tim Divers and raced to the other end for a layup with 16 seconds to clinch Northside's victory.
"I came over to help Matt [Hill] on a drive by Bobby, who dished off to [Tim] Divers," Porter said. "He went up for the shot, I got it and it went to one of our guards. I sprinted down court and got the ball back."
Aaron Burford helped pick up the Vikings in the final quarter as by hitting four free throws and a field goal. For the quarter, Northside connected on 12 of 13 free throws that had as much as anything to do with keeping the Cavaliers behind.
Burford said losing the big lead was not a crushing blow.
"You have good times and bad times in a game," the senior guard said. "All the great teams come together and get the job done. You have to have poise to take control at the end."
Prince said the game wasn't lost at the end, but in the first half when the Vikings did almost anything they wanted to against Botetourt's defense. Derey dominated inside with 17 points and the Vikings led 47-34 at intermission.
The last couple of minutes of the game mystified Botetourt coach Don Meredith.
"We've been real fortunate to play well at the end of games," he said. "We played about as well as we could play to get the game on the line. But once we did that, we didn't get over the hump."
Pope said his team never thought it had the game won with the big lead.
"The way the 3-point shot is they have five guys capable of hitting that. So we'd have been foolish to think that lead was safe in the third quarter."
Northside hit 31-of-63 from the field with Derey and Porter getting inside shots. \
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