Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 26, 1992 TAG: 9202260044
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
COUGARS NEED WIN, BUT RIGHT ANSWERS COME 1ST
There are two questions facing the Pulaski County High School boys' basketball team as it takes the court at 8:30 tonight in the Salem Civic Center.\ No.\ 1: Can it recover from being blown out in its regular-season finale and perform well in the Roanoke Valley District tournament?
\ No. \ 2: Can it beat William Fleming three times this year?
If the Cougars (12-9) can answer yes to both questions, a berth in the Northwest Regional tournament is the probable reward.
Two teams from the district advance to the regionals. Patrick Henry has gained one berth. The second goes to the tournament champion - or to the other tournament finalist if Patrick Henry captures the tournament as well.
A win tonight puts the Cougars in Saturday's 7 p.m. finals.
But first they have to come up with some answers. As far as the first question goes, Pulaski County has had to come back from adversity previously this season. So Coach Pat Burns doesn't view the 82-59 loss to Franklin County as devastating as he might otherwise.
"We just have to forget about it and go on," said Burns. "We were buried before, when we were 3-6. But we went and won eight in a row and nine of 11. We could have given up at that point [3-6], but we didn't. And I don't expect us to now."
As for the second question, the Cougars have already done something unprecedented against William Fleming this year - they won a regular-season game in Roanoke for the first time in 18 tries. So making it three in a row over the Colonels (12-8) would not be unthinkable.
But Burns would rather concentrate on making sure Pulaski County is ready to play rather than who it plays.
"We're not going to do anything special," he said. "We're not going to put in anything different. We just want to do the things we've been doing. And focus on what it takes to get the job done."
One of those things Pulaski County will have to do is contend with Carlos Rhodes, the RVD's leading scorer with an average of more than 20 points per game. Rhodes was on disciplinary suspension and didn't play in last week's 56-54 squeaker. And he only played part of the 73-69 early-season game in Dublin.
The Colonels' David Williams is among the district leaders in scoring, too. He averages more than 15 points and nine rebounds per contest. And Derrick Hines hands out more than 7 1/2 assists per game.
But the Cougars have weapons of their own. Guard Chris Burns averages more than 17 points per game, placing the 6-3 senior among the scoring leaders in the RVD.
Center Chris Foster, a 6-5 junior, shoots about 60 percent from the field and pulls down more than eight rebounds a game.
Kevin Alexander, another senior guard, dishes out more than seven assists per contest. And at 6 feet he is the Cougars' shortest starter.
The forwards are 6-2 senior John Akers, who hits more than half of his shots, and 6-1 freshman Eric Webb.
"We had to control the game and go out and execute the offense the way we have been doing in the stretch where we played well," said Burns. "If we do those things, we should be able to stand our ground."