Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 28, 1992 TAG: 9202280176
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS STEUART SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
KNIGHTS CRUSH PATRIOTS
The first semifinal in the Roanoke Valley District girls' basketball tournament Thursday night was, well, a blowout.Cave Spring outscored Patrick Henry 19-4 in the first eight minutes at Pulaski County High School and never looked back in rolling to a 77-36 victory.
Both teams handled the ball like a hot potato in the first half, but each handled it differently. The Patriots had about 11 turnovers in the first quarteras nobody could grasp the ball and passes went awry on nearly every possession.
As for the Knights, they didn't hold the ball long, either, but when it left their hands it found the basket.
When Patrick Henry did find the basket in the second quarter, it put together a modest four-point run and pulled to a 25-10 deficit. The Knights then reeled off 13 unanswered points, holding the Patriots at 10 until Ashaki Johnson hit a jumper with 31 seconds left in the half to make it 40-12 at the break.
"I was real impressed with our defensive intensity, especially in the first half," Knights coach Dave Layman said. "We are focused to win the championship."
The victory, Cave Spring's 20th, assured the Knights a spot in the district championship game Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center.
The Knights had beaten PH three times this year, and the key to this fourth victory was unselfishness.
Point guard Kim Stewart unlocked the Knights' offense by scoring as well as distributing the ball.
The evidence: Stewart's 14 points, Crystal Rhodes' 11 and Kelly Dierker's 10.
"We knew this was an important game, and we played like it," Stewart said. "We got consistent scoring because we played intense defense and pushed the ball up the floor aggressively, and had real good ball-handling."
The intensity continued for the RVD regular-season champions in the second half, but with the game out of reach, the Patriots relaxed and were able to stay with the Knights in the third quarter.
Cave Spring turned it on in the final eight minutes and mirrored its first-half play, outscoring the Patriots 23-12.
"We came out flat tonight and we were a bit intimidated, too," Patriots coach Patricia Sheedy said. "We let them get a lot of easy baskets off of our mistakes, and that is what killed us." \
see microfilm for box score