Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9203010211
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Northside's last view, unless the two teams meet again in the Region III finals this week, will not be pretty for the Vikings. The Cavalier playmaker had a hand in all 14 of his team's points in the final quarter as he led Botetourt to a 64-63 victory in the Blue Ridge District tournament championship game Saturday at the Salem Civic Center.
Officially, Botetourt's Craig Layman hit a layup with 10 seconds left for the winning bucket. He had two baskets, Jeff Cronise had one and Prince scored the other eight points while dishing off three assists for the Cavaliers in the final quarter.
It was Prince's final assist that set up Layman. "Geez, Bobby made another great move and I just had to stick it in the hole. I didn't do anything," said Layman, who scored 22 points.
"Craig was there, he's always there, he'd better be there," said Prince. "Then he got a man up the air, put his shoulder in him and the bucket went in."
Layman then came up with the defensive play that saved the winning basket from being for naught. He stepped in front of Northside's Aaron Burford and took a charge with one second left as the Vikings' guard went for the game winner.
"I saw him flying through the air," said Layman. "There was a little bit of pain, but it was worth it."
"I wanted to penetrate so I could dish off," said Burford. "I saw an opening to the left. I thought I had a path, but the guy [Layman] had position and got the charge."
Botetourt's victory broke a three-year stranglehold Northside had on the Blue Ridge District tournament championship. The Cavaliers were the last team to beat Northside in a Blue Ridge tournament game when Prince was a freshman.
The final didn't affect the pairings for this week's Region III tournament in Salem. Northside will get a bye and play Wednesday night against either Brookville or Martinsville. Botetourt must play Altavista on Tuesday and if the Cavaliers survive that they come back to meet Laurel Park, the state's No. 1 ranked team, on Wednesday in the other semifinal game.
Prince, who scored 26 points by hitting 10-of-18 shots including three 3-pointers, was nearly the goat. He missed a layup with 37 seconds left with the score tied 62-62 and then he fouled the Vikings' Walt Derey on the rebound.
"I saw a breakdown on their defense. I was wide open and missed it," said Prince.
"Man, it was automatic," said Lord Botetourt coach Don Meredith. "We had it set up and Mike [Bramblett] made a great pass."
Derey, though, hit only one free throw and Layman rebounded to give the Cavaliers their chance to win. It was the end of a frustrating evening at the free-throw line for the Vikings, who made only 14-of-30.
The first half was blistering as Botetourt took a 45-36 lead. Northside had all kinds of foul problems as Jim Porter and Burford each had three personals in the opening two quarters. Then the Vikings stepped up the defense and held Botetourt to five points in the third quarter.
"We couldn't get the ball to the wings and they took away our penetration," said Meredith.
"The second half we picked up our intensity," said Northside coach Billy Pope. "The first half, we didn't have that intensity. We should have started with a bang, but we didn't."
Botetourt paid for its first-half pace in the third quarter. Prince, usually an iron man, had to ask for a timeout in the final quarter. "We tried to play a lot of people to stay away from the fatigue factor. You get so tired in a game like this," said Meredith. "That's the first timeout Bobby Prince has asked for since he was in high school."
Neither team shot well. Botetourt was under 40 percent at 21-of-58 while the Vikings were just above it at 22-of-52. Northside got 17 points and 17 rebounds from Derey, but the Cavaliers controlled the boards 42-38 thanks to Layman and Prince, who had 23 rebounds between them. \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB