Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992 TAG: 9203040145
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
In a three-minute span, the Cougars exploded for 14 points. From there, they routed Albemarle 66-34 in the first round of the Northwestern Region girls' basketball tournament at Pulaski County High.
The defending regional champion Cougars (20-4) advanced to the semifinals Thursday at Gar-Field. The winner will get a berth in Saturday's regional final and next week's Group AAA tournament. Albemarle finished 19-5.
"Coach [Rod] Reedy has gotten on us," said senior guard Terri Garland, who scored eight of her game-high 24 points in the first-quarter surge. "We knew we had to play or it was going to be all over. So we decided to go out there and play like we were capable of playing."
The first-quarter run gave the Cougars an 18-4 advantage with 1:04 remaining. They led by at least a dozen points for the rest of the half, and their smallest lead in the second half was 18 after seven straight points by Albemarle.
The run also allowed Pulaski County to puts its scoring woes behind. It averaged about 60 points per game during the regular season, but totaled only 65 in two gam in last week's Roanoke Valley District tournament.
"We practiced hard yesterday," said sophomore Laura Bishop, who tallied a career-high 17 points.
"We got mentally ready for tonight. Shooting is mostly up here," she added, pointing at her head.
The Cougars also played fierce defense, holding Albemarle to 26 percent shooting and forcing more turnovers, 35, than they allowed points.
"This was our last chance to play up here," said senior center Lena Jones, who had 15 rebounds and six steals. "so I thought I'd play as hard as I could. I guess I just tried to hustle and work hard."
"I don't know, we just weren't there tonight," coach Anita Jenkins said of her Patriots, who start a junior, three sophomores and a freshman. "We knew they'd put a lot of pressure on us. But it seemed like we couldn't handle the pressure and threw the ball away."
Sophomore Kinzer Cohen led the Patriots with 12 points.
Garland had six steals and seven assists to go with her 24 points.
\ see microfilm for box score
by CNB