Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 14, 1992 TAG: 9203140341
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
\ Northside's Matt Hill and Walt Derey were virtual basketball unknowns a year ago.
After their performance in the Vikings' 52-50 victory over Blacksburg in the Group AA quarterfinals Friday at Christiansburg High, they both will be hard to forget.
Those two scored 15 of the Vikings' last 22 points and helped lead a defense that limited a potent Blacksburg attack to five fourth-quarter points, enabling Northside (21-5) to rally from seven points back for the victory.
Northside plays the Matoaca-Culpeper County winner at 2:45 p.m. next Friday at the University of Virginia.
Hill and Derey also came through in the clutch when little else went right for Northside. The Vikings struggled with their shooting from the free-throw line and the field, and was outrebounded 42-24.
"That's been the story of this team all year, it finds a way to win," Vikings coach Billy Pope said.
That wasn't assured until Hill hounded Blacksburg's Darren Morton, into an errant shot in the closing seconds. Morton, who had a game-high 22 points, twice missed shots that would have tied the score in the last 30 seconds because of Hill's defense.
"He's so fast, you have to lay off him a little," said Hill, a senior guard who was used mainly as a defensive specialist a year ago. "Our big guys were hedging on the picks and helping me out. I got there on him as best I could. He's a great player, he really is."
Hill gave Morton a little more room on the last shot.
"He got a good shot off," Hill said. "Fortunately, it didn't go down."
Eleven of Hill's 19 points came in the first half, but his points in the last two quarters could not have come in more difficult circumstances. Blacksburg was sloughing off on Northside's outside shooters to collapse on Derey, who had a big first half.
"They were dropping a guard down on me and there just wasn't any room to move," said Derey, who scored 21 points, 14 in the first half, to go with 11 rebounds.
Northside struggled at the free throw line, missing 13 of 19. Hill went 3-for-4; Derey went 3-for-9.
"Nobody wants to miss free throws," Pope said. "But instead of hanging their heads, they went out and found something else that worked."
Northside continued to bomb away from the perimeter, mostly in vain. Northside finished 22-of-50 from the field (44 percent), but Derey and Hill went 16-of-26 (61.5 percent). Hill made seven of 14 shots, including a pair of critical 3-pointers in the second half.
He also had several key steals down the stretch, a particularly damaging one ending in a layup after he swiped the ball from the slick-handling Morton. That trimmed Blacksburg's lead to 50-48.
"I caught him off guard," Hill said.
The game became increasingly difficult for Morton.
"They started picking me up farther outside and overplaying the passes to the wings," he said.
Another pivotal battle was happening inside, where Derey and Jimmy Porter were slugging it out with Blacksburg's rugged trio of Jon Maher, Chris Smith and Kevin Schug. Maher, who had 17 rebounds, was held to 11 points, almost nine under his average.
"We were trying to keep him away from the basket, but he came pretty hard anyway," said Derey, who finished the game with four fouls. "But he still had a pretty good game."
by CNB