Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992 TAG: 9203150205
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DALEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
When that happens, the other team's bus driver better start warming that baby up. The Cougars don't lose when they go to the spread.
They didn't Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the state Group AAA tournament. The Cougars salted away another win after going to the delay with more than two minutes left, beating West Springfield 46-42 at Lord Botetourt High.
The Cougars (22-5) advance to a semifinal meeting with Petersburg at 2:45 p.m. Friday at the University of Virginia. The Cougars were the 1990-91 state runner-up. West Springfield (26-3), which upset defending state champion James Madison last week to win the Northern Region, is eliminated.
The Cougars sank nine of 15 free throws in the last 3:55 to protect a slim lead. Terri Garland, the Cougars stellar point guard, went 7-for-10 from the stripe over that span, and was 11-for-15 for the game.
"I wish she'd stayed home," West Springfield coach Bill Gibson said.
Not a chance of that.
"Terri is such a competitor," Pulaski County coach Rod Reedy said. "If we have the lead and we have Terri Garland - and she's won so many games for us running the spread and hitting free throws - we're going to go to it."
At least seven times going back to the Northwestern Region tournament last year the Cougars have gone to the delay and won every one.
"This time, I'm not sure we were planning to go to it all along," Garland said. "But it seemed like West Springfield was scoring every time down the floor for a while there and we went to it to slow them down some."
The Cougars never had much breathing room even after jumping out to an 8-2 lead with forward Cindy Martin scoring all eight. But it wasn't until Susan Yap's close-in shot with 7:37 left in the game that the Spartans gained the lead. Garland responded 20 seconds later with a pair of free throws that made it 33-33.
From that point on, there were two more lead changes. Reedy called for the Cougar pause after freshman Kim Cruise put Pulaski County up 37-36 with a stickback. That was one of nine offensive rebounds for the Cougars, who had a 34-29 edge on the boards. Lena Jones was relentless inside for the Cougars and had 16 rebounds including three critical ones - two offensive - in the last 1:02.
West Springfield could have used 5-foot-11 Jenny Terry, who missed the team's last three games with an injured knee. Terry led the Spartans' triple-post attack by averaging almost 20 points and 12 rebounds.
"I have to think she would have made a lot of difference," Gibson said.
Instead, the Spartans had to rely more on 6-1 Julie Wight, who had 13 points before fouling out. Wight was a target all night. When the Cougars were in man-to-man or a triangle-and-two (with Wight and Cheryl Patton being guarded man-to-man while the rest of the Cougars played zone) Garland, giving away at least 4 inches, took Wight.
"It was hard for me when she flashed to the middle because all she had to do was turn around and shoot over me," Garland said.
Still, Wight made only five of 15 shots. Patton had similar struggles, going 3-for-10 for nine points.
"People have played us defensively that way all year," Gibson said. "Today, we didn't adjust."
Pulaski County led 23-17 at the break largely through the efforts of Martin, who had 16 of her 20 points by the break. The Spartans didn't come close to stopping her inside.
"I don't think their girls were as strong as ours down on the blocks," Martin said.
One of the reasons the Cougars pulled off the victory was their steadiness during the game's difficult interludes, of which there were many.
by CNB