Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992 TAG: 9203210290
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The 6-foot-5 junior grabbed 28 rebounds, two more than the Group AA record shared by Hodge and Sampson, as the Vikings stunned Matoaca 91-78 in the semifinals.
Derey's rebounding was a mark for all classifications. It was better than the 21 by former William Fleming assistant coach Barry Hamler for Powell Valley and former Virginia Tech star Duke Thorpe for West Point in Group A, and it beat the Group AAA mark of 27 by Hopewell's Willie McCray in 1972.
Sampson played at Harrisonburg High School and went on to the University of Virginia and the NBA. Hodge plays for Laurel Park and will be at Old Dominion University next season.
Northside is the first Blue Ridge District team to make the state title game since Glenvar won the 1975 crown. The Vikings face Nansemond River, a 97-82 victor over Laurel Park and Hodge, today at 2:45 p.m. for the championship.
Derey's rebounding was only one key for Northside (22-5). The Vikings handled Matoaca's press enough to get layup after layup in the second half when they made 18 of 21 field-goal attempts.
Derey grabbed 10 rebounds in the opening quarter. He got his 27th rebound as he blocked a shot by Matoaca's Harold Deane with a minute left.
"With Walt, we talked about the importance of boards. Then he goes out and gets that many rebounds. Honestly, if we asked him to go through a wall, I wouldn't put it past him," said Northside coach Billy Pope.
Said Derey: "I was just going after them, trying to get every one of them. I had no idea I had a record until at the end of the game."
After giving up the first basket, Northside rattled off the next 12 points and never trailed in upsetting Warriors (22-5), who lost for the third consecutive year in the semifinals.
Down by nine at halftime, the Warriors resorted to the same pressure defense that fueled their comeback last year when they beat the Vikings in a first-round state tournament game.
It proved to be a mistake. The result of the press was either a Northside turnover or a Vikings layup. Most of the time it was a layup as Northside went on top 62-43 after three quarters.
In missing just three shots after halftime, Northside showed how devastating its offense is against the press. On the other hand, the Vikings committed 17 turnovers in the half.
"We missed three shots?" asked Northside guard Matt Hill. "That's what happens when you get good shots. Did we shoot any jump shots?"
Matoaca coach Jimmy Williams relied on a press that had helped his team rally to beat Culpeper in the first round.
"They [Northside] knew how to handle it. We trapped and they went to the other side. Then they made a diagonal pass," said Williams.
Pope said his team did nothing out of the ordinary to prepare for the press.
"We wanted to make sure everyone was on the same wave length and that we would attack it," he said.
The Vikings also answered with a press of their own. It didn't cause a lot of turnovers, but it interrupted Matoaca's offensive flow.
"We wanted to press softer than they were doing," Pope said. "Teams that press get good thoughts about what they're doing. We wanted to make sure that our team was mentally not holding anything back."
Derey wound up with 26 points and played the entire game. Jimmy Porter, the recipient of most of the passes on the press, added 22 points. Out front, Hill added 17 and Aaron Burford, who failed to score in a first-round game, got 15, including two 3-point goals that gave the Vikings a big half-time lead.
"Coach Pope told me before the game that the shots would be there if we went inside first. We established our inside game and the shots were open behind the arc. So I took them," said Burford.
It nearly unraveled in the final quarter. Matoaca scored 35 points in the final eight minutes with Deane getting 24. Dean finished with 40 points, one shy of a state record.
Matoaca cut Northside's lead to nine with 1:38 left but could get no closer as Hill hit two free throws nine seconds later.
"We wanted Harold to do like that and try to take over," said Williams. "But we had no idea of the record."
Deane, son of Roanoke native Harold Deane Sr., the head basketball coach at Virginia State, missed the mark owned by Blacksburg's Sidney Snell in 1977.
\ see microfilm for box score
by CNB