Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 3, 1993 TAG: 9303030072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NORTH CROSS ADJUSTS, WINS
All season, North Cross has been a second-half team.So when the Raiders were tied with visiting Collegiate at halftime Tuesday, no one in the home crowd was concerned.
As usual, North Cross dominated the last two quarters and pulled away for an 81-68 victory in the first round of the Virginia Independent Schools state boys' basketball tournament. That puts the Raiders in the quarterfinal round Thursday at Bishop O'Connell in Arlington where they will play the winner between Teagle Christian and Norfolk Christian.
"Don Meredith [Lord Botetourt basketball coach] once told me you play the first half to get to the second half," North Cross coach Jim Muscaro said. "There were a couple of minor adjustments you can make, and I didn't want to waste a timeout [in the first half].
"It's a lot easier when everyone is paying attention at the half to make the changes. Today they were using the high post for an outlet to half court, and that makes it tough to trap. We took that away from them and forced them to make 30-foot passes. You have a lot better chance to get your hands on a 30-foot pass rather than an eight-footer."
It was more than that, though. In the opening half, which wound up in a 28-28 tie, the Raiders were outrebounded 32-13. North Cross' defense prevented the game from getting away from the Raiders by forcing 10 more turnovers by the Cougars.
"I think we were kind of intimidated by a couple of their men. Coach Muscaro told us at the half to box out and play harder," Monty Smith said.
The Raiders took the lead for good in the third quarter when Aaron Marley barged in for a layup to make it 32-30. In the third period, Marley hit four field goals to spark the Raiders as they started to pull away.
Mike Bryan, North Cross' 6-foot-6 center, came back from foul trouble and pitched in 14 points in the second half. The Raiders outrebounded Collegiate 32-23 the last two quarters.
"I think we're a second-half team, especially the third quarter. We have a lot of confidence in the third quarter," Bryan said. "I felt confident at the half that we were the better team and we'd play better team ball."
Still, this was anything but a smooth victory. The Raiders (24-6) struggled against Collegiate (10-13), which plays in one of the state's toughest private school leagues.
North Cross missed 20 free throws to go with the lethargic rebounding in the first half. Usual points leader Marcus Cardwell didn't score from the field until he got a layup with 29 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 50-40.
North Cross had a 16-point lead early in the final period, but the Cougars trimmed the margin to 65-57 as the Raiders kept missing free throws. After Cardwell missed another, Collegiate had a chance to cut the margin to six but was stopped by a walking call.
That brought Collegiate coach Mark Newlin off the bench, and he was given a technical foul. Johnson hit two free throws and Tyler Pugh added a basket to make it 70-57 and clinch the Raiders' trip to Northern Virginia.
"Our kids played hard, but how many walking calls did we get?" Newlin asked. "They're frustrated, and we might have been close. We did a good job boxing out the first half and holding them to a shot, but we might have gotten tired."
Still, turnovers were the major difference. Collegiate wound up making 29 compared with 11 for the Raiders. note: see microfilm for listing of scores