Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 3, 1993 TAG: 9303030114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TAZEWELL LENGTH: Medium
RADFORD OUSTED IN REGION IV
Tazewell's Mike Hairston got Radford with his defense this time.The 5-foot-11 junior had been the Bulldog to stop on offense in the teams' previous meetings.
However, Tuesday night at Tazewell Middle School, Hairston made two defensive plays in the final minute that helped Tazewell stop the Bobcats 51-47 in the opening round of the Region IV high school boys' basketball tournament.
The win was only the third in 12 games for Tazewell (13-10), but two of those victories came against Radford. This one moved the Bulldogs into Thursday night's regional semifinals at Virginia High School.
The loss ended the first trip to the regionals for Radford (8-16) since 1988.
Hairston's defensive heroics started after he missed his first free throw in a bonus situation with 28 seconds to go. As Tazewell clung to a 48-47 lead, Casey Underwood pulled down the rebound for Radford and dribbled down the court.
However, before Underwood could set up for a shot that might have given the Bobcats the lead for the first time, Hairston came behind him and knocked the ball away.
"I saw him [Underwood] roll off his man and try to penetrate, so I went down to help. I just happened to catch him," said Hairston, who had 10 points after averaging 17.5 in the Bulldogs' two previous victories over Radford.
Derek Jones picked up the loose ball for the Bulldogs and immediately was fouled with 20 seconds left. He stepped to the line and calmly made a free throw and bonus, expanding the lead to three points.
The free throws ended a five-miss streak from the line that began for Tazewell at the 1:12 mark. Jones had had two of those misses.
"I knew we had to have the last two [free throws]; we had to have them," said Jones, who finished with a game-high 25 points. "We let them back in the game with those misses. But the defense pulled through at the end."
The larger lead meant the Bobcats had to go for a 3-pointer to tie. With about 10 seconds remaining, Garrett Jones tried exactly that - a long-range jumper from the right baseline. But Hairston was there again. He knocked the ball away and came up with it before stepping on the sideline.
Because Hairston could not control the ball inbounds, the Bobcats had another chance with eight seconds to go. They called timeout and set up a play to go to Matt Linkous. The plan went awry when Linkous was whistled for traveling with six seconds left. \
see microfilm for box score