Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
COUGARS DROP GRAYSON 64-50 B4 B1 COUGARS COUGARS
Although its Van never really got rolling, the Covington boys' basketball team moved to the Region C semifinals Wednesday night.Forward Van Wallace, the second-leading scorer in Timesland, checked in well below his average, but the Cougars nonetheless belted Grayson County 64-50 in the first round at Christiansburg High School.
Wallace, who averages 23.1 points, finished with 16, including seven in the final 1:57, after the Cougars had opened up a 10-point lead.
"Van has kind of cranked it down," Cougars coach Brad Martin said. "We don't need him to be a one-man show anymore. Everybody else is stepping it up.
"There was a time this season when we were looking for him to be our offense. Now he's part of our offense and that shows the maturity of this team."
Covington point guard Keeno Jones led the team with 17 points, including nine in the first quarter, when the Cougars took a 13-10 lead.
"Keeno kept us in the game early," Martin said. "He is really running the show and that's a pleasure for a coach."
Grayson County's Mitch Hawks tipped in a miss at the end of the third quarter to tie the score at 44-44. But Covington turned the game into rout with its fourth-quarter pressure.
The Devils scored the first point of the period, then did not score again for four minutes. Grayson County committed six turnovers in the quarter and needed more than five minutes to score a field goal.
"We played great defense throughout the game, we just couldn't get things started offensively," Martin said. "In the second half, we stepped up the defense even more and that triggered the offense."
With steals and turnovers feeding its transition game, Covington raced to a 12-1 run and 56-46 lead on a Chuck Morris runner with 3:11 left.
"We had so many giveaways due to Covington's defense," Grayson County coach Rick Cormany said. "They have super team speed. For a spurt there, it seemed like we never even got a shot off."
Grayson County took its first lead of the game at 24-23 on two free throws by Keith Weatherman with 1:36 remaining in the first half. There were three more lead changes before halftime and a Morris jumper and a Wallace free throw gave Covington a 28-26 halftime edge.
The Devils led 42-36 midway through the third quarter, after a 3-pointer and a layup by Hawks, who finished with 20 points.
But Covington scored eight straight to take a 44-42 lead before Hawks' tip at the end of the quarter.
Wallace had two buckets in the third quarter and his fastbreak jumper with 6:45 left gave the Cougars the lead for good at 46-45.
"Wallace maybe didn't have one of his best games, but he had big plays when they needed it," Cormany said. "He showed the winning things."
Covington pulled away despite shooting 6-for-14 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Morris finished with 11 points for the Cougars and Shane Griffith had 10 for the Devils. \
see microfilm for box score