Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040171
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
LAUREL PARK OUSTS JEFFERSON FOREST
After climbing three steep hills in four days, Jefferson Forest found a mountain it couldn't scale Wednesday night at Liberty University's Vines Center.The Cavaliers, coming off a trio of upset wins in the Seminole District boys' basketball tournament, ran into powerful Laurel Park and subsequently ran out of miracles in the first round of the Region III Tournament.
Spurred by their superior quickness and tenacious pressing defense, the Lancers broke open a close game with a 14-0 run to end the first half and cruised to an 82-58 victory.
Laurel Park (22-1) advanced to Friday's semifinals. The Lancers will play Blue Ridge District champion Salem at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Vines Center. Martinsville defeated William Byrd 57-55 in overtime in the other first-round game Wednesday.
Coming off their only loss of the season - 66-65 to Tunstall on Saturday in the Piedmont District semifinals - the Lancers could hardly wait to get back to work. And they made quick work of Jefferson Forest (15-9), holding the Cavaliers without a point for the final 3:43 of the first half to take command.
Meanwhile, the much quicker Lancers were conducting a layup drill, most off turnovers produced by their suffocating press. The resulting 14-0 run pushed a 26-22 game into a 40-22 rout by halftime.
"My guys like to go," Laurel Park coach Frank Scott said. "We were able to get them in the transition game, and that's what we wanted. My guys like to go."
Senior Lonzy Robertson, with 18 points, paced four Lancers in double figures. Ronnie Jackson added 15, Chauncey Strange 12 and Carlos Cooke 10.
Strange said the Lancers got the wake-up call they needed from Tunstall.
"We realize now that any time you lose it's the end of the season," Strange said. "That loss really woke us up, and now we're playing for our dream - a state title."
The acrobatic Lancers simply had to too many guns for Jefferson Forest, which was playing its fourth game in five nights.
"Our guys said they felt OK before the game, but I don't know. All I saw was them keep zipping past us," said Jefferson Forest coach Jim Hawley. "Their speed, in general, put us out of it."
Scott, whose team ranked No. 1 in the final Group AA state poll, said the loss to Tunstall didn't bother him so much as the fact the Lancers didn't execute well.
"We didn't play very well against Tunstall, and that's what bugged me," he said. "But if we had to lose one now, I guess that was the one to lose.
\ see microfilm for box score