Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 5, 1993 TAG: 9303050199
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
FLOYD MEETS GLENVAR TONIGHT IN REGION C SEMIFINAL GAME
Floyd County boys' basketball coach Alan Cantrell likes the balance he's seeing in his team's offense.He also knows that offensive balance will be pivotal in his Buffaloes' chances to advance past Pioneer District champion Glenvar in the Region C semifinals tonight at 8:30 at Christiansburg High School.
"Looking at our shooting chart is like looking at the University of Kentucky's shooting chart," Cantrell said. "We're either shooting the 3 or taking it inside. It's always one or the other."
However, the Buffaloes did both Wednesday night in a 64-54 win over Northwood in the opening round of the tournament.
Jason Light, 6-foot-5 center, was the dominating inside force for Floyd County with a perfect 13-for-13 from the floor and a total of 31 points.
Floyd County's perimeter shooters took advantage of the sagging defense that swarmed around Light.
Senior guard Jeremiah Slusher scored 12 points against Northwood, and Phillip Marshall had 11 points off the bench.
Throw in senior guard Mike Hylton, who was a leader for the Buffaloes all year, scoring 16 points per game, and it's no wonder that Glenvar head coach Art Lawrence is concerned.
"We're not going to stop Light entirely, but we've got to limit his opportunities," Lawrence said. "We know if we shut him down, they'll just switch to their outside game."
But Lawrence thinks he has an answer to Light's dominating inside play: Stick his three best inside players on Light and hope for the best.
The inside bangers for the Glenvar Highlanders are 6-foot-3 forward Brad Melton (16 ppg, 10 rebounds), senior 6-foot-4 center Jason Woolwine (10 ppg) and 6-foot-2 junior forward Jason Anderson(9 ppg).
"You've got to go with what got you there," Lawrence said. "We've got to take it to Light and possibly get him in foul trouble."
Although Glenvar was the Pioneer District's regular season champion, it lost in the district tournament semifinals to Bath County.
That was partly because the Highlanders were missing their floor leader, point-guard Wes Jones (9 ppg). Jones will be back for tonight's game. There's plenty of motivation for both teams, because the winner of tonight's game gets an automatic berth in the state playoffs.
"Everybody's down to a one-game season," Lawrence said.