WOODBRIDGE WON'T BE EASY FOE, BUT COUGARS HOPE TO BE RELAXED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 5, 1993                   TAG: 9303050212
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-12   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CHRIS STEUART STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                LENGTH: Medium
WOODBRIDGE WON'T BE EASY FOE, BUT COUGARS HOPE TO BE RELAXED
Like Cougars resting in tall grass under a shady tree, Pulaski County's basketball team patiently waits for the prey.
In the semifinals of the Northwestern Region high school boys' tournament Friday night, the prey will be the Vikings of Woodbridge High School.
"We are just going to go over the scouting reports today," Cougar coach Pat Burns said on Thursday. "We are not even going to shoot a ball. I want to get them out of here early, get off their feet at home, do their homework and get in bed early."
That may be necessary preparation after a gutsy 55-53 last-second win over Halifax County - on the strength of Eric Webb's 27-point effort - in the opening round of the tournament.
After canning a buzzer-beating jumper for the win, Webb said he thought the key to his success was that he was relaxed all day.
"I usually worry if I will be on or not," Webb said. "Tonight I stayed relaxed and it helped."
All this rest and relaxation could prove to be a handy strategy against Woodbridge (23-1), a team whose patient offense hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 60 points this season.
"That's good. We've only scored in the 80s one time, and we haven't been in the 70s a tremendous amount of times," Burns said. "If they are patient it is not a matter of us going crazy and running up and down the floor. Other teams have gotten themselves in trouble by doing that."
Yep. The Vikings, the top-ranked team in the state for most of the year, once thumped Stonewall Jackson 64-15 during the regular season.
"That might intimidate other teams," Burns said. "But we were the underdogs against Halifax and we will undoubtedly be the underdogs at Woodbridge."
The key matchup of the game will be at the low post between the Vikings' 6-foot-5 Damion Keyes (18.5 average) and the Cougars' 6-foot-5 Chris Foster.
Pulaski County's defense also will have to contain point guard Brion Dunlap (10.7), who has played in every game since starting his first game as freshman.
"Considering the late start because of the football team [which won the state championship] and all the young players," Burns said, "there's no way anybody would have believed we would be 18-7 and in the regionals. If you'd have said that, they would have thought you were crazy. Now here we are, one game away from going to the state playoffs."
The Cougars proved they were road-tough during the regular season by winning nine of 16 away games, so they ought to know how to handle going into unfriendly confines - and they will be unfriendly.
Woodbridge geared up for the Cougars by holding a pep rally.
"I think players would rather play in front of a crowd that is rooting against them than a crowd that sits on its hands," Burns said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB