Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303080238
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIMMY ROBERTSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CAVE SPRING GIRLS CRUISE
Cave Spring head coach Linda Long said her team would either live or die with its defense.Friday night, the Knights lived by it.
Cave Spring held Albemarle to 30 percent shooting in the second half to beat the Patriots 69-48 in the Group AAA Northwestern Region girls' basketball semifinals at Cave Spring.
With the win, the Knights advanced to the regional final Monday against GW-Danville, and they automatically clinched a spot in the Group AAA state tournament.
"I felt that our defense really took over in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter," Long said. "The kids really stepped it up."
The Patriots made 7 of 23 shots in the second half after making 12 of 24 in the first half.
"We simply got tired in the second half and we also got in foul trouble, which did not help things," Albemarle coach Anita Jenkins said.
Despite the shooting problems, the Patriots made a game of it early in the second half, starting with an 8-2 run and taking a 36-34 lead.
Cave Spring answered that run with one of its own. The Knights went on an 10-0 run to lead 44-36, and Albemarle got no closer than six points after that.
"We called a timeout late in the third quarter and I told the girls to run our patient offense," Long said. "We wanted to make them come out and play defense because we could sense that they were getting tired."
Cave Spring guard Kim Stewart carried the offensive load for the Knights, especially in the second half. Stewart scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the second half, including 10-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line.
"She is that type of player," Long said. "She performs in the clutch."
Stewart also performed well on the defensive end after being switched to Albemarle's leading scorer, Amanda Frazier. Frazier scored 10 points in the first quarter but only five the rest of the game after Stewart started guarding her.
"We had Allison Beightol on Frazier at first, but we decided to put Kim on her because we felt that she matched up better," Long said.
The Knights also got a big game from forward Amy Athey, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Leading scorer Kelly Dierker was held to seven points on 1-of-14 shooting.
Cave Spring made only two shots in the fourth quarter, but connected on 19 of 23 free throws. Frazier led Albemarle with 15 points. \
see microfilm for box score