Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993 TAG: 9303130204
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
IF FLOYD'S BOYS LOSE, IMAGINE CHATS WITH GIRLS' TEAM
At this stage of the high school basketball season, when only the strong have survived to make it to the opening round of the state tournaments, extra motivation hardly appears necessary.Nonetheless, Floyd County has some after making it to the Great Eight of the Group A tournament for the first time since 1987 (it plays Hurley at 8 p.m. Saturday at Marion High). The funny thing about it is, only one player had the nerve to mention just what that extra something was.
"We have a lot of determination," said Buffaloes player Robbie Weeks as he sat on the gym floor this week nursing a sprained ankle. "We don't want to be shown up by the girls."
Powerful stuff, that. The Buffs' female schoolmates and fellow basketball players took an undefeated record into the state semifinals last fall before being beaten by a smidgen by eventual state champion Wilson Memorial.
So if the guys falter, they're sure to hear about it - or at least sense that they haven't lived up to a high standard of performance. And, true, it will be hard to look certain folks in the eye, considering there's a lot of romancing going back and forth between members of the girls' and boys' teams. For example, boys point guard Monty Moran and girls wing Lynette Nolley are an item.
The potential conversations in the event of an early boys' loss are absolutely painful to imagine:
He: We should have beaten them.
She: It's all right, sweetie. But it is a shame you had to dribble that ball off your foot. And, not to be critical or anything, but who taught you how to shoot?
It's enough to make the perspiration pop on the forehead of even the coolest male player.
Then, of course, the guys have to answer to the coach, Alan Cantrell. Remember him? He coached the girls, too. Certainly Cantrell would deny it, but every player knows that somewhere in the back of the boss' mind, the comparisons between the two teams are being forged.
The guys are just going to have to live with it, though. Indications are they'll be able to handle the stress. They've handled almost everything else in this 20-6 strain of a campaign. For example:
\ The what-have-we-done-to-deserve-this defeats: Five of the six came in the last possession of the game.
\ The excuse-me-while-I-step-in-front-of-this-locomotive margins: Five of the six margins of defeat were by a total of nine points.
\ The Oh-no-it's-Willard Scott-again forecast: So the Buffs thought they'd be attending a nice Saturday night ballgame? Not so fast there, boys. Let's see how you do when a a vengeful Mother Nature upends her purse and dumps some serious snow on your noggins.
Should the flakes fly, the best guess is that the quarterfinal twin bill (Region D champ Twin Springs and Region C runner-up Covington play in the 4 p.m. opener) will be Monday.
Assuming the game is played eventually, Floyd County figures to be relaxed and ready to go. Once it got over the heartbreak of all those narrow losses, the team settled down to play some of its best ball.
"I just kept telling the guys that somewhere down the line, losing like that would pay off for us," Cantrell said.
Case in point was the 59-56 victory over Covington for the Region C title last week. Covington had beaten Floyd County twice previously, including once on a last-second shot.
Initially this year, Floyd County was inclined to pound the ball inside to 6-foot-6, 205-pound junior Jason Light, the team's leading scorer and rebounder (22 ppg., 10 rpg., five blocks). But then enemies got wise and started doubling down on him and employing various junk defenses.
"I'm ready for that now," he said. "I know that when they double me, that's going to leave somebody else open."
In many instances that's a wing, and senior Mike Hylton has usually been there to produce. Hylton, who shot close to 50 percent from 3-point range during the regular season, nailed six of eight treys and finished with 24 points against Covington.
"You have to have confidence that you're going to make the shot," Hylton said. "If you're not hitting, you know that it's going to go in eventually."
Floyd County has been getting a lot out of Jeremiah Slusher, who scores 10 points per game and is the team's defensive stopper, and fellow wing Phillip Marshall, who also averages 10 points per game.
Hurley (19-6) is in the tournament for the first time since losing to Floyd County in 1987. The Rebels' main man is John Potter, a brawny 6-2 center who likes to muscle around inside for his points. Potter, who scores almost 20 points per game, had games of 32 and 28 in the first two rounds of the Region D tournament.
The nice thing about playing Hurley is that accurate scouting reports haven't been a problem. Hurley is only a few miles from where Cantrell grew up and he still has excellent sources in the area.