Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 20, 1993 TAG: 9303200255
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
SPOTSWOOD ELIMINATES MARTINSVILLE
HUSKY HALL is one of the state's legendary basketball coaches, but no amount of tradition could help the Bulldogs advance into Group AA title game. \ Martinsville's quest to give coach Husky Hall his eighth Group AA state basketball championship looked good for about 13 minutes.But as the seconds ticked away in the first half, the Bulldogs lost their momentum and most of an 11-point lead on their way to a 57-46 loss to Spotswood in a Group AA semifinal game Friday.
It might be the final game for the legendary Hall, who is retiring as a teacher. He has petitioned the Martinsville school board to come back as the coach, and that decision will determine whether Hall is around next year to add to his impressive record.
Spotswood (26-1) will take on Greensville County today at 2:45 p.m. for the state title. The Eagles rallied to eliminate Laurel Park 63-60 in the other semifinal.
Martinsville owned the boards (14-11) in the first half, shot well early (11-of-18) and led 23-12 after Vince Eggleston hit a short jumper with 3:24 left. After Spotswood's Carey Keyes followed with two free throws, the Bulldogs suddenly went to a delay game against the Trailblazers' zone. "I never gave any thought to [a stall]," said Hall. "We still wanted to score. They were in a zone and we wanted them to go man-to-man. But our kids got confused."
Two turnovers and a missed shot gave Spotswood three baskets in the final 2:27 of the first half to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 23-20.
"I thought maybe the delay helped us," Spotswood coach Jim Kramer said. "I thought it was a good plan when they did it. I might have done the same thing."
When the second half resumed, Martinsville suddenly couldn't hit and the Trailblazers continued to score as they completed a 15-0 run to take a 27-22 lead.
The last part of the first half "took momentum away from us," said guard Maurice Spencer, who led the Bulldogs with 16 points. "Then we went into a little slump. The shots were good, but they just weren't falling."
Martinsville (22-6) charged back to regain the lead when Eggleston's layup made it 35-34 with 6:03 left. But Spotswood's Jason Jones, who teamed with Joe Morris to dominate inside, got a follow shot to put the Trailblazers back in front for good.
Martinsville cut it to four points on two free throws by Spencer and a layup by Eggleston with 2:36 left. Then it became a matter of fouling and Keyes seemed to always have the ball for Spotswood. He drilled 10 consecutive free throws.
"Coach tells me to keep the ball because I lead the team in free throw percentage (around 80 percent)," Keyes said. "I like the pressure at the end of the game. I want the ball in that situation."
With the Bulldogs still trailing by four, Spencer was called for a blocking foul with 1:38 left.
"I thought we had a good charge on him," said Hall, whose team had just gotten the ball on a charging foul seconds earlier but failed to convert when Mike Martin missed a jumper.
"I thought my position on the floor was set," said Spencer.
The other factor in Spotswood's victory was the play of Jones and Morris inside. Although the rebounds were fairly even (36-35 for the Trailblazers), these two combined for 18 rebounds and 16 points.
"Their two kids were strong inside," Hall said. \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.