Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 20, 1993 TAG: 9303200299
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
COLONELS BOW OUT 76-68
WILLIAM FLEMING found no justice in a second-quarter drought that ended the team's high school basketball season.\ In a game of contrasting quarters, William Fleming lost the second quarter and with it the right for a shot at a Group AAA boys' state basketball championship.
After playing a nearly flawless first quarter, the Colonels were outscored by 19 points in the second quarter, and that led to a 76-68 loss to John Marshall in the semifinals Friday.
The Justices (23-5) will try for the title tonight at 7:45 against Bethel, a 72-65 overtime winner over Woodbridge in the other semifinal.
Fleming (22-6) came out blazing. The Colonels hit seven of their first nine shots to lead 16-6. It was 22-16 at the quarter, with Fleming hitting 10 of 13 shots.
Then came the second quarter. Edmund Sherod took over and scored 11 of his game-high 32 points. By halftime it appeared to be a matter of how bad Fleming's loss would be as the Colonels trailed 45-32.
"We lost our intensity," Fleming coach Burrall Paye said. "What killed us were six minutes when they made nine straight shots and 10 out of 11. When you let a team do that, it's awfully hard to win.
"We tried everything: traps, a match-up zone, man-to-man."
The Colonels changed defenses to cut off Sherod. It didn't always work, but Fleming worked its way back into the game.
When Jemare Crump hit two free throws with 1:11 left in the third quarter, the Colonels trailed 52-50.
"The second half they picked up their defense. They kept switching two guys on me. They played their butts off," Sherod said. "I expected them to give up, but they didn't give up at all."
Phillip Lacey, who scored 17 points and led Fleming's rebounding with 12, said what happened in the second quarter was caused by John Marshall.
"They stepped up their intensity. They played good defense with a half-court trap. We slowed down instead of putting them away like we should have," Lacey said.
After a while, the game boiled down to Sherod against Fleming. The senior guard, who is headed to Old Dominion University, seemed to be in on every play in the second half as he scored 19 of the Justices' 31 points.
"We tried to make him give it up," Paye said. "He's a great player, but we knew that going in."
Sherod, who added eight assists and seven rebounds, said it was his best game.
"Well, not my best all-around game, maybe, but my best clutch game," he said. "Part of our game plan, I do most of the ball-handling. I was trying to get inside and dish it off."
John Marshall coach Frank Threatts added: "Ed had a certain demeanor about himself tonight. He was so focused."
The Colonels' comeback was hampered in other ways. Crump picked up his fourth personal foul with 3:01 left in the third quarter. He had to stay in the game because David Hutchinson, a forward, twisted a knee in the first half and was out.
Crump fouled out with 23 seconds left.
The Colonels also hit only 14 of 25 free throws. In the first-round game at Hayfield, they won because they made 15 of 16.
However, Fleming continued to make runs.
After Crump made it 52-50, Sherod came back with a layup and Thomas Coleman hit a 3-pointer to push John Marshall's lead back to 57-50 after three quarters.
Fleming cut the deficit to five points twice in the final period. The final run came when Carlos Rhodes, who led the Colonels with 21 points, hit a 3-point shot to make it 65-60 with 3:27 left.
Then Sherod hit one of two free throws, but Derrick Hines missed a 3-point try. Sherod scored a layup after the miss with 2:40 left, and that was the end of Fleming's run as they dropped behind by 10.
"We came out real confident," Lacey said. "We knew we had to start off good, but we didn't finish it off good." \
see microfilm for box score