Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993 TAG: 9301090230
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COVINGTON LENGTH: Medium
3RD-QUARTER RUN PUSHES ALLEGHANY PAST INDIANS
After two quarters of tangling with undefeated Alleghany on Friday night, Blacksburg hit the locker room trailing by only two, 25-23.The Indians should have stayed put.
Six minutes into the third quarter, after a monster Mountaineer run, it was all over.
Alleghany shook off a sluggish start to blow away Blacksburg 63-43 in a non-district game.
The Mountaineers began the second half with a 25-6 run that left the Indians reeling. Forward Todd Wheatley dominated in the paint, scoring the first seven points in barely over a minute to get Alleghany (8-0) rolling.
Wheatley scored 11 of his 19 points in the decisive quarter.
"The first half was probably our worst half all year," said Wheatley, who also grabbed 13 rebounds. "We started to push it in the second half and my teammates set me up."
Wheatley would have been even more productive if he could have converted at the free-throw line. An 86 percent shooter coming into the game, he missed seven of 10.
The Mountaineers scored 29 points in the third quarter, four more than the first two combined. Shawn Burks scored six of his 10 in the third and Michael Hunter fired up the crowd with a breakaway dunk to give Alleghany a 44-27 lead at the 3:56 mark.
Hunter finished with 12 points and Jermaine Winston added 12, including the first seven of the game.
Neither team scored for three minutes and the score was 9-9 after one quarter.
"In the first half, they slowed us down and we were standing around too much," said Alleghany coach Jimmy Smith. "The key was moving our feet and playing with intensity on defense.
"We have to play that kind of game - getting up and down, and playing good defense. When you play with that kind of intensity, it's like you have six or seven guys out there, instead of five."
Blacksburg got 11 points from Craig Turman and 10 each from Jay Safford and Ben Araman. Araman did not score in the second half and Turman had just two.
The Indians (1-7) did not handle pressure defense well, committing 25 turnovers.
On defense, Blacksburg couldn't handle Wheatley in the lane.
"We just played poor defense inside," said Indians coach Bob Trear. "Wheatley got three straight buckets to start the half and they took off awful quick.
"Our group played hard, but we just can't get down like that. We played a pretty good half, but it's like we forgot about the second one."
When the game got out of hand, Trear called off the full-court press in an attempt to save his players' strength. The Indians are in the midst of a rugged portion of their schedule, with games tonight, Monday and Tuesday.
\ see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL