Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 10, 1993 TAG: 9302100247
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SALEM GETS REVENGE ON BYRD
Having gone through attitude readjustment, Salem is ready to put in a claim for its first Blue Ridge District basketball title.The Spartans are on the verge of making such a move after routing William Byrd 64-45 Tuesday at the Salem Civic Center.
Salem (12-3) is locked in a three-way tie with Alleghany and Northside atop the league standings with a 5-2 record. The Spartans play host to the Vikings on Friday. It will be the last time Salem will face a contending team, so a win would put the Spartans in firm control.
William Byrd (11-5, 4-3) is one game back but hardly out of the race. However, Byrd cannot control its own destiny, having finished play against the Spartans.
Salem gained a measure of revenge for its first loss of the year, 84-64 at Byrd.
"I think we were over-confident [in the first game]," said Mark Byington, who had 22 points and three steals to lead the Spartans. "We just thought we could come out on the court and win."
Tuesday, the Spartans led 33-26 as Byington made two 3-point shots to close the half. The last one gave Byrd coach Paul Barnard a bad feeling as it came with 3.5 seconds left on the clock.
"He came off a double screen and we had worked on that," Barnard said.
Still, Byrd held a 23-10 edge in rebounding at halftime. However, the Terriers committed 13 turnovers to four for the Spartans.
In the third quarter, the question of a winner was settled. Early in the quarter, Barnard pulled 6-foot-4 center David Robertson, who had 13 points and four rebounds at halftime. He talked to Robertson a few minutes and left him on the bench until early in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans outscored Byrd 17-5 in the third quarter. Josh Pugh collected nine of his 16 points and five rebounds. Pugh's board work helped Salem outrebound Byrd 10-3 as the Spartans opened a 50-31 lead after three quarters.
"At the half of the other game, it was 32-32. Tonight, we hadn't played as well the first half," Barnard said. "Salem did some things it didn't do last time. Byington hit his 3-point shots and got a couple of breakaways."
Barnard had no comment on his problems with Robertson, one of Timesland's more consistent players.
Robertson, however, took the blame.
"It was my fault," the senior said. "I didn't do the things Coach wanted me to do, so there was no need for me to play. I wasn't executing on the offense and I took bad shots."
Salem was doing almost everything it needed to do. The press, ineffective at Byrd, worked this time.
"I was shocked," Salem coach Charlie Morgan said. "Usually you get turnovers in the back court, but tonight once they got into front court, we were getting some crucial turnovers."
Morgan said he was concerned about rebounding. His team was outrebounded 37-29 despite the third-quarter turnaround. Pugh had a game-high 10 rebounds, but there was little consistent help.
"You just can't look at the bucket. You have to find your man and get a body on him," Morgan said.
Salem connected on 24 of 51 shots from the field after a 5-of-15 first quarter. Defensively, the Spartans forced 27 turnovers and made only 13 to more than make up for the lack of rebounding. Byrd made only 15 of 45 field-goal attempts, with Robertson taking only one shot and failing to score after the half.
Byington made seven of 11, but he took only two shots after the half. "They say this [the Salem Civic Center] is a tough place to shoot. But I've always done well here," he said. note: see microfilm for box score