Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 20, 1993 TAG: 9302200282
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SALEM HOOPS IT UP
Away from the celebration, Mark Byington and Shawn McMahon were the only ones in the Salem dressing room Friday.While the mob celebrated the school's first basketball championship in the gym, those two were quietly slipping off their uniforms after the Spartans had disposed of Lord Botetourt 92-60 to clinch the Blue Ridge District title.
"There's not as much excitement as there is around football season," said McMahon.
"Football's a given," said Byington of the Spartans' domination of the Blue Ridge District in that sport.
"I don't know if it's the same kind of championship as in football, but there were people talking today. We wanted to come out and be the first team at Salem to win a district title," added Byington, who paved the way with 19 points, six assists and four steals.
"Basketball's a surprise," McMahon said. "After we beat Northside [a week earlier] people thought we pretty much had the district wrapped up. After Alleghany was beaten by Northside [on Tuesday], they were sure of it."
Salem (17-3 overall, 8-2 in the district) closed fast with eight consecutive victories. The Spartans are in the Region III and need to win only one more game to make the Group AA state tournament. That game will be against either unbeaten Laurel Park, Timesland's No. 1 team, or the Seminole District runner-up.
In the Botetourt dressing room, the Cavaliers dressed quickly. Don Meredith, the dean of Blue Ridge District coaches, probably thought he'd be retired the night Salem won a basketball championship. Friday, he wished he had retired as a coach when he left full-time teaching a year ago.
"We had our three big men in foul trouble, so we've got our big ones on the bench and they've got theirs on the floor. From end line to end line, they wore down what we had out there. That's probably our weakest defensive effort of the year," Meredith said.
The game unraveled for Lord Botetourt (6-14, 1-9) in a matter of two minutes. The Cavaliers whittled a 14-point deficit to 32-23 when Brad Morton scored a layup. The Spartans, though, finished the half on an 11-2 run to virtually finish the game.
With four seconds left, Meredith left for the dressing room. Salem scored three points after he left including a steal and layup by Byington at the end.
"I've never seen a bunch of kids who can play as hard and then disintegrate like this bunch," said Meredith of the final two minutes.
Josh Pugh led Salem with 23 points. The 6-foot-4 center made seven free throws in a row. For the game, the Spartans made a creditable 26-of-36. They sometimes have problems hitting 50 percent from the line.
"In a way, this was different than football," said Pugh, a two-time All-Group AA offensive lineman who is headed to Marshall University on a football scholarship. "The Salem people are kind of spoiled with football [success]. I think the one in basketball is special.
"I told myself this is my senior year and I wanted to go out with two championships. This was a goal I've had all year. We've had some ups and downs, but we're looking forward to the tournaments."
The Spartans struggled with their shooting, hitting 32-of-70 for the game after a 12-of-35 performance in the first half. Botetourt's Jeff Cronise, Gabe Sander and Morton, the entire front court, had fouled out by the early part of the fourth period. The Spartans controlled the boards 50-42 with Nathan Routt getting nine rebounds to go with his 19 points.
Salem was playing its fifth game in eight days and had struggled Thursday night to get past rugged non-district foe North Cross. Fatigue might have been a problem.
"Our kids have been on a mission," first-year coach Charlie Morgan said. "From the look in their eyes, they were ready to go. They're very determined right now."
Morgan said handling the pressure from football might have helped his basketball team, which features Pugh, Routt and Tra Wilson as starters who were key members of the Spartans' football team that finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state.
"They've been ranked in football, so they could handle the pressure," Morgan said. "I've trained myself not to get pumped up. I want to concentrate on the job I need to do, which is get the kids ready to play. Sometimes they get out of focus and it's my job to keep them in focus." \
see microfilm for box score