Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 28, 1993 TAG: 9302280214
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TERRIERS SURVIVE ALLEGHANY
WILLIAM BYRD will advance to the Region III tournament along with Salem, but not without having to catch its breath first.\ What looked like a romp to the Region III boys' basketball tournament turned out to be guerrilla warfare for William Byrd.
The Terriers got their touch back just in time to hang on for a 76-73 victory over Alleghany in the Blue Ridge District championship game Saturday night.
Byrd (17-6) joins regular-season champion Salem in the Region III tournament that is scheduled to start Wednesday in Lynchburg.
For Alleghany (19-4), there is only the disappointment of what might have midway through the third quarter.
Alleghany's Michael Hunter hit a jump shot with 29.3 seconds left that would have given Alleghany its first lead since the Mountaineers opened the game with a basket.
However, Hunter was whistled for an offensive foul, his fifth, and the basket was waved off. Chris Lester made two free throws a second later to give Byrd a three-point lead.
Then the Terriers held their breath as Alleghany's Shawn Burks missed a 3-point attempt and Tommy Crawford threw one up from deep in the corner as the game ended.
"Normally, you would think we had dug too big a hole. Byrd came in with a lot of confidence and played well. As it turned out, we should have been up by one and on the [free-throw] line," said Alleghany coach Jimmy Smith, who disagreed with the call on Hunter.
"I feel as if we had one of the better teams in the region and we have nothing to show for it," Smith said.
Byrd turned in its best 20 minutes of basketball in building a 57-37 lead. Alleghany's press and Byrd's failure to hit five free throws in bonus situations in the final quarter nearly cost the Terriers all they had shown.
"We made some mistakes on the press, but we also got some easy baskets off of it," said Byrd coach Paul Barnard, who was voted the district's coach of the year. "We kept four, five points ahead on the easy baskets, but we didn't hit the free throws. We're normally a very good free-throw shooting team."
Lester's two free throws didn't nail down the victory, but they put the pressure on Alleghany. Lester was the one Terrier who wasn't missing. He sank five of six free throws in the final quarter.
"I don't pay attention to the crowd and I don't pay attention to the one we missed. That didn't bother me, and I had confidence," Lester said.
The Terriers connected on 17 of 31 shots in building a 43-31 lead at halftime, and they just kept on hitting. Alleghany stayed in the game because of 6-foot-4 Todd Wheatley, who along with Hunter finished with a game-high 24 points.
"We had a shoot-around this morning so we could relax. I don't know what it was, but we were concentrating and knocking them in," said Byrd forward Mark McGuire, who hit three jumpers in the first half.
Bobby Milliron and Donald Childress also were hot from the perimeter in the first 20 minutes, and they combined for 34 points.
Byrd's problem came when David Robertson picked up his third foul early in the third quarter. Barnard kept the 6-4 center on the bench until the fourth quarter, and Byrd still had a 13-point lead.
"We wanted him around at the end to get some stickbacks and play defense," Barnard said.
Alleghany went right to Wheatley, who responded. Then Hunter, voted the Blue Ridge District player of the year, got hot in the final period, scoring 15 points to lead the rally.
"Our intensity improved on defense in the third quarter and that got us into our offense," said Smith.
For the game, Byrd hit 28 of 54 shots. The Terriers also made eight turnovers in the final period and 15 for the second half.
Alleghany wound up making only 25 of 64 shots, including five out of 17 3-point attempts. Byrd led the rebounding 44-35, with Robertson getting 10 rebounds. \
see microfilm for box score