Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 12, 1993 TAG: 9311120249
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Byrd pasted the Vikings 65-42 to join regular-season champion Lord Botetourt in the Saturday's final of the Blue Ridge District girls' basketball tournament on the Terriers' court.
In the opener, Botetourt trailed Alleghany by 10 points at halftime but wound up blowing away the Mountaineers 66-41.
Both finalists qualified for the Region III tournament next week at Staunton River. While Lord Botetourt hasn't been to a region in recent memory, this will be Byrd's 10th straight trip, the same number of years Richard Thrasher has been the Terriers' coach.
Byrd (15-6) needed only to beat Northside last week to earn a shot at tying Lord Botetourt for the regular-season crown. The Vikings, though, stopped the Terriers, giving the Cavaliers the crown without having to beat Byrd a second time.
"That loss made our kids think," said Thrasher. "They looked at a lot of things they weren't doing right."
Cathy Smith, a sophomore forward, got the most benefit. She hit a career-high 28 points, connecting on 13 of 19 shots. Smith had 19 points in the first half as Byrd built a commanding 35-12 margin.
"I kind of just took the ball to the hole when they gave it to me," said Smith. "We were out for revenge. I think we were looking ahead to Botetourt when we played Northside."
Said Northside coach Marilyn Bussey, "I knew we probably made them mad when we beat them at our place. They executed so well, and we made Cathy Smith look like an all-star. But then she didn't get in foul trouble the first half like she did during the regular season."
Smith didn't score in the third quarter and Northside rallied. The Vikings (10-12) cut the margin to 38-24 with three minutes left after Sarah Hicks hit a jumper.
Then Michele Orlando missed and Byrd went on an 8-2 run with Jacyln Banks getting two baskets to open a 46-26 lead. Banks scored 10 of her 19 points in the third quarter.
In the final period, Orlando hit three 3-point shots, but Smith came back with nine points. The Terriers hit 27-of-58 field-goal attempts and dominated the rebounding 45-27, led by 12 rebounds by Banks. Orlando and Shannon Yopp, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds, did their best to rally Northside, but they couldn't overcome the first-half deficit.
In the opener, it was hard to believe that Lord Botetourt trailed 29-19 at the half. It wouldn't have been that close except that freshman Sara Moore hit a jumper and Jenny Gates a 3-pointer in the final 31 seconds for the Cavaliers.
With 1:40 left, Botetourt had outscored the Mounties 44-6 in the second half to take a commanding 66-35 lead. The Cavaliers (21-1), ranked third in Timesland, made 18 of 43 shots in the second half and turned the game around when sophomore Marisa Michalski scored eight points in the third quarter.
"I just wanted to get the team up," said Michalski, who added the quarter was her best as a high school player. "The mood at half was that we could do it because we had scored five points in less than a minute. We knew then we could get it back and we wanted this game real badly."
Gates hit 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, including four straight shots in the final quarter. She also had 15 rebounds as Botetourt dominated the Mountaineers in rebounding 42-23.
The architect of the comeback was point guard Laurie Ottaway, who had nine assists and three steals. All but one assist and one steal came in the final two quarters.
Botetourt coach David Wheat was not a great orator at the half to inspire his team's reversal. "I just said not to panic. We talked about what a slow-down game does, that we needed to play hard and be patient so that the better team would win," said Wheat.
by CNB