Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 2, 1993 TAG: 9312020291
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Colonels, district champs a year ago, are led by Reggie Reynolds and Derrick Hines. Reynolds, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, will play for Coastal Carolina next fall. Hines, a 5-8 junior, is a highly sought-after point guard.
"Oh, Lord, it's awful," Fleming head coach Burrall Paye said of the colleges interested in Hines. "I've heard from as many as 40 a day, and I'm not kidding. Big East, ACC, you name it."
It's little wonder there's a bit of interest in Hines, who averaged 10 points and 8.5 assists per game last year, and was named to the Northwestern Region first team.
"People are saying he's the best junior point guard in the country," Paye said.
Reynolds and Hines are the only starters returning from last year's 21-5 Northwestern Region champions, but that doesn't concern Paye.
"They're all pretty good," he said. "And they're all pretty inexperienced. They're young, but I feel very good about them."
One thing Paye says he feels especially good about is his team's size. Four players - sophomore Sterling Tate, sophomore James Stokes, junior John Sinclair, and senior William Fitzgerald - are between 6-4 and 6-6.
"We're always there," Paye said. "We'll be up there fighting at the end of the year."
The team the Colonels most likely will be fighting is Pulaski County. The Cougars, who finished 18-8 and second in the district last year, return four starters. The only problem is three of them - 6-foot-2 junior guard Eric Webb, 6-2 senior forward Jammon Payne, and 6-4 junior center John Lilly - are still playing football for the Cougars' defending state champion football team.
"I think we're going to be a good ball club again," said Cougars head coach Pat Burns, "But it's going to take us longer than everybody else, because we're so far behind."
Webb, who led the team in scoring (16.5 ppg), rebounds (7 rpg), blocked shots, steals and assists last year, and 6-4 junior guard Ty Hash, who averaged 13.5 points per game last year, are the squad's two leaders. Both are highly sought-after by major colleges. Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have shown interest in Webb, while Wake, Tech, Virginia Commonwealth, California and Cincinnati have shown interest in Hash.
The rest of the team is solid as well, and big. Six players range between 185 and 210 pounds, so the Cougars, who Burns said were outrebounded only twice last year, should be even a bigger terror on the boards this year.
Patrick Henry is coming off a uncharacteristically shaky 4-17 season, but the Patriots should be improved from last year. Shannon Taylor, a first-team Roanoke Valley District forward last year, returns. The 6-5 senior averaged 15.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last year. Senior 6-3 center Vince McGhee and senior 6-1 guard Maurice Preston are the team's other two returning starters.
"I think we'll be a little bit better than last year," said Patriots coach Woody Deans, who likes his team's overall size. "But we're not gonna be world beaters by any means."
Cave Spring returns only one starter from last year's 6-15 team that finished last in the district. But seven players with significant experience return, so the Knights may not be as shaky as they look on paper.
Junior 5-10 guard Dusty Beakman is the sole returning starter, and head coach Rick Crotts is high on junior 6-4 forward Matt Matheny (10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg).
The Knights' main concern is their lack of height. Matheny is the team's tallest player, so the Knights will run the fast break on offense and press on defense.
"This is the hardest working group I've seen here at Cave Spring in a long time," Crotts said. "They spend a lot of time in the weight room. A lot of guys have put on lot of weight and gotten stronger."
Franklin County head coach Calvin Preston said he sees no reason why his team shouldn't do better than last year's third-place district finish. But first, his players will need some experience. Carlos Holland, a 6-2 junior (8.5 ppg), is the team's only returning starter, but Preston said he has faith in the players.
"I feel real good," Preston said. "Basically, we'll be a young team starting from scratch again. Experience would be one weakness. We'll just have to play as many people as possible in the early part of the season. Hopefully, when district time rolls around, we'll have the experience we need."
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by CNB