Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310198
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Four Roanoke area high school basketball teams played four outlying squads in the first round of the Advance Auto Parts Holiday Classic. In each case, the locals emerged victorious.
William Byrd edged A.C. Flora (S.C.) 37-36 and Salem defeated Laurel Park 73-62 in the night games, advancing to today's tournament semifinals along with afternoon winners Cave Spring and Northside.
Senior swingman Mark Byington poured in 32 points and handed out a passel of assists in the nightcap, leading Salem to its win. The win over Laurel Park avenged a four-overtime loss to the Lancers in last year's Group AA Regional tournament in Lynchburg.
"When he gets his rhythm going, Mark's a marvelous shooter," Salem coach Charlie Morgan said. "But you don't win just with perimeter shooting."
Byington listened to his coach well, working the ball inside in the second half.
Salem (3-0) earned the right to play Cave Spring in a 4 p.m. game today at Salem High School. The Spartans defeated Cave Spring when the teams met two weeks ago.
Byrd senior Donald Childress hit a 17-foot jumper from the wing with 4.7 seconds remaining to down the Falcons. Byrd overcame a poor second-half shooting performance and a five-point deficit in the game's final minutes, holding Flora scoreless over the last 4 minutes, 15 seconds.
Byrd (3-1) will play Blue Ridge District rival Northside at 2 p.m. today.
"I thought we played fairly decent," Byrd coach Paul Barnard said. `I was pleased until the second half when we shot the ball too quick and started that one-on-one stuff."
Barnard attributed his team's cold spells (3-of-11 shooting in the second quarter and 2-of-12 in the third) to the tournament's two days of weather-forced postponements. The first round had been scheduled to be played Tuesday.
The Terriers made their shots down the stretch, however, as sophomore Chris Childress (Donald's brother) converted two critical buckets, and Donald was perfect on the clincher.
Barnard called a timeout with 13 seconds on the clock.
"When we broke out of our huddle I asked the team who was gonna step up and win the game," Barnard said, "and I was pleased Donald said he would. I knew he would because he's a senior."
Donald Childress led his team with 15 points, and his brother added 11.
Flora coach Vince Lowry, a 1976 Liberty High School graduate, was somewhat despondent as he realized his team lost its momentum at the end.
"We had a five-point lead," Lowry said, "and then we missed a couple of lay-ups and didn't make our free-throws."
Sophomore Latron Jackson led the Falcons with 12 points. Flora (3-3) will meet Franklin County at 10 a.m. this morning.
In the last game, Salem came out firing and Laurel Park came out flat. In the first quarter, Byington and Kevin Garst each hit two three-pointers and combined for 20 points.
The Lancers (4-2) missed their first 12 shots and trailed 15-5 four minutes into the game.
"We hadn't touched a basketball since Monday, but I'm not making excuses," Lancers coach Frank Scott said. "Right now, Salem's simply a better club than we are. Maybe we'll see them again down the road."
Laurel Park plays Fieldale-Collinsville today at noon.
by CNB