Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310208
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That was nine days ago when Northside came from behind to beat the Knights. Thursday at the Salem Civic Center, the two teams were on the afternoon schedule of the Advance Auto Parts Holiday Classic tournament. The long layoff didn't slow down either club.
First, the Knights dismantled Fieldale-Collinsville, one of the Piedmont District's better teams, 75-42. Then, Northside roared past Franklin County 83-67. Northside and Cave Spring earned spots in today's semifinals that will be held at Salem High School.
Northside will play at 2 p.m. against the William Byrd-Flora, S.C., winner, while the Knights meet the Salem-Laurel Park winner at 4 p.m.
Cave Spring (3-4), which has lost twice to Northside, was the sharper of the two clubs. The Knights burned the nets in the second half, connecting on 19-of-27 (31-of-56 for the game) shots to pull away from Fieldale-Collinsville (4-2).
Matt Matheny had 24 points, while James Irvin contributed 13 for Cave Spring. That was no surprise. Matheny and Irvin have scored more points this year than their teammates combined. However, Dusty Beekman stepped into the scoring spotlight with 16 for the Knights including 12 in the third quarter when Cave Spring held a 28-10 edge.
"We were concerned [about having only two scorers]. Especially when they score 20 or more points," said Cave Spring coach Rick Crotts. "You wonder whether other teams will try some junk defenses against you.
"Our offensive patience was unbelievable. It's something we've worked on, but we've concentrated so much on making the 3-point shot, that we became impatient."
The Knights hit seven-of-nine 3-point attempts with Matheny and Beekman each hitting two.
Fieldale-Collinsville coach Ben Gravely was almost in shock.
"Our biggest trouble came on defense. We stood around and didn't hustle. Cave Spring came up with every loose ball and got the easy layups off of us," said Gravely, whose club hit only 20-of-48 and was outrebounded 32-25.
Northside (5-0) led all the way but had to fight off several Franklin County rallies. The Vikings held the lead thanks to 6-foot-6 Dana Gibson, who had a career-high 19 points, including 12 in the second quarter. He also blocked three shots and came up with three steals.
"His offense gave us lift. The thing I like about his defense is that on his blocks, he kept the ball in play. He wasn't swinging at it wildly," said Northside coach Bill Pope.
On its last rally, Franklin County (2-3) trimmed Northside's lead to 47-40, forcing a timeout. It was down to 50-46 minutes later when the Vikings went on a 13-4 run to go ahead 63-52 and clinch the victory.
"We kept our poise. I reminded them of fundamentals and to keep their poise," said Pope of the timeout.
"We just couldn't get tied with them," said Franklin County coach Calvin Preston. "We did a good job cutting the lead and then we'd make unforced errors."
The Vikings hit 28-of-56 shots and Maurice Garrison helped Gibson with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Eagles made only 25-of-64 shots with K.C. Hancock and Chad Foutz each getting 14 points.
by CNB