Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 2, 1994 TAG: 9403020085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Cave Spring used them Tuesday night, and Stafford seemed to lose them as the Knights beat the Indians 59-47 in a Northwestern Region girls' basketball tournament game at Cave Spring High School.
"We did a real good job running the ball," said Linda Long, the Knights' coach. "That's something we tried to do all year. We feel we can tire teams down doing that."
It must have worked. Just after Cave Spring's Aimee Beightol scored seven consecutive points in back-and-forth action to give her team a 38-32 lead with 4 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter, Stafford sagged.
The Indians went scoreless the rest of the quarter (and for more than a minute of the fourth) as the Knights built a 10-point lead that never slipped into single digits again.
Cave Spring plays Albemarle, a 50-35 winner over Hylton, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Albemarle.
Stafford went 0-for-8 from the field and committed two turnovers to go with two Cave Spring steals during the decisive stretch.
"The picks weren't crisp, the movement wasn't there. Consequently, everybody's getting a hand on the ball," said Dennis Ripley, the Indians' coach. "We weren't freeing people up in that span."
The Knights were, often releasing someone downcourt to start a fast break. But Cheryl Rhodes was scoring in the half-court offense against Stafford's 2-3 zone, and Leah Daigle added some outside shooting to complement Beightol.
Cave Spring led 31-27 at halftime and 31-28 after Stafford's 6-foot Wendy Cooper - who finished with 24 points - made one of two free throws with 7:51 left in the third quarter.
Beightol hit a baseline pull-up jumper to give the Knights a 33-28 lead with 7:18 to go. After some fruitless possessions, Beightol darted in front of a Stafford pass and went three-quarters of the court for a layup and a 35-28 Cave Spring lead with 5:43 left.
Cooper scored the next two baskets and Stafford trailed 35-32. But Beightol snapped off a top-of-the-key 3-pointer to make it 38-32 with 4:46 left.
"It felt like they were getting a little bit winded," Beightol said. "[And] we picked it up on defense. We double-teamed better on Cooper."
After her basket at 4:53, Cooper didn't score again until she made two free throws with 6:01 left in the game.
For Cave Spring, Rhodes matched Cooper's inside game, scoring a team-high 21 points.
"I think were just working harder on the inside," Rhodes said. "We were open more inside tonight than we have been."
Ripley said his zone, aware of Beightol's shooting range, was stretched as Cave Spring worked its inside-out offense. When the zone didn't spring out fast enough or didn't rotate inside, the Indians got burned.
"If we can get [Rhodes] involved in the offense, we're a better offensive team," Long said.
The game was close throughout the first half. Cave Spring led 23-18 with 6:35 to go in the half, but Stafford tied it at 25 and again at 27. Both times it had the ball and a chance to go ahead. Once, Vicki Koussoglou was called for charging, and the second time Kris Denson walked on the fast break while being poked at by Daigle.
Rhodes scored on a jumper and added a layup off a steal to give Cave Spring a 31-27 halftime lead.
"When you're on the road, you need to take over and get ahead," Ripley said.
by CNB