Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994 TAG: 9403040227
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
While Woodbridge coach Wil Robinson was hesitant to give the Colonels' junior point guard all the credit, nearly everyone else in the Fleming gymnasium felt Hines put on another spectacular show to lift his team to a 72-61 victory over the Vikings in a Group AAA Northwestern Region basketball semifinal Thursday.
Hines scored the game's first basket with 12 seconds gone, and Fleming led the rest of the way. He had four assists, scored 19 points and controlled Woodbridge point guard Brion Dunlap.
Not to be overlooked was 6-foot-6 senior William Fitzgerald, who led all scorers with 20 points and also had 12 rebounds. Fitzgerald became a key in the final quarter, when he connected on seven consecutive free throws and had six rebounds.
For the second consecutive year, Fleming is in the Group AAA state tournament. The Colonels will seek their second consecutive regional championship Saturday at Fleming, when they take on George Washington-Danville, which beat Gar-Field 100-92 in overtime in Thursday's other semifinal.
The winner will play Monday at a neutral site near its home gym in the first round of the state tournament. The Eagles beat Fleming twice during the regular season.
"Hines is a super, super player, but then they're all super players," said Burrall Paye, the Colonels' coach. "Derrick's a lot better player than Brion."
Robinson, who lost for the second consecutive year at Fleming, said, "I really thought the difference was the paint - our inability to score inside. We had some shots we usually nail down that could have negated or at least equalled his game. When that [Woodbridge missing inside] happened, he would go down and make the big play. That stood out."
Because of Hines, though, Fleming (17-5) just wouldn't let the Vikings (22-4) rally. The Colonels kept building on the lead until it reached 49-35 on perhaps the game's most spectacular shot. Hines came down on a fast break, circled under the basket, ducked a defender and hit a finger roll for the basket with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left.
"I've played against No. 10 [Dunlop] a couple of times, and I had to prove a point - that I'm one of the best guards around," Hines said. "I think I can make a lot of teams win and this is one of the best teams I've played on."
All of a sudden, though, Hines is looking to score.
"The team is relying on me to shoot more and right now I'm producing," he said. "Last year, I didn't have to shoot that much because we had a lot of scorers."
Fleming didn't run off and hide from the Vikings once the Colonels took the 14-point lead. Woodbridge rallied behind the 3-point shooting of Jason Demery, who sank four 3-pointers during the final four minutes. For the game, the Vikings hit nine of 22, but most of the damage came in the final quarter when they hit six 3-pointers.
It was Dunlop's 3-pointer from a corner with 1:05 left that brought the Vikings as close as they had been to Fleming since the opening half. The shot cut the Colonels' lead to 61-56, but then Hines and Fitzgerald each hit two free throws to clinch the victory.
"Fitzgerald is one of our best free-throw shooters, about a 76 percenter," Paye said.
"I shoot about 20 to 25 a day," Fitzgerald said. "I don't mind the pressure, but I knew I had to make them."
Fitzgerald, who added two free throws with 24.4 seconds left, made his final four shots from the line after hitting the knuckle of his left (non-shooting) hand on the floor. It will be examined today, but the Colonels' center was experiencing some discomfort after the game.
Fleming made 25 of 48 field-goal attempts, and the Colonels were brilliant as they started the final quarter by hitting their first eight attempts.
Demery, until his last-quarter barrage, had taken only one shot in the first three quarters.
Asked where Demery had been, Robinson responded:
"He's shot about 100 3-pointers during his career. But he didn't have the shots. In the end, we were playing a scatter-gun offense and you can pick up some 3s."
Woodbridge, though, made only 21 of 50 shots and was beaten 31-25 on the boards.
Dunlop was held to six points and five assists while being guarded by Hines. When the Vikings tried to go inside, Fleming doubled down on center Gary Pair, who led Woodbridge with 15 points, and forced them to go back outside many times.
by CNB