Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 5, 1994 TAG: 9403050196
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EMORY LENGTH: Medium
To be sure, they were big ones.
Olinger punished Glenvar in the fourth quarter with his inside play then polished off the Highlanders with two free throws with 3 seconds left in overtime as Chilhowie advanced in the Region C boys' tournament with a 59-57 win at Emory and Henry College.
The Warriors, who play Parry McCluer at E&H tonight, became the second team from the Hogoheegee District to win Friday. Earlier, Lebanon defeated Floyd County 57-55.
Chilhowie (16-9) owned a 10-point lead in the first half but had to rally in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
The Warriors lost their lead because they lost sight of Olinger in the second half. After Glenvar took a 45-42 lead on Brad Melton's backdoor layup with 3 minutes, 54 seconds left in regulation, Chilhowie began pounding the ball inside.
Olinger, a wide-bodied, 6-foot-2 star who scored a game-high 23 points, scored six straight Chilhowie points inside to keep the Warriors in the game.
"When we started missing [from outside], we decided, if nothing else, just to get it inside," Olinger said. "You shoot a lot higher percentage on 2's [two-point shots] than 3's."
It was an outside shot from D.J. Preston, though, that forced overtime.
Cory Willis scored to give the Highlanders a 51-48 lead with 1:26 left, then Preston followed with his second 3-pointer of the night to tie the score at 51. With Glenvar paying more attention to Olinger, Preston, who didn't shoot well for most of the second half, got free.
"They made some big plays down the stretch," Glenvar coach Arthur Lawrence said. "They did a good job of countering every move we made."
Chilhowie got back the ball after a Glenvar turnover, but the Highlanders committed three straight fouls to force the Warriors, who were not in the bonus, to keep inbounding the ball. Chilhowie got off one shot before the buzzer.
In overtime, the teams traded baskets. Glenvar got a short jumper from Cory Willis, Chilhowie a basket from Olinger. Melton scored on a follow, Preston answered with a short jumper. Nick Varney hit two free throws, Olinger got loose underneath to make it 57-57 with 47 seconds left.
Glenvar spoiled the overtime swap meet when it turned over the ball with 17 seconds left. Glenvar tried the fouling strategy again, but after the Highlanders sixth team foul, Olinger was hit while shooting with three seconds left.
Glenvar used two timeouts, but Olinger sank both free throws. After the second shot, Glenvar's Jason Anderson, who scored 17 points, dribbled the ball downcourt and fired a 25-footer from the top of the key that hit the backboard then hung on the front of the rim before falling off.
The shot was "just a hair from going in," Chilhowie coach Jack Henderson said.
Melton led Glenvar (14-8) with 18 points, and Willis had 10.
For Chilhowie, Preston scored 14 and Andy Blevins had 11.
by CNB