Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 11, 1994 TAG: 9403110029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Burrall Paye has a theory about state basketball tournaments.
"A big man will get you there, but guards will win the state for you," said the longtime William Fleming High School coach.
This year an unprecedented three boys' teams from the Roanoke Valley - William Fleming, Salem and Northside - are in the semifinals with a shot at a state title.
In each case, it's a guard who has led the way. Fleming's hopes depend on junior point guard Derrick Hines.
Salem and Northside will look to a pair of senior shooting guards - Mark Byington for the Spartans and Nathan Hungate for the Vikings.
The three guards are all different in their strengths and styles of play. Hines controls the action and likes to go one-on-one. He is generally viewed as perhaps the most complete guard in the Roanoke Valley District since Pulaski County's Mike Porter.
Byington, who has signed a letter of intent with North Carolina-Wilmington, is a strong outside shooter and a 6-foot-3 guard who can go inside and rebound with some of the state's better Group AA big men.
Hungate, at 6-1, is being courted by almost every Division III college in the area. He has stepped up his offense to score 30 points or more in a game eight times - the most in Timesland and all since Jan. 11.
Hines and Hungate have been the subject of some controversy. Hines, averaging 17.3 points and more than six assists per game, thought about leaving William Fleming a year ago after leading the Colonels to a Group AAA semifinal. Rumors have him moving on to Oak Hill for his senior season.
"I haven't considered what I want to do," Hines said. "I want to finish the year real strong. Then I'll make a decision that's best for me and the team. Everyone asks me, but I just tell them I hope to make the best decision for Derrick."
Hines' play in the past week has been nothing short of spectacular. First, he beat Woodbridge's Brion Dunlop one-on-one, taking the Vikings' star out of the game defensively and scoring 19 points to send Fleming to the state tournament.
Against Hayfield's slow tempo in the opening round of the state tournament, Hines hit all six of his field-goal attempts, connected on all six free throws and led a defense that ruined any hopes the Alexandria team had of making Fleming play its patient game. The result was a 60-40 victory that put the Colonels into a semifinal at 8:45 p.m. today against South Lakes of Reston.
"At the beginning of the year, I had to adjust to the players, since they were young guys. I was used to playing with last year's team, with whom I had played AAU ball," Hines said.
"I had to settle down, be more of a vocal leader and let the game come to me. I'm a more mature player now than I was at the beginning of the year."
Paye knew he had a good one when he saw Hines play for coach Moyer Hill at Breckinridge Middle School.
"I thought he'd be this good," Fleming's coach said. "The most improved part of his game is his shooting, his offense."
Any discussion of Timesland players who have improved their offense has to begin with Hungate. During his first two varsity seasons, Hungate scored 237 points. This season, he's nearly tripled that output with 629 points for a 23.3 average and about five assists per game.
"Our game was [to go] inside last year," Hungate said. "It's more running up and down the court this year. That gives me a chance [to score]. I love running, and our big men are quicker. We get it to the big men and if they score, I score."
Hungate follows in the tradition of feisty, tough Viking guards who play in-your-face, man-to-man defense that sometimes makes it look as if Northside is in an all-out attack mode for 32 minutes.
Hungate's rivalry with Byington, which resumes at 2:45 p.m. today with a Group AA semifinal in Charlottesville, has been intense.
"I love playing against Mark," Hungate said. "He's a great competitor and he gives it the best he's got. He's not my worst enemy, and we never complain to each other. Maybe we talk a little trash, but nothing very bad."
The Northside senior can play either the point or shooting guard. Sometimes he and sophomore Justin Porterfield, who may be Hungate's clone, switch positions.
"Justin has kind of relieved him of playing point [all the time]," said Billy Pope, Northside's coach. "I kind of think of him as my 1 1/2 guard instead of a No. 1 [playmaker] or No. 2 [shooting guard].
"Nathan has stepped up in a big situation. But we have some other players [Dana Gibson and Maurice Garrison], who aren't putting up the numbers that he is, but who are playing the best they've ever played. Nathan's game has improved a lot and he's gained confidence. Also, we're working on a little different scheme."
Byington is a returning All-Timesland player, so the season he's having is not unexpected. He's been subjected to all sorts of defenses but never complains. No one has stopped him except his Salem teammates, who are taking some of the scoring load. Still, his average, once more than 26 points a game, has climbed back to 24.5 with strong tournament play.
"Our whole team plays better offense," Byington said. "When more people are involved, that's partly due to the junk defenses [on me]. A lot of my teammates have stepped up to take the scoring load off of me."
The Salem guard says he has improved offensively and defensively since the start of the season and that the team is "playing leaps and bounds better than we were early in the year."
Observers say Byington's ability has helped some of the other players - such as Nathan Routt, Matt Woolwine and Kevin Garst - become double-figure scorers.
"I thought early in the year we had a chance to win the district and be in the region," Byington said. "We lost Josh [Pugh] from last year, and that hurt us a lot inside. I didn't know Matt would step in like he did and that Nathan would take his game a lot higher than last year."
Charlie Morgan, Salem's coach, was told about Byington when he took over as the Spartans' coach last season.
"When I first saw him, he was pretty good. But not as good as I was thinking he'd be and not as great," Morgan said. "Now he's improved his game that much and is a great player."
Did Byington sign too early with UNC Wilmington? Could he have waited and attracted the attention of some big-name schools?
"Virginia Tech talked to me, but they wanted to wait until the spring [to decide]," Byington said. "I didn't want to wait around, and I really like UNC Wilmington."
by CNB