Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 12, 1994 TAG: 9403120137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Today at 1 p.m., the Fighting Blues will play the Stanardsville school for a different championship.
The third-ranked Fighting Blues (24-2) earned a trip to the Group A state basketball championship game by shocking defending champion and No. 2-ranked Twin Springs 60-46 Thursday night.
The return to the title game has been a long time coming.
"Somebody told me we played in a state championship game back in 1957 or 1958 and lost to Martinsville," Parry McCluer coach Nelson Fox said.
In William Monroe, Parry McCluer faces a huge obstacle. The No. 1-ranked Dragons plastered No. 5 Franklin 77-70 behind Mike Byers and Percy White, who combined for 48 points.
"It's a team with a tremendous amount of talent. We have to contain them and play our game," Fox said.
Just what is Parry McCluer's game?
To get this far, the Blues had to survive an incredible opening blitz by the Titans (25-2). Twin Springs started the game by hitting four 3-point shots.
By the end of the first quarter, the Titans had hit six 3-pointers and had led 20-6. By halftime, it was 29-21, but Twin Springs had eight 3-point field goals, two short of the team record for one game.
"We were happy just to be down by eight at the half," Fox said. "We were in a matchup zone, then we went to a 3-2, then we went to a 1-3-1 zone - and they still hit 3-point shots."
Finally, the Blues went man-to-man. That shut down the Titans' offense.
After finding their best defense, the Fighting Blues finally found the best offense. The offense was in range to come back because Parry McCluer's Kris Carter had kept his team in the game by hitting three 3-pointers in the opening quarter.
In the second half, it was all Parry McCluer. The Blues attacked the inside and scored the first 12 points. Nathan Baker's layup put Parry McCluer ahead for good at 30-29 with 4:19 left in the third quarter.
Baker, who hadn't scored in the opening half, led the second-half assault with five field goals.
"Everyone wanted to come back and play on Saturday," said Baker, who was a member of the football team that played William Monroe in the playoffs. "We went inside on them because they're smaller. We figured we'd be better at it. We also played man-to-man for the first time against them."
Parry McCluer hit 12 of 23 shots in the second half, all from close in. The Blues' defense forced the Titans into 12 turnovers; Parry McCluer had only two turnovers of its own.
It was all Blues, but an odd incident took place that could have given momentum back to Twin Springs.
Carter butted heads with a Twin Springs player and started bleeding heavily. The game was stopped for nearly 10 minutes to remove blood from the floor.
When play resumed with the Blues leading 43-35, Baker hit a follow shot, helping the Blues avoid coming back lethargic after the unexpected break. Then 6-foot-3 center Mike McElroy started making free throws; he hit 11 in a row during the final quarter before missing. By that time, Parry McCluer led 60-46 with seconds left.
"My teammates did a great job getting me the ball. I wanted to shoot them," McElroy said.
The junior center wasn't concerned about the early deficit.
"I knew we'd come back the second half, but we knew they'd be hitting from the outside," he said.
The Titans didn't hit from the outside as well as expected, though, going 0-for-8 on 3-point attempts in the second half.
Twin Springs coach Lee Clark said his team's opening blast looked good on the scoreboard but was harmful in the long run.
"It put us at a disadvantage because it got us off stride," he said. "We started living by those [3-point] shots for too long."
by CNB