Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 1, 1994 TAG: 9401010134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
How many teams have felt that way since Billy Pope started coaching the Vikings seven years ago?
Leading by six points after three quarters, Byrd (3-2) couldn't stand the prosperity. Northside (6-0) rallied and pulled away for a 79-62 victory that puts the Vikings into the championship game today at 3 p.m. against host Salem, which held off Cave Spring 64-58.
As it has done so many times in the past, Northside adjusted. The Vikings went to a 3-2 zone defense and moved veteran Nathan Hungate to point. The zone defense was Pope's decision. The Hungate move was necessary when Justin Porterfield picked up his fourth personal foul.
Those two moves together put Byrd out of the game. The Vikings opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run, hit their free throws and never looked back at Blue Ridge District rival Byrd.
"They seemed to be picking all our defenses apart," said Pope. "But that zone worked the best. Really, I think we won because our offense was more consistent [in the fourth quarter]. We weren't giving them the ball on turnovers."
The Vikings sank 9-of-13 shots in the final quarter (29-of-49 for the game) and added 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Hungate scored six of his 20 points and Maurice Garrison added six of his 18 in the fourth quarter as the Vikings outscored Byrd 30-7.
"I just started trying to go inside more," said Hungate, who had five assists and three steals. "They couldn't match up with us. The first three quarters, we were just going wild.
"I was thinking about how they got that six-point lead on us. I started slowing it down and making sharper passes to get it to the man inside."
The zone defense shut down Byrd's offense. Donald Childress, the Terriers' scoring leader, was pinned every time he got the ball in the corner while brother Chis Childress, who had 14 points in the first three quarters, didn't get a shot off in the final period.
"We knew they played the 3-2 zone, but we haven't worked that much on it," said Byrd coach Paul Barnard, whose team has two district games remaining against the Vikings. "We'll do better against it the next time.
"For three-and-a-half quarters, we played an extremely good game. Our offense was aggressive and we got the shots we wanted."
The Terriers hit 20-of-43 the first three quarters before making only 2-of-11 against the Vikings' 3-2 zone. Byrd's best quarter was the third when the Terriers committed one turnover while Northside had six.
by CNB