Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 8, 1994 TAG: 9401090006
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It was a little more than a month ago that Pat Burns, Pulaski County's coach, was one of the happiest people in Virginia.
The Cougars were whipping Indian River at halftime of the Group AAA Division 6 state semifinal football game. Burns, who was watching a number of his players on the field, was looking forward to basketball because he felt his team had more athletes than any other he had coached in Dublin.
Less than three hours later, though, Burns' world was shattered. Actually, it was Eric Webb's jaw that was shattered. Webb's jaw was broken in the second half of the Indian River game.
That injury almost surely cost the Cougars a second consecutive state football title. They lost 14-7 the next week to Annandale.
Webb's injury also triggered a number of bizarre events for Burns' basketball team.
"We've got 10 kids on the team who have practiced only three times this year," Burns said.
School was postponed because of snow, and a game against Patrick Henry was delayed until Jan. 19.
When football players joined the team, they were hit with injuries, illness and other maladies. Snow also hit Pulaski County.
"It's been that kind of year," Burns said. "We don't have enough kids to go five-on-five and you can't work on your offense and defense. Imagine what kind of problems that creates in timing and being fundamentally sound."
Worst of all, though, has been the loss of Webb. Ty Hash and Webb would have given the Cougars two of the finest athletes in Timesland, enough to make a return trip to the Northwestern Region tournament a real possibility.
"I don't know of anyone who did as much as Eric Webb did. He led us in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocked shots," Burns said.
That was in 1992-93 as a sophomore. Imagine 6-foot-2 Webb as a junior with 6-4 senior Hash.
Burns can't say when Webb will return.
"That's up to the doctors. He gets the rubber bands [part of the wiring] off this Monday," Burns said. "Eric's been conditioning, running up and down the floor, that type of thing. He doesn't participate where it will be contact.
"He's lost weight, but he's still at 200 and looks good. He would have lost the weight playing basketball. He was sort of laughing at himself for being chubby."
At Fleming, returning starters Reggie Reynolds and Derrick Hines have played together in only three of the Colonels' eight games. Reynolds has been out of action since just before Christmas, but by a quirk of the schedule he has missed only one game, against E.C. Glass.
Reynolds is out indefinitely because of illness, and Hines was injured against GW-Danville and missed the next game. Hines, the Timesland Sizzlin' Sophomore of the Year in 1992-93, is back at full strength.
His return hasn't lessened Fleming coach Burrall Paye's woes. The Colonels are down to seven players without Reynolds. Fleming won 60-56 at E.C. Glass this week in preparation for Tuesday's big district game against Patrick Henry at the Salem Civic Center.
"Two players had fouled out, and two others had four personals," Paye said. "The last time we had something like this was several years ago when we had a few players suffer broken bones."
Reynolds could return at any time or not at all. His return would give Fleming eight healthy bodies. Paye says members of the junior varsity are too young to move up. Help could come from 6-5 John Trinidad, a transfer who played at Patrick Henry last season. Trinidad could become eligible at the semester break later this month.
\ VHSL FINAL FOUR: Four candidates will be interviewed to succeed Earl Gillespie as Virginia High School League executive director when he retires at the end of the school year.
The finalists, according to a source who would not have revealed the names had he been identified, are VHSL programs supervisors Ken Tilley and Claudia Dodson; Edlow Barker, the director of secondary education for Spotsylvania County; and Bob Robinson, principal of Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake.
There will be a second round of interviews Jan. 16, and the finalists could be forwarded to the VHSL executive committee for its meeting Feb. 2-3 in Charlottesville. The new director could be appointed then, or the executive committee could conduct more interviews with the four finalists and name Gillespie's successor at the legislative council meeting in March.
Surprisingly, fewer than 10 people applied for the job. The feeling is that it drew such low interest because the salary of the VHSL executive director is not competitive with that of school administrators or the heads of other state organizations.
\ SALEM TOURNAMENT: The Advance Auto Parts Holiday Classic basketball tournament will return next season for its second edition, said Salem coach Charlie Morgan and athletic director Sandy Hadaway.
Morgan said he wants to expand the field from eight teams to 10 or 12. Hadaway said that hasn't been discussed, nor has the makeup of next season's field.
Patrick Henry has expressed interest in participating, but William Fleming's Paye said his team won't compete. That's a swing in feelings. When Salem held a tournament several years ago, PH coach Woody Deans preferred to take his team out of town while Fleming would compete in the Salem tournament.
Officials were pleased with the attendance at this season's Salem tournament. The first day's games drew 1,082 paid at the Salem Civic Center. Hadaway said there was no count the last two days, when snow forced officials to move the tournament to Salem High School, but she figured 1,500 paid for each session. That was especially encouraging, considering the second day's games went up against Virginia Tech's bowl game and New Year's Eve. The last session was held on New Year's Day, when high school sporting events rarely are held.
\ PLAYOFF EXPLANATION: Virginia's most successful high school football program, Hampton under Mike Smith, has won seven Group AAA state championships. The Crabbers, however, haven't won a title since 1988, and Smith says that's in large part because of dwindling enrollment at his school and increasing enrollment at others.
"They have trailers [to accommodate students] at Bethel and Kecougthan," Smith said of his school's two biggest rivals. "We have hall space at Hampton."
by CNB