Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 12, 1994 TAG: 9401120231
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Patriots outlasted the Colonels 61-60 in three overtimes Tuesday night at the Salem Civic Center.
That was after Fleming won the junior varsity game 49-47 in double overtime. The Colonels scoring a tying basket in the first extra session despite the fact that PH had six players on the floor.
Not to be outdone, the varsity players went one step further and played three extra periods.
Shannon Taylor lifted PH to the victory with 12 of his 25 points in the overtimes. He hit six straight free throws, including what proved to be the game winners with 36.4 seconds left, to give the Patriots (6-1 overall, 1-0 in the district) a 61-59 lead.
Of course no lead was safe and this one wasn't even though PH got the ball back after a Fleming miss. However, the Patriots' Vince McGhee and David Barker missed layup opportunities. Then Barker fouled Sterling Tate of Fleming with 0.8 seconds left, giving the Colonels a chance to force a fourth overtime.
Tate's first free throw got a good bounce and fell through. His second one glanced off the rim into McGhee's hands to send the Patriots into mass hysteria.
There were advantages to the overtime. "Our kids thought we ought to go one hour late to school for each overtime," PH principal Betty Lee told coach Woody Deans.
"We've got smart kids," replied Deans.
It might not have seemed that way to Deans at the end of the second overtime. The Patriots led 55-50 with less than 10 seconds left. Fleming's Heath Hampton missed, but Derrick Hines hit a follow shot to make it 55-52.
Fleming (6-3, 0-1) called time out with 8.9 seconds left. Taylor, the All-Timesland quarterback who threw only four interceptions in 11 games, launched an ill-advised inbounds pass that Hines picked off as he was falling out of bounds and bounced off PH's Chris Combs to give Fleming possession.
Hampton drilled a 3-point shot with 3.7 seconds left, tying the game 55-55 and setting up the third overtime.
Still, Taylor was magnificent. Fleming might have known he was going to drive, but the Colonels couldn't handle him in overtime.
"They were playing me tough, but I just had to [take over] so we could get this win," said Taylor. "I was hitting everything, doing what I had to do."
Taylor said the free-throw exhibition wasn't that unusual. "I'll take 20 after practice and usually hit 17. I like pressure and I like the challenge," he said.
The jittery Patriots committed 23 turnovers to just nine for Fleming. The Colonels had only two miscues in the final 17 minutes. That was thanks to Hines, considered one of the state's best point guards. Hines had only one assist, though, as PH's defense shadowed him. He still wound up with 18 points.
"We didn't come up with the ball a few times and we made a couple of bad passes. That's not usual," said Deans.
"It was an early-season game and we were pretty well pleased," said Fleming coach Burrall Paye, who had been suspended from practice last week. He returned Monday after the Fleming team stressed its support for him, but it was remindful of last year when Paye missed a game against PH while he was on suspension.
Fleming's best chance at winning came as the Colonels, who trailed much of the game, finally went on top 41-40 when Quincy Freeman hit a jumper with 4:47 left in regulation. The Patriots missed and Fleming went to a delay to pull PH out of its zone defense. William Fitzgerald hit a jumper with 1:27 left to make it 43-40.
"I thought we had it, but then we got a foul right there," said Paye.
That came as Taylor barged in for a layup and was fouled on the play. He hit the free throw with 1:01, but neither team could score after that.
PH owned the boards 55-42 over a Fleming team that had only seven players and one senior. Shooting was abysmal as the Patriots hit 24-of-60 while Fleming was 23-of-75.
by CNB