Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1994 TAG: 9401260112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
The victory was the ninth in a row for Floyd County (9-1 overall, 8-1 district).
The Buffaloes now trail idle Auburn (9-2, 8-1) by one-half game in the district going into Friday night's showdown between the schools at Floyd County.
The Blue Devils (11-2, 9-2), ranked No. 9 in the state, saw their four-game winning streak snapped. They also dropped from first to third in the district.
For Warren, hitting the free throws enabled him to erase some bad memories.
"I had the same thing in the game at Grayson, free throws to win it, and I missed," said Warren, who finished with a game-high 21 points. "I knew if I missed we'd lose the game. I knew I had to hit the free throws. I didn't want to lose like that again."
Grayson County had one last chance to win. It called time out with 13.7 seconds to go to set up its final play. Shane Griffith drove along the left baseline for the final shot, but his attempt bounced off the rim, and after a scramble underneath the ball bounded to halfcourt and the buzzer sounded the Floyd County victory.
"Exactly," said Grayson County coach John Ayers when asked if his squad got the shot it wanted at the end. "From my view, there was a little contact underneath, but the referees aren't going to call that at the end. They are going to let the game be decided on the court."
Griffith had hit a 3-pointer with 1:14 left to put the Blue Devils up by a point before Warren's free throws.
Twenty seconds before that, Warren had faked a 3-point attempt and canned a short jumper to put the Buffloes up 61-59.
Floyd County's Phillip Marshall's 3-pointer from the left wing at the 2:15 mark had knotted the score at 59, erasing a three-point Grayson County lead.
"If we had played another quarter, it would have see-sawed back-and-forth another 10 times," said Floyd County coach Alan Cantrell. "Luckily, time ran out on us."
The Buffaloes led throughout the first half and by 10 points early in the second half. But Bryan Boyer (10) and Keith Waterman (nine) combined for 19 points in the third period, brining the Blue Devils back.
Boyer finished with 19 points and Waterman had 18.
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by CNB