Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 29, 1994 TAG: 9401290196
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
And you haven't scored since halftime.
That was the predicament William Fleming point guard Derek Hines found himself in Friday night.
Then, Hines broke loose for nine points in the final 59 seconds. Those points propelled the Colonels past Pulaski County 57-56 in a Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball game.
"I struggled in the third quarter and I kept struggling until the end of the game," said Hines, who finished with a team-high 19 points. "But I had confidence I could hit the 3-pointer. And my teammates had confidence in me when I got to the foul line and I hit the free throws."
A 3-pointer got things started for William Fleming (8-5 overall, 2-2 district). The Colonels trailed 52-48 with a minute to play. Then, Hines found himself open in the right corner and hit nothing but net, cutting the deficit to a point.
Hines also performed some defensive magic. The 5-foot-8 junior stole the inbounds pass and took it straight to the basket for two points. With 51 seconds left, the Colonels led 53-52.
"I didn't think about going for the steal," Hines said. "I got back to play good defense. Then I got the ball and went up for the contested shot, hoping to get a three-point play."
The Cougars (4-9, 0-4) responded quickly. Jammon Payne took a pass from Tyrone Hash and turned it into a layup and a 54-53 edge.
So it was time for Hines to step forward again. He was fouled bringing the ball upcourt after the basket and promptly sank a free throw and bonus, putting the Colonels up to stay, 55-54 with 36 seconds to go.
When Pulaski County got the ball back, Hines stole it and was fouled with 25 seconds left. He missed the front end of a one-and-one but got his own rebound.
Almost immediately, Hines was fouled again. This time he sank the free throws, increasing the lead to three points.
The Cougars cut it to one with 13 seconds when Hash penetrated to score the last of his game-high 25 points. Then they called their last timeout.
Three seconds after play resumed, the Colonels' James Stokes was fouled. But he missed the front end of the one-and-one.
Matt Burns got the rebound and started upcourt. Within a few seconds, Hash had the ball on the right baseline. But trying to get it inside, he threw it away. Stokes appeared to deflect it and it bounced to midcourt as time expired.
"We were trying to get the ball inside as far as we could," said Pat Burns, the Cougars' coach. "We didn't have time to set up the offense."
William Fleming was in position to come back because it had regained control inside, where Pulaski County had asserted itself in the third quarter.
"We just had to box out and try harder to go after the rebounds," said 6-5 sophomore Sterling Tate, who was one of bigger reasons the Colonels had a 13-5 rebounding edge in the fourth quarter. "We just listened to the coach [Burrell Paye] and tried to do what he wanted us to do. He gave us the confidence to get the rebounds."
by CNB