Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 7, 1994 TAG: 9402060147
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Saturday night, Salem matched the Vikings snarl for snarl and then some in the final period.
The Spartans sent a packed house in their gym into a frenzy by flexing major muscle in the quarter and pulled away for a 76-61 Blue Ridge District victory that left them alone atop the league standings.
The last time these clubs met, Northside staged a daring fourth-quarter comeback, outscoring Salem by 13 points before bowing 68-66 in overtime at a Christmas tournament here. This time, the Spartans broke loose with a 12-1 run and went on to put the finishing touches on a deceptively lopsided score.
"Northside is a fourth-quarter team," said Charlie Morgan, Salem's coach. "This time, we outplayed them in the fourth quarter."
One of the reasons for the Spartans' dominance at the end was Matt Woolwine, who carried on a running, ill-tempered conversation with the Vikings for most of the night. Woolwine backed up words with deeds by scoring 12 of his 17 points in the last five minutes.
"I've played ball with these guys before," Woolwine said of the Vikings. "They like to talk trash. We all do."
Woolwine, who had two points at the break, buried six consecutive free throws in the closing seconds and finished 7-for-11 from the line.
Salem got help from a lot of sources, among them post player Nathan Routt, who had a team-high 20 points.
"We came in early today and looked at things we could do against a triangle-and-two and a box-and-one [defense] and against a zone - we have all week," Routt said. "We set a lot of screens inside tonight."
The biggest difference late in the game was on the boards, dominated early by the Vikings but taken over by Salem when it counted. The Spartans (13-1 overall, 6-0 in the district) held a 13-4 advantage in the last eight minutes.
"That was the difference in the game right there," Morgan said.
Another difference was the cool-headed play of Spartans star Mark Byington, the target of Northside's "junk" defenses. Byington was as patient as an ice fisherman and finished with 17 points.
"I tried to let the game come to me," he said. "I was expecting a junk defense. I didn't want to force anything."
Byington's play drew the admiration of Billy Pope, Northside's coach.
"The thing that Mark does for Salem is that he makes it so much easier for his teammates. He may not even have to touch it to make it easier for them."
Another of Salem's many heroes was Kevin Garst, probably the team's best defender. Garst did his usual job at that end of the court, but he also scored 11 points and added 10 rebounds. Woolwine chipped in seven rebounds.
There were two ties and three lead changes in the first half as Northside guard Nathan Hungate was pouring in 15 points. Hungate was less of a factor later and finished with 22 points.
Justin Porterfield (11 points) and Chad Brammer (12) hit three 3-pointers each, but the Vikings (14-2, 5-1) seemed to grow increasingly troubled by Salem's uncharacteristic 1-3-1 zone defense.
"The 1-3-1 slowed them down some," Byington said.
It was a rare meeting of Roanoke Valley teams ranked in the top five in a state poll. Salem is No. 3 in Group AA and Northside No. 4. This won't be the last time they see each other, either. The two will meet again at Northside - if not in the district tournament.
"Our guys played hard and well playing here two times," Pope said.
by CNB