Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 21, 1994 TAG: 9402210173
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The postseason begins today in three districts - the Hogoheegee, Piedmont and Seminole - and the Mountain Empire started its tournament Saturday with two preliminary games.
If there is a tournament to watch in Timesland, it might be the Blue Ridge District. Salem, ranked third in the most recent Group AA poll and riding high after nipping No. 5 Northside 71-70 on Friday, begins what it hopes will be a run to the state tournament.
Testing both Blue Ridge teams will be an unfavorable draw in the Region III tournament, where both district teams will have to win twice in Seminole territory to qualify for state play. One Seminole representative in Region III figures to be Martinsville, Timesland's hottest club with 10 consecutive victories, as it looks to give longtime coach Husky Hall another trip to the state tournament.
Salem won't have to worry about facing Martinsville before the state tournament because the Spartans and Bulldogs, by virtue of their regular-season championships, are in opposite brackets.
This Salem team might be a shade better than last season's squad, which lost in four overtimes to Laurel Park in a Region III semifinal. If Magna Vista is the other Piedmont team in Region III, the Spartans will have to win on the Warriors' court just to earn a semifinal spot against a very good Jefferson Forest team.
The question mark for Salem is an injury to the shooting hand of Mark Byington, Timesland's second-leading scorer (23.7 points per game).
"Like any injury, rest will help. But he'll have to play through it," said coach Charlie Morgan, who expects the Spartans' star to be bothered by the injury throughout the postseason.
Byington hit only four of 18 field-goal attempts against Northside in Salem's regular-season finale.
"There are a few things I look at," Morgan said. "Northside's gym has a different backboard, a college backboard. I remember I couldn't shoot at Patrick Henry or William Fleming [because of backboards].
"At Northside, Mark wasn't shooting well from the outside, so we told him to go inside, pump-fake and shoot. He got a big basket doing that late in the game."
Morgan, in his second year as Salem's coach, does things differently. First, players with four personal fouls don't sit on the bench. Byington played most of the second half with four fouls against Alleghany this past week. Then, Matt Woolwine played the entire fourth quarter with four personals and was there at the final buzzer against Northside.
On Thursday night, Morgan had his starters playing during the fourth quarter as Salem routed Rockbridge County 86-30. Did Morgan run up the score on his former assistant, Damon Williams who is the head coach at Rockbridge County?
Williams and Morgan both said no.
"People thought we did. But our team hadn't played that many games in awhile and we needed to get in sync," Morgan said. "I did forget all about the score, but I wanted to see our guys play some real good defense and get some confidence in themselves."
Here's a look at each district tournament:
\ ROANOKE VALLEY BOYS: Regular-season champion Patrick Henry is in the Northwestern Region tournament, but any of the five teams can win this tournament and join the Patriots. Look for closely contested games, with the winner of Franklin County-Pulaski County first-round game likely to present a stiff challenge to PH in a semifinal.
William Fleming hasn't missed regional play since Jimmy Carter was president, but this year might test a young Colonels team that has been up and down.
\ ROANOKE VALLEY GIRLS: Cave Spring and Pulaski County tied for the regular-season title, though the Cougars won two of three meetings. They'll have a playoff at Franklin County on Tuesday night before the first-round tournament game featuring the Eagles and Patrick Henry. Realistically, William Fleming has a shot at challenging the playoff loser for the second spot in the Northwestern Region, but the Cougars and Knights are the best in the district.
\ BLUE RIDGE: Northside, which has been beaten only by Salem, must recover quickly if it hopes to get to the Region III tournament. The Vikings figure to meet William Byrd in a semifinal, and that could be a tough game between two very good offensive teams. Alleghany must get past Lord Botetourt to earn another shot at Salem, and then hope Byington's poor shooting was the result of his injury and not Northside's defense.
\ PIEDMONT: Martinsville is on a roll, but any team could win this - with the exception of Dan River or Patrick County. The best bets to run with the Bulldogs are Magna Vista and Laurel Park, with Tunstall a close third. The district isn't as strong as in recent years, but Hall, the winningest public school coach in the state, can take Martinsville far into the postseason.
\ NEW RIVER: This district race isn't over until after tonight's final regular-season games. If Christiansburg beats Blacksburg, the teams will have a playoff for the regular-season title and automatic bid to the Region IV tournament. The Indians appear to have the most weapons. The regular-season winner gets a favorable Region IV draw; it will have to win only one home game, probably against Gate City.
\ SEMINOLE: Three weeks ago, Liberty had control of the regular-season race and a trip to the Region III tournament. The Minutemen are 3-3 in February and can only be thankful that they're not in Jefferson Forest's bracket for the tournament. The question is: Can Liberty regroup and recapture the December magic, when the Minutemen were 11-1 and ranked sixth in the state?
\ HOGOHEEGEE: Two Timesland teams, Rural Retreat and George Wythe, face uphill battles to join regular-season champ Lebanon in the Region C tournament. Wythe was inconsistent last week, upsetting Lebanon on the Pioneers' court and then getting blown out by Northwood and Rural Retreat.
\ MOUNTAIN EMPIRE: This tournament started Saturday. Grayson County is the most consistent team right now and has the regular-season title and a trip to the Region C tournament in hand. Floyd County, Giles, Auburn and a hot Narrows club that passed three teams in the standings last week, could make things interesting for the Blue Devils.
\ PIONEER: Parry McCluer easily is the best team, but the regular season must be completed tonight with Glenvar visiting the Fighting Blues. If the Highlanders pull off an upset after losing 78-60 to the same team at home, it creates a three-way tie among those two and Covington for first place. There will be no playoff. The tournament finalists would go to the Region C tournament in that case.
\ VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT: Four Timesland schools - Roanoke Catholic, Roanoke Valley Christian, North Cross and Carlisle - have been up and down this season. The biggest question is: Will North Cross, the 1993 state Private School champion, earn a trip back to the state tournament. The Raiders have two dynamite individual players in forward Monty Smith, Timesland's regular-season scoring champion (24.2 ppg), and guard Marcus Cardwell, who has had four triple-doubles this season.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***