Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 23, 1994 TAG: 9402230210
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The result was a 59-52 victory over Rockbridge County in the first round of the Blue Ridge District boys' basketball tournament.
The reward for third-seeded William Byrd (12-8) is a date Friday night with Northside (18-3), the No. 2 seed - and the No. 2 team in Timesland.
The loss ended the season for the Wildcats (6-13).
The Terriers hit six of seven free throws in the final 30.7 seconds, allowing them to pull away from a determined Rockbridge County squad that had closed to 53-51.
McGuire went 4-for-4 during the stretch and Jeremy Obenchain made both of his free throws.
"Coach [Paul Barnard] is always taking about free throws being the key to the game; the team that takes the most and makes the most usually wins," said McGuire, who came into the game as Timesland's No. 2 free-throw shooter (87 percent) but had missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:02 to go.
"I just had to concentrate and not worry about the crowd and think about making the free throws," he said.
The accurate shooting became necessary when the Wildcats tightened their defense with less than five minutes left. Rockbridge County went on an 8-2 run in the next four minutes, despite hitting only four of eight free throws in that span.
The surge culminated when Marty Early, who finished with 22 points, hit a 12-foot fall-away jumper with 51.5 seconds left that cut the lead to two points.
The Wildcats nearly had a chance to tie the score, but Jason Remillard couldn't control the ball after he stole it just over midcourt.
"We were doing the things we've always been doing, but probably the biggest thing is that we kept our intensity up," said Damon Williams, Rockbridge County's coach. "That allowed us to get back into the game and we missed some free throws that could have made it even tighter. But our defense came up with some key rebounds and some key steals down the stretch."
William Byrd built its lead by controlling play inside. Sixteen of its 22 baskets came from within five feet of the basket, including three that resulted in three-point plays. The Terriers outrebounded the Wildcats 32-20.
"We tried to move the ball around, see what defense they were in," said Childress, who finished with a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds. "Coach always tells us to make a lot of passes. That's what we did to get the ball inside against them." \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB