Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260145
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The combination proved disastrous for the Cavaliers, who were suffocated during the final quarter of Blacksburg's 59-48 victory Friday night in the New River District tournament final.
The Indians, who claimed their fourth consecutive district title and 32nd consecutive victory over a district foe, opened the fourth quarter with a 13-0 burst that floored Carroll County.
Leading 37-34 at the end of the third quarter, Blacksburg (11-7) blanked the Cavaliers for more than five minutes, extracting five turnovers from Carroll County's first six possessions of the quarter.
"We picked up the defensive pressure," said Indians guard Todd Perdue, who had five steals on the night. "We don't have any complex schemes. It's straight man-to-man pretty much."
Perdue hit a layup after a Cavaliers turnover to spur Blacksburg's fourth-quarter rally. When Carroll County held on to the ball, it missed four consecutive field-goal attempts.
The Indians, meanwhile, regularly got the ball inside to Tony Wheeler and Ben Araman, who combined for seven points during the run.
Araman led all scorers with 18 points, Wheeler had 15. Jay Safford, the third man in Blacksburg's frontcourt triumvirate, had 11 points as the Indians won for the 11th time in their past 13 games following an 0-5 start. Blacksburg, the district's regular-season champion, will be home Thursday for a Region IV semifinal.
"I really wanted to go out with a tournament championship, but I mostly want to get our record better," Araman said. "I want us to get some respect in this region."
Blacksburg took its biggest lead when Wheeler followed his own miss to put the Indians up 49-33 with 3 minutes, 55 seconds left. It was one of 19 Blacksburg offensive rebounds.
"We keep shooting until we make it," said Wheeler, who had 12 rebounds.
The fourth-quarter spurt softened the effects of a late Cavaliers rally, which featured a couple of bombs from Matt Larrowe and a basket and a breakaway semi-dunk from Brian Hawks.
Carroll County, which entertains Lee-Jonesville in a first-round regional game Tuesday, erased most of a 13-point third-quarter deficit with a 10-1 run highlighted by Willie Bryant's back-to-back 3-pointers. Big man John Wolford, who led the Cavaliers (9-13) with 15 points, started the rally with a jumper and Hawks canned a 12-footer to make it 37-33 at the end of the period.
"We made a run and thought we had some momentum," said coach Pat Sharp, who was the star of the 1980 Carroll County squad that won the school's last New River District tournament championship. "We're not a quick team. We've had trouble getting open when we play a quick team. Blacksburg exploited some weaknesses." \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB