Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 27, 1994 TAG: 9402270013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Of course the winner of Saturday night's showdown for the RVD title will be at home as long as it wins in the region, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Knights or the Colonels could upset a couple of visitors and make the state tournament.
In the girls' tournament, Pulaski County and Cave Spring are good enough to make state play. Neither will have the luxury of playing all its games at home, however, unless a couple of champions from other districts are upset in early Northwestern Region games.
Still, it has been a remarkable season for the district. Consider that eight of the 10 boys picked to the first two teams on the all-district squad are juniors. This tells you there is some talent coming back next season.
The only seniors were Patrick Henry's Shannon Taylor, the player of the year; and William Fleming's William Fitzgerald, a second-team pick.
Cave Spring and Franklin County lose only one starter each. They'll be the most experienced teams for the 1994-95 season.
After five of eight district games had been played, Cave Spring was leading the standings by a game over PH and Fleming. The Knights lose only 6-foot-4 center Grant Kittelson.
"Because we're young, we'll learn to take care of things better next year. Our inability to handle the press hurt us," coach Rick Crotts said after his Cave Spring team lost in overtime to Fleming in a district semifinal.
Franklin County's only loss is point guard Stacy Helms, and the Eagles have one of the district's most promising sophomores in K.C. Hancock.
Fleming and Pulaski County each should have three starters back, but Patrick Henry will be rebuilding with only one starter back.
There is one problem for all these teams. No one has a true center. Taylor, at 6-5, was the district's biggest player this season, and he is better known as a football quarterback.
For the girls, Pulaski County doesn't lose a starter or a key reserve, and Jodie Hallett will return as the district's player of the year. Cave Spring loses one starter, but gets 6-2 Jaclyn Banks, an All-Blue Ridge District transfer from William Byrd.
When the coaches picked the All-RVD girls' team, the only seniors were second-teamers Ashaski Johnson of William Fleming and Leah Daigle of Cave Spring.
\ STATISTICAL FINALS: North Cross' Monty Smith held on to finish as the Timesland boys' scoring champion. When the statistics were published Tuesday, Smith was averaging 24.2, a half-point more than Mark Byington of Salem and Donnie Costigan of Covington Boys' Home.
Costigan, a junior who was third last season, hadn't finished his regular season. He scored 32 points as Covington Boys' Home lost to James River 65-62 and added 23 in a 77-61 loss to the Oak Hill junior varsity, enabling him to pass Byington. Still, his average was fifteen-hundredths behind that of Smith, giving the Raiders junior the crown.
Byington led the scoring race for most of the season. The senior got more scoring help from his teammates and faced a variety of "junk" defenses in the final month of the regular season, losing nearly three points off his average.
In free-throw shooting, William Byrd junior Michael McGuire was listed second in the final statistics with 87 percent accuracy. He momentarily took over the lead when it was discovered that Parry McCluer's Kris Carter (41 of 44 for 93.2 percent) hadn't shot enough free throws (2.5 per game).
However, Carter still had a regular-season game left against Glenvar on Monday night after the final statistics had been reported. He hit five of six free throws, giving him 92 percent (46 of 50) and qualifying him in the Fighting Blues's 20th and final game.
\ ARE YOU KIDDING? It's time to review the preseason predictions for the basketball races by the Roanoke Times & World-News staff. It goes along with my picks during football season, when fellow staff writer Ray Cox routed me big-time.
As a staff, we did correctly predict that Blacksburg would win the New River District and Salem would finish first in the Blue Ridge District. In the other league races, we were unable to pick a winner. Considering that Blacksburg has won four consecutive titles and hasn't lost its past 32 games against New River District opponents, we won't crow about getting the Indians right.
Salem wasn't a lock, considering the school has little winning tradition on the court. But the Spartans had Byington and an experienced crew that figured to be strong.
The biggest miss, and this one was my call, came in the Blue Ridge District, where Northside was picked last. Picking the dominant team in the district for last place doesn't seem to be very smart, but the Vikings had the least experience and scoring coming back. It was impossible to predict that Nathan Hungate would emerge as a dominant offensive player.
In the Roanoke Valley boys' race, we picked William Fleming and Pulaski County 1-2. Patrick Henry was third and rose to first, while the Cougars, hit by injuries and a late-finishing football season, tied for fourth.
In the Mountain Empire District, the staff picked Auburn and Floyd County. Grayson County was pegged for fifth, yet the Blue Devils won it.
In the Pioneer District, it was easy to go with old favorites Covington and Glenvar ahead of Parry McCluer. The Fighting Blues emerged as the state's third-ranked Group A team after winning the district in what has become a good year for a school that, like Salem, has a better reputation in football.
The best overall performance was in the Roanoke Valley District girls' race, where the choices were Cave Spring and Pulaski County. Those teams tied and met in a playoff, with Pulaski County winning. After that, the choices were William Fleming, Franklin County and Patrick Henry, and form held.
\ ALL-AMERICAN: Patrick Henry's Taylor, a quarterback, has been named among the 100 players on the Schutt Sports Group High School All-America football team. The team will be presented in the March issue of Scholastic Coach magazine.
by CNB