Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994 TAG: 9404090040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Floyd County's Lynette Nolley is ready to come down from the mountain and begin the trek up again.
As a Group A girls' basketball player, Nolley was one of Virginia's best players for any classification and is Timesland's top player for the 1993-94 season. For her efforts, Nolley earned a basketball scholarship to Virginia Tech.
Nolley has no illusions that she'll step right in for the Hokies next year. "It's going to be pretty tough. I'm going to have to start from the bottom like I did in high school and learn from the players who have been there," said Nolley.
Nolley is one of four seniors on the All-Timesland team who earned Division I scholarships. Lord Botetourt's Ashley Moore is going to Campbell College, Blacksburg's Mary Thorn is headed to East Carolina and Christiansburg's Rebecca McNeil, a distant cousin of Nolley's, has been signed by Radford.
The fifth player, Bassett junior Kim Hairston, will get her chance next year to earn a scholarship and repeat the honors that began when she was chosen last year's Sizzlin' Sophomore of the Year.
Salem's Shellie Johnson is the top sophomore in Timesland this season. She joins Nolley in sharing top honors with Staunton River's Linwood Roberts, who is Timesland Coach of the Year.
Joining Johnson on the Sizzlin' Sophomore team are Floyd County's Melissa Cantrell, Magna Vista's Tanesia Kellam and a pair of William Byrd players - Jacyln Banks and Cathy Smith. Banks, however, has transfered since the end of the fall basketball season and will join a talented Cave Spring team that returns four starters next winter.
There are six players on the All-Timesland second team including Martinsville's Samantha Ferguson and Keenya Hairston. The others are Pulaski County's Jodie Hallett, Staunton River's Tanya Nelms, George Wythe's Stacy Green and Lord Botetourt's Jenny Gates, who has signed to play at William and Mary.
Nolley's average of 15.2 points a game isn't typical for a player-of-the-year. However, she played on a Floyd County team that used 10 players and won games by such lopsided scores that coach Alan Cantrell frequently used reserves for long periods of time.
"I would liked to have played more, but there was no point in beating people [any worse]," said Nolley, "There was no reason to take a chance of getting people hurt."
So Nolley's chosen major, physical education, is off to a good start because she wants to be a coach and already has learned to be compassionate for less talented teams.
Nolley earlier was named the state's Group A Player of the Year. She didn't attract a wider range of colleges because she made it known that she planned to stay close to home.
Johnson beat Banks in a close battle for Sizzlin' Sophomore of the Year. She was part of a young Salem team that struggled to a losing record. Against Group AA state champion Blacksburg, Johnson scored 16 points. She was also the only sophomore on the All-Region III squad.
"I was kind of surprised at the year I had. It was my first on the varsity and it was a lot different than the junior varsity," said Johnson.
"It was a learning experience for Shellie because of the difference of the style of play from junior varsity to varsity," said Salem coach Dee Wright. "With her quickness, she can shoot the outside jumper. She does a little bit of everything including playing the high post."
Johnsonis similar to former Salem star Michelle "Pee Wee" Harrison, who was a second-team All-Timesland choice the past two years.
"People say I remind them of Pee Wee and [William Byrd's] Sherry Banks [Timesland's top player last year]. I'd be happy just to be as good as those two," said Johnson.
McNeil led Christiansburg to a rare Region IV appearance. Her scoring average wasn't high, but then McNeil had little help on a team that wound up 11-12. McNeil averaged eight rebounds a game and had a 54.1 field goal percentage.
Radford went right after McNeil, who is seen as a rugged inside player for Division I.
Moore was the Blue Ridge District's top player and led Lord Botetourt to the Group AA state tournament, where the Cavaliers ran into Blacksburg on the Indians' home court and lost a first-round game.
Moore's best game might have come when she scored 25 points in a 65-52 victory over Bassett, which was Timesland's No. 1 team, in the Region III semifinals.
Thorn was the perfect point guard, dealing out 6.4 assists per game and scoring 10.9 points a game. She was like an orchestra leader blending the fine tunes of musicians that in this case added up to Blacksburg's second consecutive Group AA state title.
Thorn could score when necessary. In the region and state tournaments, she averaged 14.7 points a game and helped lead an Indians defense that held opponents to an average of 38.5 points during that span.
Hairston sparked Bassett with 16.3 points a game as the Bengals rolled to a 24-1 record. That one loss came to Moore and Botetourt that left Bassett one game short of making the state tournament for the second straight year.
Hairston's best game came in the Piedmont District finals when she burned Martinsville for 32 points as the Bengals won 83-78 to complete a sweep of three close games against the talented Bulldogs.
On the second team, Green came off an injury to post a 19.4 average after she missed the first seven games; Gates was Timesland's top 3-point shooter (51.4 percent) despite being an inside player; Hallett was the Roanoke Valley District's top player as the Cougars won the regular season in a playoff against Cave Spring; and Ferguson and Hairston at guards led Martinsville to a 19-6 record and the Region III semifinals where they lost to Staunton River and Nelms, who was one of Timesland's top streak shooters from outside.
by CNB