Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994 TAG: 9404100133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Long-suffering fans of Northside will probably get a larger facility at the junior high, though exact details and approval still must be worked out by the county.
The plans for a new gym at Glenvar have been approved and construction will begin in the fall for a gym that will seat more than the 1,000 fans the Highlanders can now handle.
There are no plans for new gyms at Cave Spring and William Byrd in the near future. Of the two schools, Byrd would seem to be the school most in need as fans will attest when they arrive for Terrier boys' basketball games against Northside and Salem that stuff the gym to above capacity.
Cave Spring, the only Group AAA school in Roanoke County, rarely fills its gym for varsity contests. Next year's boys' basketball team could change that as the Knights return four starters from a club that upset Group AA state champion Salem and was leading the Roanoke Valley District until two weeks before the end of the season.
At Northside, principal Donna Henderson is trying to come up with a plan for a gym that seats from 2,500-3,000 people, can house indoor track meets and eventually can be expanded to include an indoor swimming pool.
At the very least, Northside will get some kind of a gym seating 2,000 for basketball and teaching purposes only. That would relieve the burden of the Vikings' current gym, the smallest in Roanoke County, that has been inadequate the past few years when that school has turned out state powerhouse basketball teams.
Pitifully, it would not take into account the future. Northside wants the bigger gym to host district, regional and state winter events. The swimming pool might be necessary as Virginia High School League Executive Director-Elect Ken Tilley indicates that the state might soon add that sport to sponsored events.
Building a gym that will seat 2,000 without an indoor track and expansion plans for a pool would leave the county in the same mess 20 years from now.
When the current schools were constructed with small gyms, they weren't built for the future to take into account the population growth. That explains how four county schools now have inadequate gyms.
"A lot of it is up in the air. We're not sure how much money the school board can come up with," said Henderson, who hopes to have the new Northside gym by 1996-97.
"I can't say anything is definite. I understand there are rumblings about a facility in the Cave Spring area," said Henderson.
If there are, Cave Spring principal Martha Cobble has heard nothing. She said the only funds for building at her school are for new classrooms. Within the next 10 years, a new high school is likely to be built and that's when the Knights might get a new gym.
At Byrd, principal Bob Patterson isn't upset that his school is being passed over for new gyms at other county schools.
"I'm practical. I know we can't build a new gym at every school. If we can build a large gymnasium [at one school like Northside], that can accommodate some of these district, regional and state tournaments, it would help the whole county," said Patterson.
At Glenvar, the Highlanders have no problem with lack of seats for varsity games. Glenvar's gym was built for a larger school, but the Highlanders have dropped from Group AA to Group A, meaning enrollment isn't as large as it was in the 1970s.
"The auxiliary gym is being turned into a band room and the main gym we have now will be for physical education," said Glenvar principal Al McLearn. "Our problem is lack of locker room space for hosting [district and regional] tournaments. This [new gym] will take care of that and we look forward to the the new facilities."
\ CRESTAR EXPANDS: The Crestar Basketball Classic, sponsored by Patrick Henry, is expanding to four games next winter by adding Northside to the lineup of local teams.
Next year's Crestar, scheduled Sat., Jan. 21 at the Salem Civic Center, will feature one of its strongest alignments with Salem and William Fleming joining the Vikings and Patriots. Northside, Fleming and Salem all have a lot of veteran players back from this year after all three teams advanced to their respective state tournaments.
PH coach Woody Deans has lined up a strong visiting group that includes Kentucky state champion Fairdale, Page (N.C.), G.W. Danville and Beckley, W.Va. The Fairdale team is the same one that was unable to come to this year's Crestar because of the snow.
Pairings will be announced later by Deans. This event has been one of the highlights of area high school basketball since its start in 1988 when PH played nationally-ranked DeMatha (Md.).
\ HENDERSON LOST: Northside three-sport star Darius Henderson, who is a top quarter-miler, will not compete in track this spring after undergoing knee surgery recently.
Henderson, a defensive back in football and a key reserve for Northside's state tournament basketball state semifinalists, made the decision to go ahead with the surgery now so that he will return at full strength in the fall.
\ RULE CHANGES: The biggest change in high school basketball rules for 1994-95 will rarely come into play. That's because it happens only in overtime games when extra periods will be extended from three to four minutes in length.
"The committee members felt that the additional time would make for a real game situation, as opposed to a three-minute overtime period in which the team with possession would often just try to hold the ball," said Rick Wulkow, chairman of the rules committee for the national high school federation.
Wulkow added that high schools are more in line with college basketball where five-minute overtimes are one-eighth the length of a game, the same as the new four-minute extra sessions for high schools.
The other big rule change in basketball is that a technical foul, following a warning, may be assessed for teams that huddle too long before a free throw that results in delaying the game.
In wrestling, there is a revision of weight classes. The new classes will be 100, 106, 112, 119, 126, 134, 142, 151, 160, 172, 185, 215 and 275. Then on Jan. 15, there will be a two-pound growth allowance in each division.
by CNB