Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 20, 1994 TAG: 9412210006
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But they weren't as competitive asthose sibling rivalries were nothing compared to the one between Marilea and Erika Hale.
Marilea, a senior, and Erika, a freshman, are two of the main reasons the Highlanders are expected to win their 11th consecutive Pioneer District championship.
Last year, when the Glenvar varsity team scrimmaged the junior varsity, it was a war underneath the basket. Varsity power forward Marilea banged with JV power forward Erika in a way only the New York Knicks could love.
``Those two were so competitive,'' Layman says. ``It was almost NBA brutal. We had to put them on different players just to keep some order.''
The coach is so weary of the Hale girls butting heads in practice that he will not let them play on opposing teams during three-on-three practice sessions.
``They're not going to hug-hug and kiss each other,'' says Spike Harrison, a Highlanders assistant coach. ``It's not as bad as it was; they're teammates now.''
The sisters says their little battles last year were just a matter of not letting one sibling outdo the other. Actually, Marilea is glad to see her little sister on the varsity, because that allows the elder Hale to do what she does best: play on the perimeter.
``I like that outside position [small forward],'' Marilea says. ``I'm not as big as she is, [although both are listed at 5-foot-9 on the Highlanders' roster].''
The elder Hale sister was forced to play power forward as a junior because she was the most experienced player back from the 1992 squad. She did it for the good of the team. Still, her eyes light up and there's excitement in her voice when she talks about playing small forward with her sister underneath the basket.
Marilea is all the more excited because she knows this Hale reunion almost didn't happen. Erika suffered an injury to her left knee in the spring playing in an AAU regional tournament at William Byrd High School.
``I went to save the ball from going out of bounds,'' the freshman says. ``I took a step; I heard my left leg pop. That's all I knew.''
Erika says she had the knee examined and was told the injury was only a sprain. In May, she re-injured the knee while scrimmaging with her father's the Roanoke Stars 12-and-under AAU team coached by her father. Another examination revealed she had torn the anterior cruciate ligament. While she was rehabilitating the knee through weightlifting and running, Marilea was holding her breath.
``I was afraid I was going to have to stay underneath [the basket],'' Marilea says. ``I'm glad she was able to play. It's my senior year and I think that it's good that both of us can play on the same team.''
The rehab has been slow, and Erika wears a brace on the knee.
``I'm still not back to where I was last year,'' she says. ``The brace keeps me from moving like I used to.''
Erika showed her potential with 18 points this season against a powerful William Byrd squad.
If Erika has any more knee problems, her sister may be able to help. Marilea wants to major in sports medicine in college, as well as play basketball. She plans to choose a school in the spring.
As might be expected, Marilea, 17, treats Erika , 14, like a little sister. Erika says if she misses an easy shot, Marilea will smack her on the back. And going out on a Friday night with big sister is out of the question unless their parents, Randy and Eike, say otherwise.
``No, I refuse,'' Marilea says. ``I would throw a fit. Unless I have to, I don't take her anywhere, because how would you feel if you went somewhere and your little sister was tagging along?''
There was one time when it was good that little sister tagged along. The sisters don't recall the exact year, they just remember the date - July 3. They were playing around with their uncle, Wayne Taylor, at the family's swimming pool.
Taylor ran and jumped headfirst into the 4-foot-deep, oval pool. He had done it once before, the sisters say.
``We didn't think anything about it - at first,'' Marilea says.
After what the sister say seemed like five minutes, they noticed their uncle was not coming up. They jumped into the pool, pulled him out and screamed for some relatives inside the house. Marilea says he had turned blue and glassy-eyed, and she feared the worst.
``I was hysterical,'' Marilea says, recalling the incident. ``My aunt and uncle wanted me to help with CPR. I was afraid. I said, `No way.'''
Erika repeated to herself that it took them five minutes to realize this was serious, that their uncle could have died.
``I was scared, shocked,'' the freshman says. ``I couldn't believe this was happening.''
Taylor survived, but is paralyzed from the waist down. When they were younger, he would play against them in two-on-one games and joke that one day they would be as good as he was on the court. The sisters say he's as goofy as ever and comes to all of their games, but they don't talk about the incident that keeps him from playing.
``I think somebody told him that we pulled him out, but he doesn't say much about it,'' Marilea says. ``Sometimes he'll say, `If I hadn't done what I did, I wouldn't be like this.' We don't say anything.''
Layman says the girls' family - mother, father, grandmothers, uncles, aunts - attends all of their games and is very supportive. That support began at home and on their father's AAU team.
``Dad would push us and make us work on our foul shots,'' Marilea says. ``Mom would shoot foul shots, too. She'll shoot 10 and then tell us to shoot 10.''
Erika recalls the advice she received before her first varsity game. Through 13 contests, she still follows it.
``My dad has always said to focus on the game,'' Erika says. ``Watch the JV game so you can get into it - get focus for our game.''
The two are very unselfish when on the same team. They might have a catfight when on opposing teams but it's all part of being sisters. And competitve.
That's much easier now that they're teammates.
by CNB