Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9411120030
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
How true. Byrd has won a Group AA girls' state basketball championship, played in two other finals and had a list of talent that stretches back to the 1970s. For 10 years under Coach Richard Thrasher, the Terriers have never failed to make the Region III tournament.
Just go through some of the great names that have played girls' basketball at William Byrd, starting with the most recent top player, Sherry Banks, who was Timesland's top player two years ago. The best, at least recently, might have been Jenny Mitchell, an All-ACC pick at Wake Forest. That gives you an idea of the talent line running through Byrd.
The latest player on this list is junior Cathy Smith. The problem is that Smith, as good as she is in basketball, might be even better in volleyball. As a sophomore, she was only second-team All-Blue Ridge District in basketball, but she was named the Player of the Year in volleyball.
``I don't know which [sport] I like the best,'' said Smith. ``People say I'm better in volleyball.''
Still, Smith puts in more time in basketball. There's high school season, open gym and AAU. Currently, Smith is the sixth-leading scorer in Timesland and seems a cinch to add Region III honors in basketball to the ones she attained last year in volleyball.
Her basketball career started, went on hiatus and then came back, thanks to her mother, Jan Smith. As a youngster, Cathy Smith played one year of recreation basketball on a team coached by her father, Roger Smith.
``That was with boys. There was only one other girl on the team,'' said Jan Smith. ``At the next level, Cathy would have been on a team that had only boys because we live in Mount Pleasant, where they didn't have a girls' recreation league team.''
So Cathy Smith gave up basketball until she was 11. ``At the time, Cathy didn't have any acqaintances in Vinton, so I started a girls' recreational league team [in Mount Pleasant],'' said Jan Smith. ``Cathy could have played on the boys' team, but she didn't want to do that.''
Jan Smith got coaching help from Angie McDaniel, another talented ex-Terrier, who actually played her last year at Northside. By the next year, Cathy Smith was at William Byrd Middle School, had met Kristi Dyer, Kelli Runyon and Jackie Banks - who would all play big parts on the Byrd varsity as freshman.
Cathy Smith teamed with those four in recreation basketball, and in 1992 this quartet had key roles as a young Terrier team made the Group AA state championship game, where it lost to Blacksburg. Smith, Runyon and Banks started while Dyer, recovering from an injury, was a top reserve.
Since then, Smith has been on quite a basketball roll. In AAU, she's played with a who's who of Timesland, such as Bassett's Kim Hairston, the Sizzlin' Sophomore of the Year in 1992; Martinsville star guard Sam Ferguson and Glenvar scoring leader Marilea Hale as well as her Byrd teammates.
Having also played with Sherry Banks, Smith has teamed with some of Timesland's best players the last few years and more than held her own.
``I never thought about it, but it's great to play on their level. I keep thinking, `awesome, wow and omigosh' to describe it,'' said the Terrier forward.
At 5-foot-8, Smith will have to play guard or possibly small forward in college. At Byrd, though, she's been playing inside and has yet to show what she can do facing the basket.
``She's one of the best all-around athletes we've had at Byrd,'' said Terrier coach Richard Thrasher, who has coached many of the Terriers' best players.
``She's serious about basketball. She's improved a lot on her ability to control and pass the ball, plus her shooting. When she was a freshman, we didn't know what to expect. Now we know.''
Smith didn't play volleyball until she was in eighth grade, when she was asked to come out for the team. In just over two years, she became the district's best player.
Smith also ran track in middle school, but gave it up for AAU basketball. Now she's thinking about coming out for track next spring if she's not tied up in AAU basketball.
What might be worrisome is whether Smith will ever get back to the Group AA state championship game. In other words, did she hit her career high point in basketball as a freshman? It takes luck, as well as ability, to reach a state championship game, and many good players never experience the thrill of going for the biggest title of them all.
``I don't think we had too much success as freshmen,'' said Smith. ``I didn't think we'd get that far. I didn't realize what we were getting into because I had played only eighth-grade and middle school, and when the season was over, it was over. There were no district and regional tournaments.
``In high school, we had district and then regionals. I understood them, but I didn't know what to expect.
``I think this team can be as good as the one I was on as a freshman. I know we don't have another Sherry Banks, but I think we work well together, and if we play like we should, we can make it. At Byrd, we've always gone to the region. That's tradition. They've always had good players.''
Smith is the latest one, and she's just trying to keep a tradition going.
by CNB