Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL LENGTH: Medium
The Glenvar girls' basketball team had the player it needed, sharpshooter Toree Morris, with the ball in her hands and an unobstructed 15-foot bead on the basket with time running out Thursday night in a Group A Region C semifinal game with Castlewood.
Morris was off a hair and before the ball could be collected again, time had expired on Castlewood's 60-59 victory.
John Sabo, the Blue Devils' coach, tarried long enough to be sure time actually had run out, then hustled his girls into their dressing quarters before the customary postgame pleasantries.
``I was looking out for my girls,'' he said. ``There were people already running out on the floor. I didn't want my girls to be caught up in that and get hurt.''
The crestfallen Glenvar players took the final outcome and the postgame situation hard.
``One of their little old guards came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, `You're a mean man. We wanted to shake hands,''' Sabo said. ``I told her we wanted to shake hands too and we'd come back out. But by then, she was gone. That hurt me. It was a bad way for a beautiful ballgame to end.''
Dennis Layman, the Highlanders' coach, agreed.
``It hurt our girls worse to not have them shake hands than it did to lose the game,'' he said. ``But I understand the coach had to do what he had to do.''
It was a wild one, for sure. With 24 seconds left and the Highlanders down 58-56, Morris nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to make the score 59-58.
Castlewood raced down the floor, where freshman Kelly Salyers swept in and missed a layup as she was being fouled by Marilea Hale. That was the fifth foul for Hale, who finished with 10 points.
Castlewood had plenty of opportunities to shoot free throws. Glenvar had 23 fouls to Castlewood's 11 and the foul discrepancy was 10-1 Glenvar at one stage in the second half.
Salyers was 0-for-5 from the line when she stepped up with 11 seconds left. Shooting two, she swished them both. Her other forays to the line hadn't looked anything like that one.
``If you looked, you could see her legs giving on her before,'' Sabo said. ``She's a freshman. All it is is nerves.''
Glenvar had ample time to cross midcourt and call a timeout with eight seconds left. The shot was set up for Morris, who had buried three 3-pointers in the second quarter and 15 of whose 21 points came from beyond the arc.
``I told them that we didn't have to have a 3, just two in the hole,'' Layman said. ``I wouldn't have anybody but Morris taking that shot, if we got the choice. She's been our 3-point shooter all year. It was a matter of inches of going in or off the other side.''
Glenvar (21-3) was outscored 10-6 at the free-throw line and was fortunate it wasn't worse.
Castlewood was leading 53-51 when Hale was called for a personal foul and a technical foul with 3 minutes, 15 seconds left. Salyers missed two free throws. Then, Shannon Casteel, who led Castlewood with 20 points, made only the second of two free throws for the technical. The Blue Devils missed a subsequent field-goal attempt and the Highlanders snagged the rebound.
``That hurt,'' Sabo said.
Glenvar got 13 points from Erika Hale and 10 more from Marilea Hale.
by CNB