Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411230149
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Terriers used their ``blue'' press and downed Grundy 65-50 in a Group AA girls' basketball quarterfinal in Vinton.
Outrebounded badly in the opening 20 minutes and down by six points at intermission, Byrd's trip to its second state semifinal in three years was in jeopardy. The press, though, was magic as the Terriers (20-7) outscored Grundy 20-4 in the third quarter to take control.
Byrd plays Loudoun Valley in a semifinal Dec.2 at the Salem Civic Center.
``We haven't pressed as much this year,'' said Richard Thrasher, the Terriers' coach. ``In the first half, we didn't play good half-court defense or rebound. We went to a 2-2-1 press and we got a lot of turnovers.''
Byrd forced Grundy into 24 miscues after intermission. In the third quarter, Byrd went 8-of-13 from the field. Cathy Smith, who had a game-high 23 points, hit a layup midway through the period to put the Terriers ahead for good, 32-31.
Smith's junior running mate, Kelli Runyon, played the point on the press and came up with five of Byrd's 24 steals. That was one fewer than Smith. It was fitting, for these two started as freshman when the Terriers went to the Group AA final and lost to Blacksburg in 1992.
``We got all our jitters out at half,'' Runyon said. ``I think our press frustrated them. They couldn't adjust.''
Maybe the Golden Wave (18-8) was tired. Grundy has been to Blacksburg, Marion and Vinton in the past six days.
``I calculated that we had gone around 600 to 700 miles,'' said Leslie Boyd, the Golden Wave's coach. ``I can't blame this on being tired. We got shaken, but we have the plays to beat this press. Our guards just dribbled in too far.''
Grundy held a 21-10 advantage on the boards in the first half, but still was lucky to be ahead after 16 minutes. Byrd had rallied behind the press in the second quarter to take a 21-19 lead when Smith hit a jumper with 3:11 left.
However, Smith picked up her second personal foul and went to the bench. The Golden Wave outscored Byrd 10-2 the rest of the half to take a six-point lead. Amy Stiltner, with 19 rebounds for the game, dominated inside for Grundy and Crystal Yates came off the bench to score six of her eight points in that span.
This was the same Grundy team that had barely beaten Blacksburg, a team that didn't fare well against Blue Ridge District foes this year. Smith said, though, that Byrd wasn't overlooking the visitors just because they'd had problems with the Indians.
``We have our off and on nights. They have their off and on nights,'' Smith said. ``That happens to anybody, so I wasn't worried about who they had played.''
The Golden Wave didn't go quietly, even after that poor third period. Grundy, which fell behind 51-37 with 5:37 left after Kim Kendrick hit a couple of fast-break jumpers for the Terriers, did get back into the game.
Byrd began missing free throws and Grundy went on an 8-0 binge as reserve Whitney Caudill scored four points. Kristi Dyer, another junior who played on the Terriers' state tournament team two years ago, put a stop to the run by hitting a jumper. Runyon and Smith made five of six free throws to lift Byrd out of danger.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB