Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411230155
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARION LENGTH: Medium
Jones made a crucial steal and the go-ahead basket with 19.6 seconds left as Marion defeated Salem 55-51 in a quarterfinal Tuesday night at Marion High School.
The Scarlet Hurricane (24-1) will play against R.E. Lee-Staunton in a state semifinal Dec.2 at the Salem Civic Center. Salem (19-7) saw its season come to an end.
It was Jones who prevented Salem from coming home for next week's Final Four. After a Salem timeout with 1 minute, 12 seconds remaining and the score tied at 51, the Spartans attempted to hold the ball for a final shot. But Jones swatted the ball away from Salem's Mandy Williams and went in for a potential go-ahead layup. She missed but was fouled by Williams, her fifth, on the play with 27.6 seconds remaining.
Williams was holding the ball above her head when Jones took the calculated risk of making the big steal or being called for the foul.
``I was a little nervous, afraid I would mess up or something,'' Jones said of the play. ``Coach [Mike Davidson] tells me all the time not to take risks like that, but I said, 'Oh, God. I'm there.' I was hoping to get it.''
Even after the big play, she missed both free throws and the two teams scrambled after the rebound on the second miss. Jones came up with it and nailed a set shot in the lane to give her team a 53-51 lead with 19.6 seconds remaining. In a game that featured nine ties, Jones' shot represented only the third lead change.
``She's a sophomore,'' Davidson said. ``She makes some risky plays that are not necessarily the most sound things to do. But that's [the steal and later the shot] the play that got us out of here."
Salem tried to come back by getting the ball into the hands of the game's best player, Shellie Johnson. The Spartans forward, who scored 24 points on 10-for-16 field-goal shooting, saw three Marion defenders run at her as she crossed midcourt and headed toward the baseline. When she got there in an attempt to hit her patented jumper, a fourth Hurricanes defender, power forward Becky Grinstead, came over as well and Johnson lost the ball out of bounds.
``We knew coming in that she was their best player,'' Davidson said of Johnson, who also had six rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block. ``We told our girls to help out on her, but that was probably the first time all night that we got it right. She's a good ballplayer. They [Salem] played well enough to win. We got some breaks and made a couple of big shots at the end.''
Davidson and Wright agreed the big steal could have gone either way.
``As a coach, what would you think?'' Wright said of the play.
Salem's head coach says the youth of her team came out at crucial times in the game. She looks forward to having her entire roster back next year.
She thought Marion, which used 12 players in the first half and 10 in the second, wore down her her seven-player rotation.
``We didn't box out,'' Wright said. ``There it was - the `youngness' on basic fundamentals.''
Wright acknowledged it is disappointing that her team will not get to play in front of the home crowd next week.
``It's been in Salem for several years and there have been plenty of times we haven't been in it,'' Wright said.
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB