Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 3, 1994 TAG: 9412220073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Unfortunately for Byrd, there was one slide too many as the Terriers lost to Loudoun Valley 62-52 in the semifinals at the Salem Civic Center. That set up today's Region II championship game between the Vikings and unbeaten R.E. Lee, which had a major scare before subduing Marion 45-42 in the other semifinal. Lee beat Loudoun Valley 58-43 two weeks ago.
Byrd (20-8) was out of the game, back in it, in control, out of control and finally on the short end of the score. With turnovers coming much too fast for Byrd, the Terriers fell behind by 12 points early. But by halftime, Byrd was down only two thanks to awesome free-throw shooting by Cathy Smith, who made 10 of 11 free throws.
Byrd then scored nine of the first 11 third-quarter points as Loudoun Valley (25-4) went through a dry spell - one field goal in a span of 8 minutes, 30 seconds. The Terriers went on an 19-2 spurt and built a 42-37 lead.
``We were down so far and it took so much out of us to come back. Our legs got tired,'' said Byrd coach Richard Thrasher.
After a Vikings timeout, it was Loudoun Valley that did the damage. Byrd didn't score for the next 7 minutes, 36 seconds and the Vikings rattled off 17 points before Smith hit a field goal for her first points in the second half.
Loudoun Valley coach Carmel Keilty knew just what to tell her girls after Byrd's run.
``I told them we had come this far and worked too hard for four months to get here ... that I wanted to play tomorrow,'' Keilty said.
There were other factors, Thrasher said.
``Their bench picked up their starters and we took a few bad shots,'' he said. ``We were hurrying our shots and not going inside.''
Byrd's run had come after Loudoun Valley's rebounders had gotten into foul trouble by halftime.
It was point guard Stacey Simms who took over the game as she ran the Vikings' offense and hounded Byrd defensively. Simms dealt 13 assists to set a state tournament record.
``She's very unselfish and always gets seven or eight assists,'' said Keilty, who didn't know the kind of havoc her junior guard had caused the Terriers.
Defensively, Loudoun Valley used a 1-3-1 zone and fronted Smith when she got the ball inside. That caused the Terriers to make several key turnvoers - they had 26 in the first half alone.
Smith, frustrated despite getting a game-high 20 points, muttered a `thank you' under her breath when an official finally whistled a second-half foul against Loudoun Valley underneath.
``I remember that,'' the Byrd junior said. ``Some of those fouls could have gone either way, but they seemed to go the other way. Still, I was making some stupid mistakes too.''
``It felt like they were double- and triple-teaming me. My teammates tried to get the ball to me, but there was always someone around me. It was one of the better [defensive] jobs.''
The Terriers got no closer than six after Loudoun Valley's run. Kristi Dyer hit a 10-footer to make it 56-50 with 1:52 left, but Simms led the Vikings downcourt quickly for a follow basket by Cameron Arndt. The Terriers hopes ended with another turnover resulting in April Shippee's layup basket.
Loudoun Valley is the only team to beat Lee in the last two years. That victory in the Region II semifinals a year ago cost the Lee Ladies a trip to the state.
Lee (28-0) survived Marion's repeated rallies. The Scarlett Hurricane (24-2) trailed 39-29, but cut it to three points on a layup by Stacey Miller with 23.9 seconds remaining.
After Lee's Lesley Mader missed a one-and-one, Marion's Alison Jennings' 3-pointer attempt for the tie that rimmed out. Kelly Simmons hit two free throws with 7.6 seconds left to clinch Lee's victory.
by CNB