Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412070076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The final score was all the proof needed that the real Floyd County girls' basketball team showed up Saturday at the Salem Civic Center.
The Buffaloes ripped and snorted their way past Buffalo Gap 77-41 to claim their second consecutive Group A championship. It also stretched their winning streak to 56 games, tying a state record shared by York (1987-89) and Chincoteague (1969-72).
There was little doubt about the outcome after the first quarter. Buffalo Gap's Sarah McNett, who nearly destroyed the Buffaloes last year, scored 11 points in the opening period, but Floyd County's pressing defense shut out McNett in the final three quarters and it soon became a matter of naming the final score.
That's been the the story in nearly all of Floyd County's record-tying victories. The Buffaloes almost always dictate the outcome and that made this victory much more satisfying than Friday's semifinal game, when Floyd used hammer and tongs to beat down Fluvanna County 56-42. That had been Floyd's lowest offensive output of the year.
``That was our team. The last two games we had kind of sagged,'' said relieved coach Alan Cantrell, who fed his girls a 10 a.m. breakfast of pasta so they could come to the championship game with extra energy.
It worked especially well for the coach's daughter, junior point guard Melissa Cantrell, who had been in a shooting slump. She was hesitant to pull the trigger early in the game, but then canned a pair of 3-point goals in the second quarter as Floyd County (29-0) outscored Buffalo Gap 21-9.
``It was kind of a slump. I haven't been shooting very well,'' Melissa Cantrell said. ``I wanted to make sure whatever shot I took was wide-open. I didn't want to take any bad shots that might hurt the team.''
``She played more relaxed,'' said her father. ``This morning she got up a little tired. I told her to go back to sleep for a little while. When she woke up [again], she was joking and telling stories.''
When Melissa Cantrell wasn't busy scoring from the outside, Carrie Chaffin posted up Buffalo Gap inside and scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the first half.
``It was there and I just kept working harder,'' Chaffin said. ``We got into a regular flow, we kept running and kept scoring.''
The Buffaloes trailed a couple of times in the opening quarter, but took the lead for good when Chaffin hit a short jumper and then got a layup to make it 17-14 after eight minutes. Buffalo Gap (23-6) never was a threat after that as McNett missed her last seven shots and Floyd County's press forced seven second-quarter turnovers to open a 38-23 lead at intermission.
``We went from our black to our red press,'' said Leigh-Ann Pursifull, a Floyd guard. ``That is we went from a 1-2-1-1 press to a 2-1-2 press. She [McNett] didn't get any easy shots.''
``We made some poor decisions,'' said Dennis Dull, who told his team after the game that he was retiring as Buffalo Gap's coach. ``We couldn't get into any kind of an offense. We were going helter skelter. Their press worked because we could get no consistency.''
``They did what we wanted them to do,'' Alan Cantrell said. ``We were hoping that we could run their legs out from under them. They have one of the best power games and we didn't want them to get into that.''
It was not lost on Dull that Floyd County might have wanted to make an impression after struggling in its semifinal.
``I think he [Cantrell] made a few points in the dressing room,'' Dull said. ``We started well, but we just went flat. I don't know if we were tired. Their kids came out in the second quarter and made some good things happen.''
While it was apparent by the halftime and certainly in the third quarter that this game would not come down to the closing seconds as it did last year, when the Buffaloes nipped the Bison 68-62, the Floyd County players were unaware the state title was all theirs once again.
``I thought we had it won with two minutes left,'' Chaffin said. ``I never look at the scoreboard when I play. I never have any idea what the score is. I just play.''
``I knew we had a big lead,'' Pursifull acknowledged. ``I didn't think the game was over because I knew they had the ability to come back.''
Melissa Cantrell has the same philosophy as her father, who rarely pulls off the press until late in a game.
``Maybe at the end I thought it was over. Before that, I never say a game is over for there is always a chance that a team will make a run,'' said the Floyd guard. On this day, though, the Buffaloes made sure there would be no rallies.
FLOYD COUNTY (77)
Pursifull 5-12 3-5 13, Harman 4-7 2-3 10, Chaffin 8-15 4-6 21, Conner 3-9 1-2 7, Cantrell 3-10 0-1 8, Wimmer 0-0 2-2 2, Quesenberry 1-5 1-2 3, Ju.Sowers 0-1 2-2 2, Shrewsbury 0-0 0-2 0, Hylton 0-0 2-2 2, J.J.Sowers 2-3 1-2 5, Fralin 1-1 0-0 2, Edwards 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-64 18-29 77.
BUFFALO GAP (41)
Lucas 5-11 5-8 15, McNett 5-15 0-0 11, Trout 1-1 0-0 2, Sheets 0-1 0-1 0, Wolfe 2-14 1-2 5, Layman 0-1 1-2 1, Surface 3-11 0-3 6, Cecil 0-3 0-0 0, Breeden 0-1 0-0 0, Hull 0-4 0-0 0, Koricafe 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 16-62 8-18 41.
Floyd County 17--21--15--24-77
Buffalo Gap 14---9---8--10-41
Three-point goals: Floyd County 3-12 (Pursifull 0-3, Chaffin 1-3, Cantrell 2-6), Buffalo Gap 1-18 (McNett 1-5, Wolfe 0-7, Surface 0-3, Hull 0-3). Fouled out: Lucas, Surface. Rebounds: Floyd County 31 (Harman 8), Buffalo Gap 40 (Lucas 15). Assists: Floyd County 17 (Cantrell 5), Buffalo Gap 7 (Lucas 5). Team fouls: Floyd County 19, Buffalo Gap 23.
by CNB