Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060057
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It's like Christmas Day," said coach Alan Cantrell about the Buffaloes' title and the celebration that followed. "You wait and wait for it to get here. Then when it gets here, you want to stop time so you enjoy it longer."
The team got its first packages in the form of the trophy and medals after beating Buffalo Gap 77-41, the biggest win ever in the Group A final.
Then it returned to Floyd and had a police escort back to school. Then it was off to the team's first holiday fete. Several parents had arranged for a "We Are Proud of You" party for the team at the Floyd VFW Hall - regardless of the outcome of the final. With the Buffaloes winning, it turned into a community victory celebration.
"They wanted to tell us we had a great season," said senior guard Leigh-Ann Pursifull, who in her four-year varsity career was on teams that went 107-4. "We had a big-screen TV. We watched Kentucky-UCLA [a college basketball game] and were switching back and forth to catch the news. Then we watched a tape of the championship game for a while but after a while we put in a movie."
The use of the TV and VCR, as well as most of the food and other trimmings at the party, were donated by local businesses to show their support for the team. And people from throughout the community dropped by to congratulate the team.
"I told the girls I was going to have to get a box of 15 to 20 thank-you cards, have them all sign them and then start filling in who to send them to," Cantrell said about the support shown the Buffaloes.
The party lasted until about 10 p.m. Then several players stayed at the Cantrells' house to enjoy the moment just a little bit longer.
"We came back here and watched some movies and stayed up late," said Melissa Cantrell, a junior point guard and the daughter of the coach. "We watched movies and stayed up late. Then we went to church this [Sunday] morning. We had a good time but we were all pretty tired."
The weather prevented any more celebrating over the weekend. Sunday's constant rain washed out the annual Floyd Christmas Parade in which the team was to have taken part.
Winning the championship this year means that seniors Pursifull, Carrie Chaffin, Laura Harman and Emily Edwards got to end their high school careers on top - just as the seven seniors did in 1993.
"It was more fun this year because I was more involved in everything," said the 6-foot-1 Chaffin, who started at center.
The title also continues the mystique that surrounds the Buffaloes and their dominating "Black Swarm" defense.
"For years, Floyd was just a nobody, another Group A team," said Harman. "But no one can say that now. Now, everyone has heard of us and the way we press. That's something we've been able to develop over the last few years.''
The responsibility for carrying on that tradition now rests with the nine players who will be back next season. Juniors Cantrell, Sara Fralin, Stacy Wimmer and J.J. Sowers will have the chance to three-peat. That quartet, plus junior Charity Shrewsbery, sophomores Sara Conner and Sonya Hylton and freshmen Jill Quesenberry and Julie Sowers, also have a chance to enter the record book in another way: most consecutive victories. The Buffaloes tied the state record of 56 with their win in the final.
Before that can happen, August 1995 has to roll around. Between now and then, the players and coaches have other things to do.
For Alan Cantrell, his boys' team opens tonight at Fort Chiswell. Friday's scheduled opener was postponed because of the girls' tournament and then canceled because Galax had scheduling problems.
For most of the girls' team, it means volleyball season. At least eight players off the squad are expected to be spiking and serving a white ball this winter instead of shooting and stealing an orange one.
"We haven't practiced yet," said volleyball coach - and basketball assistant - April Underwood. "We're behind, but its been like this for three years. I'm giving them Monday off, but that's all I can give them."
Of course, there was another reason for Underwood's generosity. The Buffaloes have one last celebration to attend.
"We really don't have a day off," Chaffin explained about the schedule. "We have our [fall] athletic banquet that night."
by CNB