Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412230041
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Both players are third-year members of the varsity squad, and along with forwards Chris Childress and Kevin Tuck, Byrd returns four starters from last season's 12-9 team that is expected to challenge Northside for the Blue Ridge District crown.
Byrd coach Paul Barnard, who is beginning his ninth season at the helm, doesn't want to say that this could be his best team ever but he does admit this squad has a chance to have an outstanding season.
"We can be as good as most Byrd teams have been," Barnard said. "The keys are going to be team chemistry and distractions - internal and external. External can come from a lot of different places."
Barnard says the leadership of McGuire, his point guard/shooting guard, and Obenchain, his center, will also be a crucial factor. As sophomores, the two were part of a Byrd squad that lost to Martinsville in the regionals.
"Number one, I expect leadership," Barnard said of his 6-foot-2 players.
"We need Jeremy to rebound, score inside and he can shoot the 3; we need him to get 10-11 rebounds every night. I'm looking for Michael to score and handle the ball; he can help the sophomores get better, by dominating them in practice."
The two players accumulated half - Obenchain 23, McGuire 17 - of their team's total in an 80-74 win over Cave Spring in the season opener on Dec. 6. The senior nucleus of Obenchain, McGuire, Kevin Tuck, Matt Bryant and Phillip Muddiman have been playing together since the eighth grade.
For Obenchain and McGuire, this is it for basketball in their life. Obenchain has applied to Virginia Military Institute and is looking to get in as a student, not a basketball player.
"I think it [VMI] has a real good reputation, and it would be a good place to start my life," Obenchain said. "I doubt if I would play basketball. If I did, it would be as a walk-on. I've always wanted to work for the Department of Defense and with the military background VMI has, that would be a good way to get into government work."
McGuire is a two-sport star. He's was one of the best pitchers on the Byrd baseball squad that advanced to the state semifinals last year. This season, he'll be the ace of the staff.
James Madison, Virginia, William and Mary, East Carolina and Old Dominion have inquired about his baseball exploits but no schools have inquired about his hardwood skills. He's going to take an official visit to see if he would enjoy being a baseball player-student on the Harrisonburg campus on Feb. 4.
"This is our last chance, like Jeremy said," McGuire said. "We're going to go at it 100 percent. I've played with these guys for 5-6 years; it'll be the last time we'll be able to play with these guys."
Tragedy is what the two players are going to remember the most about their junior year at Byrd. For McGuire, sadness came in the spring when his grandfather, Russell Webb, died of cancer.
"I dedicated the rest of my season to him," McGuire says. "That [baseball] was his favorite sport; he came to a lot of my games and was a big supporter."
Obenchain lost one of his good friends, Jason Ferguson, this summer while at at basketball camp at East Tennessee State University. He said Ferguson died from sniffing butane.
"It shook me up," Obenchain said. ``I found out about 20 minutes before we had a game; I didn't feel like playing after that. It made me feel Iike I wasn't there for him."
Both players said they learned something from their respective tragedies. Obenchain learned that you shouldn't let a friendship slip away.
"I learned that you've always got to do the best you can because you never know," McGuire said. "It's OK to go out and have fun, but be careful, too."
by CNB