Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 28, 1994 TAG: 9412280092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Northside advanced to the championship game of the NationsBank Holiday Hoops tournament with a 61-50 semifinal victory over Blue Ridge District rival William Byrd at the Salem Civic Center.
Northside (5-1) will meet Cave Spring at 7:45 p.m. today for the title. William Byrd (4-1) will meet Salem for third place.
The lead changed hands six times, five times in the second half, and there were nine ties, all in the second half. The last tie was at 46 with five minutes remaining.
That's when the Northside backcourt duo of Ben Peete and Justin Porterfield turned up the heat on Mayo Wilson, a sophomore guard for Byrd.
Terriers center Jeremy Obenchain, who scored a game-high 21 points, was carrying his team and had given Byrd its last lead at 46-44 when he hit two free throws with 5 minutes, 13 seconds remaining.
But Obenchain would get few opportunities after that as Peete and Porterfield took turns harassing Wilson at the top of the key. Byrd was not able to get into any type of offensive flow because of the pressure and missed eight consecutive field-goal attempts during that key stretch. The Terriers also committed seven turnovers the rest of the way compared with zero for Northside.
After trailing by two, the Vikings would outscore Byrd 17-2 in the next five minutes to seize control of the game.
Obenchain's basket before the final buzzer was Byrd's only field goal in the final six minutes of the contest.
``Coach [Billy Pope] always says defense starts at the top,'' Peete said. ``If you stop the ball at the top, we feel like we can shut any team down.''
Besides their defensive exploits, the two players did a great job the entire night of creating offensive opportunities for teammates with penetration, including left-handed penetration by Porterfield, a right-hander.
The two combined for 25 points, nine assists and four steals and a dazzling back-door pass from Peete at the top of the key to a cutting Porterfield that gave Northside a 50-46 advantage with four minutes remaining - it's biggest at the time - and wooed the crowd.
``The pass was perfect, right off the move,'' Porterfield said.
Even though it was not a district game, the victory was important to Northside.
``It's nice,'' Pope said. ``We wanted to come here and play well. For Dec.27, I thought it was pretty well-played.''
Paul Bernard, Byrd's coach, said the teams are very evenly matched, but that Northside's ability to make plays down the stretch was the difference.
``We won the first half; they won the second half,'' Bernard said of a 28-25 halftime advantage. ``That's what counts. Northside has been in these type of games before and they know what it takes to win these type of games. I'm not disappointed; I'm disappointed that we lost, but not with how we played. We played hard. Hopefully, next time, we'll play better down the stretch.''
by CNB