Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040115
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Northside beat Salem 44-41 on Tuesday night in the teams' Blue Ridge District boys' basketball opener at the Salem Civic Center. But the Vikings still remember their six consecutive losses to Salem last season, including the final one in a Group AA semifinal.
``I think it would be impossible not to be aware of it,'' said Billy Pope, Northside's coach. ``But we tried to focus on this year's team.
``We knew Salem would play well. A couple of their players played better than I've seen them play this year. They had to have a confidence boost from last year and feel like they were a favorite.''
The Vikings, though, said they weren't thinking of last season.
``It's a whole new year and we never said anything about last year,'' said Sam Barrett, a reserve on last season's and this season's Northside teams. ``We knew about all the pressure to show we could beat them. Beating them won't make it easier the next time we play. It will always be a battle.''
The Spartans weren't thinking about last season, either. ``We've just been working to get better,'' said Kevin Garst, Salem's leading scorer.
``No one was talking about last year. That's in the books and we just focused on this year,'' said Charlie Morgan, Salem's coach.
While neither team would admit it was looking back, each played tentatively. The game was a defensive struggle that produced some poor shooting - a combined 31-of-89 by the teams - and 33 turnovers.
The game turned on miscues and the ability to overcome them. Northside guard Justin Porterfield, one of Timesland's best pressure players, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 10.4 seconds left and his team leading 42-41.
Porterfield hustled and got the rebound, setting up teammate Ben Peete at the free-throw line. Peete, who had a bad night shooting from the floor, nailed two free throws with 5.2 seconds left.
``I worked on my free-throw shooting and had a lot of confidence in my ability,'' said Peete, who had to make his two free throws around a pair of Salem timeouts trying to freeze him.
The Spartans (2-4) had a final chance to win, but Garst's 3-point attempt rolled off the rim. ``That's the shot we wanted,'' said Garst, who was held to six points.
Northside (7-1) was without starting center Maurice Garrison, who has the flu. Salem's Matt Woolwine, who is battling a back injury, returned to lead his team with 12 points in a reserve roll.
Morgan, looking for a shooting guard, had inserted Ryan Arrington in the lineup. Arrington went down early in the game when he sprained an ankle chasing a rebound. Andy Beach, the guard he replaced, came on and scored nine points, including a crucial 3-point shot in the third quarter that stopped a 6-0 run that put Northside ahead 32-27.
``We had our chances,'' Morgan said. ``If we could have gotten one rebound [after Porterfield's miss] ... We played about 21/2 to 3 quarters of good basketball, but we didn't get anything on offense.''
Porterfield finished the game with eight assists, which was three more than Salem had as a team. The Vikings owned a 36-26 advantage on the boards, with Dana Gibson collecting 12 rebounds.
``Things didn't always click for us, like some shots. But then Justin misses that free throw and hustles that rebound,'' Pope said. ``The confidence factor is such a critical thing in sports. We had to fight a lot of things like the emotion of winning the [NationsBank] tournament here five nights ago.''
The Vikings certainly know they can beat Salem., though, won't have to regain their confidence to win when it comes to playing Salem.
by CNB