Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501260072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Byrd's late run and the absence of Lord Botetourt star Shannon Williams because of personal fouls were the keys to the Terriers' 75-65 Blue Ridge District victory Tuesday in Vinton.
Until Williams picked up four personals in the space of 1:49 early in the final quarter, the Cavaliers trailed only 53-50. Without Williams, who had a game-high 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting, Botetourt couldn't keep up.
``That was the ball game. And on the last foul, I don't think either player fouled. They were going for a loose ball,'' said Botetourt coach Don Meredith.
Williams battled Byrd's Chris Childress for the ball and was called for holding the Terrier's arm. Meredith had removed Williams after his fourth personal with 5:15 left.
Williams didn't stay on the bench long. Childress hit a couple of free throws and Kevin Tuck got a layup following a missed 3-point attempt by Botetourt's Jonathan Neal. And after a turnover, Michael McGuire's free throws pushed Byrd - tied for third in the Group AA poll with Liberty - ahead 59-50.
In came Williams ... and he lasted eight seconds. After that, Byrd (11-1 overall, 3-0 in the district) was virtually assured the victory.
``I don't think we were looking at our ranking,'' said McGuire, who finished with 19 points. ``We didn't play hard like we usually do. Botetourt is a good, feisty club and they worked real hard.''
Botetourt's matchup zone defense gave the Terriers problems, though Byrd still hit 26-of-50 from the floor. The Terriers also had more weapons as Childress hit 19 points and Jeremy Obenchain connected for 22. Byrd had a 32-24 edge on the boards with Childress getting 10 rebounds and Obenchain eight.
In the third quarter, however, the Terriers went cold and Botetourt, behind two 3-pointers from Ryan Salvi and nine points from Williams, wiped out most of a nine-point halftime deficit to trail just 53-50.
The Cavaliers (7-5, 0-3) never got the lead in the second half. They lost a third district game in which they played one of the top teams and kept it close until a late spurt settled the contest.
``We don't have enough personnel to play our scramble defense where we run and jump at people,'' said Meredith, explaining the matchup zone. ``You guard the fort or ambush the other team. You go out to the battlefield, make a few shots and go back into the fort.''
Byrd hasn't had that many close games.
``We were getting kind of worried. We haven't been in this situation. But the coaches talked to us, told us to settle down and play our game,'' McGuire said.
``This will help us. We won and found out we're human,'' said Byrd coach Paul Barnard, who nearly had his birthday ruined by Botetourt's surprise party. ``We didn't attack their defense and missed some easy shots. When you're not playing on all four cylinders, you find other ways to win.''
Botetourt also shot well, hitting 27-of-49. Salvi connected on 4-of-6 from 3-point range. One other statistic that proved to be big was in free-throw shooting where Byrd had three times as many shots and hit 10 more points from the line than the Cavaliers.
by CNB