Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995 TAG: 9501310048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Perhaps disproving the modern basketball theory that a team lacking depth can't play hard for an entire game, Pulaski County used but six players to upset William Fleming, Timesland's top-ranked team, 67-65 on Friday night in the steamy confines of the Colonels' crowded gymnasium.
Tyrone Hash, who was one of the most rested of the Cougars' marathon men - he had about 10 seconds of furlough when a hard second-half fall left him spread-eagle on the floor - won the Roanoke Valley District boys' game with a 10-foot jump shot off a drive to the right of the key with one second left.
Hash had been the second option on an inbounds play after a timeout with 5.4 seconds remaining.
``We ran a play designed so that Eric Webb was coming off a pick on the baseline and I was coming off a pick up top,'' Hash said. ''Webb was guarded well and the ball came to me. I had Derrick Hines on me and I knew that because I was taller than he is that I could get the shot off.''
Hash goes about 6 foot 3 and Hines 5-11. Just as Hash assumed would be the case, he elevated and squeezed off the shot without the ball being molested for the last two of his 18 points.
It was the third time in three years the Cougars (11-2 overall, 2-2 district) had won on Fleming's floor.
In recent seasons, Pulaski County has given the Colonels (10-3, 3-1) as much heartburn as any Roanoke Valley District team.
``Did you see their jerseys? Solid water,'' said Burrall Paye, Fleming's coach. ``They come to play as hard as they can play us every time.''
Webb, Bryan Ratliff (five points) and Matt Burns (four points) never left the floor. Webb finished with 29 points and nine rebounds and muscled his way to any position on the floor that suited his purposes, no mean feat considering he's only 6-1.
``I'm not that tall, but my strength helps me push them around a little bit,'' he said.
The Cougars can throw a lot of muscle around, especially when they bring 220-pound Jon Lilly off the bench.
``When we go to that lineup [and point guard Jamar McNair sits], everybody on the floor but Ratliff is over 200 pounds,'' said Pat Burns, Pulaski County's coach. ``We're not small even if we aren't very tall.''
It was a terrific second half, with Fleming playing from behind the whole way. The Cougars made 15 of 21 second-half shots and 54.3 percent for the game, but Fleming was relentless. Pulaski County had led by as many as 13 points and was up 61-54 when Webb converted a three-point play with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left.
The Colonels then went on an 8-2 run, with Hines scoring four of his 20. Webb put the Cougars back up 65-62 with 1:01 left. After a missed McNair free throw (he went 2-for-7 from the line and his team was 14-for-26), Keath Hampton rainbowed in a 3-pointer with 27.8 seconds left that tied the score at 65 and set the stage for Hash's heroics.
Hampton had 13 points and sophomore Mondre Burnette 14, but Fleming had an awful time offensively, particularly in the first half when it made only six of 23 shots.
``I can pull Grandma out of the stands and she could shoot better than that,'' Paye said.
\ see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.