Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9502010089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Northside offense, which had sputtered this season, went off with a loud bang Tuesday night as the Vikings ran by Byrd 90-72 in a battle of Blue Ridge District boys' basketball powers.
Northside (12-4 overall, 5-0 Blue Ridge) hit 34 of 49 shots from the field - an incredible 69.4 percent. That included 7-of-13 accuracy from 3-point range.
``I think this is the way we need to play every night, not just in the big games like Byrd,'' said Northside leader Justin Porterfield. ``We just came out to play and it didn't matter who did well.''
The Vikings' point guard led the way with 24 points and nine rebounds in this battle of Top 10 Group AA teams. The victory sets up another big game Thursday when Northside takes on Salem, once beaten in the Blue Ridge District, at the Salem Civic Center.
Ninth-ranked Byrd (12-3, 3-2) led 23-12 after one quarter and 36-33 at intermission. But it wasn't hard to see that seventh-ranked Northside was making a move. The Vikings hit 14 of 21 shots in the first half and only trailed because of 13 turnovers.
After intermission, Northside only committed seven turnovers and grabbed the lead for good when Porterfield hit a 3-point shot less than two minutes into the third quarter.
``Byrd came out shooting the ball and we were just trying to hang in there,'' said Billy Pope, the Vikings' coach. ``We had some offense, but they [Byrd] were unbelievable.''
The Terriers hit nine of 13 field-goal attempts in the opening quarter. Jeremy Obenchain, Michael McGuire and Chris Childress had all 23 points for Byrd. In the second half, the Terriers cooled. The Vikings also outrebounded Byrd 10-3 after intermission and wound up with a 34-23 advantage on the boards for the game.
``We have been very consistent on defense all year. We've been trying to be more efficient with the basketball,'' Pope said. ``Tonight our offense kept us in the game. A lot of times this year our defense has kept us in games.''
It wasn't just Porterfield. Maurice Garrison was perfect on seven shots and Dana Gibson drilled six in a row. The only time the Vikings looked as if they might go cold was after two misses to start the final quarter. Those fears evaporated for Northside when Sam Barrett hit consecutive 3-point shots and Porterfield added one.
``We had a lot of guys doing things, we had a lot of guys with assists,'' Pope said.
Ben Peete and Gibson led the way with three assists each as the Vikings collected 19.
Paul Barnard, Byrd's coach, said his team played well in the first quarter.
``Then, Northside played extremely well,'' he added. ``Barrett hasn't hit two 3-point shots in a row all year. We wanted to step up to the next level with this game, but they had more than one guy stepping up. We had people playing in spurts; they had four or five guys playing well all the time.''
The Terriers got 57 points from Childress, Obenchain and McGuire. However, Childress didn't score in the second quarter as the Vikings frustrated him with the defensive trio of Garrison, Karim Thompson and Gibson.
Obenchain led Byrd's defense with five steals, including four in the first half. However, the Terriers wound up hitting only 23 of 53 shots from the floor.
by CNB