Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995                   TAG: 9502020019
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NARROWS                                LENGTH: Medium

WHAT MAKES THE GREEN WAVE TICK?

This was going to be the Green Wave's year, or so the thinking went. Three full-time starters and another part-time first-stringer returned from a team that had closed 1993-94 with a 9-3 rush. This was going to be the best Narrows edition in years.

Furthermore, many theorists contended that Narrows was indeed the team to beat in the brand-new Group A Mountain Empire District (the five team spin-off of the old 10-team MED) this season.

``Everybody expects us to do well,'' said Bryan Pruett, a junior forward. ``Everybody's family expects us to do well, the paper says we're going to do well, the whole town expects us to do well. In a small town, you know how it is.''

Yes we do.

``Everybody knows what's going on,'' guard Scott Stafford said.

True to form, Narrows has done well. But the Green Wave has also done poorly, the most recent example being a 75-43 pounding at the hands of Bland last week. The Rockets were a game under .500 at the time.

Then Narrows left a whole bunch of folks scratching their heads even more when it charged from 18 points down to beat Mountain Empire District front-runner Grayson County 74-70 Tuesday.

As tough as the new Mountain Empire District is - ``There isn't an easy game left,'' Narrows coach Todd Lusk said - the Green Wave pretty much much has to win every time out from now on if it has any hope of capturing the regular season title. Narrows was 8-6 overall, 2-2 in the league after the victory over the Blue Devils.

Should Narrows falter further, it will likely land in the sort of fix that nobody wants to be in. Its only remaining path to the Group A Region C post-season will lead through the district tournament.

Even though the Green Wave has the most deadly consistent shooter it has had in years in senior guard Patrick Bailey; even though it has three terrific all-around athletes in Norman Perkins, Scott Vaught, and Pruett; even though it has muscle and depth; it is in real peril right now.

How did the Wave fall into such a mire?

A primary difficulty Narrows has had is getting over the notion it can save its energies until the occasion when it needs them most. Too many times, Narrows has fallen behind early in the game then had to scramble in the second half. Witness the Grayson County comeback as only the most recent example.

``We've got to start the game as though we're 10 points behind,'' Lusk said.

Good idea, but Narrows still hasn't fully gotten a handle on that concept yet.

Another problem is the players have apparently lost sight of what worked so well a year ago.

``We started 1-7 last year and we decided to just stop working on the offense,'' Lusk recalled. ``All we worked on was defense.''

There is little debate in Narrows that that represented the turning point in the season.

So what's the deal now?

``We're not playing good enough defense,'' said Vaught, who perhaps developed a taste for that particular discipline while playing linebacker for Narrows' Division 1 Region C champion football team.

Certainly nobody can dispute him. The Green Wave is yielding close to 70 points per game. Lusk would have been happy with an average 15 points less.

The rub is that Narrows can play defense. When it wants to.

But why wait until back-to-the-wall time?

``I wish I knew,'' Lusk said.

Perhaps because everybody knows that this group can be terrific offensively. It all starts with Bailey, who is averaging 19.6 points per game and has made 34 3-pointers, the fourth-highest total in Timesland. Bailey is shooting over 37 percent from beyond the arc.

``He's just been super-consistent,'' Lusk said.

It's not as though he's doing this alone, either. Vaught and Pruett are both averaging double-figure scoring, Vaught while shooting 50.4 percent from the floor. Pruett shoots 75.9 percent from the free throw line.

The Wave can get on the boards, too. Perkins snags 10.5 caroms a game and Pruett 7.9. Lusk says that Perkins may be the best rebounder he's ever had.

So what is the deal with this bunch?

Is the real Narrows the team that gets blown out by Bland? Or is it the team that makes the inspirational comeback against Grayson County?

For better or worse, the answer lies in the days ahead.