Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502070034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Colonels shook off crosstown rival Patrick Henry for a 65-53 victory Friday at the Salem Civic Center. Coupled with Pulaski County's victory over Cave Spring, Fleming (11-3 overall, 4-1 in the RVD) has a one-game lead over the Cougars and Knights, both 3-2 in the district.
Despite it all, Fleming didn't appear ready to make a run at a second-place finish in the Group AAA state tournament as they did last year.
The Patriots tied the game early in the third quarter on Chris Combs' layup. Fleming got the lead back, but it was only 47-45 with 6 minutes, 10 seconds left after Rashad Myers went in for a reverse layup for the Patriots. Then Fleming, sparked by senior guards Derrick Hines and Heath Hampton, went on a 17-1 run to put the game in the win column.
``We're hanging in there, but I don't think as a team we were up for the game,'' said Hines who scored the first five points of Fleming's decisive run.
``Maybe it was because the game started early [starting time was advanced an hour because of bad weather]. It's always been that way at Fleming. We kind of hold back until the tournament. I thought it would be different this year. I know one of these days it's going to backfire and we'll be upset early in the [district] tournament.''
After Hines started the run, Hampton finished it with six of the final eight points. Together, the Fleming guards combined for 35. James Stokes added 15 points with several of his field goals coming on rebounds. He led Fleming with 11.
Defensively, Fleming did better than in recent weeks. The Colonels held PH scoring leader Combs to 12 points and forced five five-second calls when PH was trying to get the ball in bounds.
``I was a little flat. I thought we played well the first 31/2 quarters,'' said Combs, who managed 12 rebounds as the Patriots controlled the boards 35-34. ``At the end, we were kind of tentative.''
PH coach Woody Deans said part of Combs' problem was a back injury and that his team would have been helped if C.J. Walker, who shares point guard duties, hadn't been out because of illness.
``Fleming took over the last few minutes and we kind of let it slip away,'' Deans said. ``We had trouble handling their quickness and pressure.''
PH used a triangle-and-two defense, putting a man on each Fleming guard. The Colonels hit 26 of 67 shots compared to 23-of-46 shooting by PH. Fleming, however, made 12 fewer turnovers.
``We're getting better on defense,'' Fleming coach Burrall Paye said. ``We've been playing in spurts, but the triangle-and-two shouldn't bother us. We work on it every day in practice.''
by CNB