Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502070037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: DALEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
``That's an understatement,'' Byrd coach Paul Barnard said.
With two seconds remaining in the first quarter, Byrd had scored four points.
But before the night was through, the Terriers whipped up a frenzy, pelting Lord Botetourt 78-62 in a Blue Ridge District game at the Cavaliers' gym.
Byrd improved to 13-3 overall, 4-2 in the district. Botetourt fell to 9-7, 2-4.
Barnard credited his team's turnaround to some temporary substitutions late in the first period and an intense man-to-man trap defense executed by the subs.
``When I put the starters back in, they played much better,'' Barnard said.
The Terriers, coming off back-to-back district losses to Salem and Northside, missed 10 of their first 11 shots and trailed 11-4 until Byrd's Mayo Wilson drilled a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the first quarter.
``We had some good shots early,'' Barnard said. ``For some reason, we just weren't making them. We needed this win badly, after two disappointing losses.''
Byrd's scoring triumvirate of Michael McGuire, Chris Childress and Jeremy Obenchain paced the winners with 20, 19 and 15 points, respectively.
McGuire missed his first three field-goal attempts and two free throws before making his last nine attempts from the line.
Byrd converted 12 of 16 free throws in the final quarter, quashing any thoughts of a Cavaliers' rally.
``We work hard on playing determined basketball,'' Botetourt coach Don Meredith said. ``We did a lot of things well, but they hit their free throws at the end.
``I'm not sure how many times they went to the line, but it looked like a campfire out there.''
Byrd made 23 of 35 free throws; Botetourt was 19-of-30.
``We never could put them away,'' Barnard said.
Byrd opened leads of 12 points in the second quarter (35-23) and 19 in the third (54-35), but the Cavs closed to nine (63-54) on a Jonathan Neal 3-pointer with 4:24 left in the game.
Neal finished with a game-high 26 points and Shannon Williams added 18.
The rebounding was exactly even: 25-25.
Byrd defeated Botetourt 75-65 in their first match-up 10 days earlier.
by CNB