Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502140054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The result was an 87-50 Blue Ridge District blowout by the Terriers.
Was there too much celebrating after consecutive Mountaineers victories, 71-62 over league front-runner Northside and 78-46 over Rockbridge County? Too many cases of the flu? Too much joy over coach Carl Watson's newborn (as of 8 a.m. Friday) daughter, Kyana?
All of the above?
``If I knew that I'd be a sports psychologist and could make millions. Then, I wouldn't have to coach,'' Watson said.
The only explanations anybody needed for this rout were Byrd's defense and the Terriers' dead-eye shooting.
``That was one of our better games of the year,'' said coach Paul Barnard, whose Byrd team is 16-3 overall and 6-2 in the district.
``We're right back in the thick of the race,'' said Jeremy Obenchain, who had 19 points to lead 11 Terriers scorers.
Fellow senior Michael McGuire added 13, junior Chris Childress came off the bench to score 14 and Mayo Wilson chipped in 10 for Byrd, which scored at will in the second half and led by as many as 45 points.
Alleghany (10-7, 3-5) got 19 from Rashad Worth but did little else right.
``It's been a tough week,'' Watson said. ``We've had some tough games, we've had the flu, my baby was born this morning in Winchester and I was there ... We've responded well until tonight. I don't know what happened.''
The first half was packed with action, good and bad. The teams tore up and down the floor at a furious pace. Occasionally, the offensive team made it across midcourt.
Often as not, the ball never made it that far. Turnovers came in an avalanche that wouldn't stop. The teams combined for 26 throwaways, 16 by Alleghany, which is one of the reasons the Mountaineers trailed 38-27 at the break.
Another was Byrd's overwhelming domination of the backboards, 18-7 in the first 16 minutes. Of those Terriers rebounds, seven came at the offensive end.
``They're a good rebounding team,'' Barnard said of Alleghany. ``But we rebounded very well tonight.''
Byrd's seniors earned the start, which kept Childress on the bench at the beginning of the game. But when he was good for eight points by intermission.
``We've been working on denying the passing lanes,'' McGuire said. ``That's the key to our defense.''
That brought a sigh from Watson, who is in his first year as the Mountaineers' coach after replacing Jimmy Smith.
``We worked on their overplay in practice, but instead of executing tonight, we stood around and watched,'' he said.
by CNB