Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502140059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DALEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Meredith, who will retire after the season, saw the Vikings beat Lord Botetourt 46-35 in a Blue Ridge District game Friday that resembled a contest out of the 1960s when he began his career.
The score was certainly indicative of a game from 30 years ago and so was the shooting. Northside hit only 13 of 36 shots while Botetourt made 11 of 38. Still, the Vikings (14-5 overall, 7-1 Blue Ridge) kept their one-game lead in the district race.
If Northside's offense couldn't answer the call, their defense did. The Vikings permitted only four Cavaliers to score and two of those - Shannon Williams and Jonathan Neal - scored all but five of Lord Botetourt's points.
On the boards, Northside had a 34-33 edge thanks to 11 rebounds by Maurice Garrison. Ben Peete led the Vikings with 16 points including a couple of 3-point goals. Point guard Justin Porterfield added 12 points but had only one assist.
``You win games different ways,'' Northside coach Billy Pope said. ``We've had some great offensive outings. Tonight we won on the road by playing good defense the whole game.''
This contest had some real oddities. First, the Northside crowd gave Meredith two standing ovations during special ceremonies to honor the long-time Cavaliers coach. Meredith also received a rocking chair.
His final words to the fans were, ``Howdy Doody's gone, the Lone Ranger's gone and now I'm gone.''
But Meredith wasn't gone. He was still fiery as usual, earning a technical foul from the officials, who shook his hand before the game in wishing him good luck.
Then he had his team spread the floor, looking for good shots and trying to take the Vikings out of their tempo.
What that produced was more than eight minutes without a point for the Cavaliers (9-9, 1-6) from midway through the first quarter to the middle of the second. It also enabled the Vikings to wipe out an early 9-2 deficit formed as Williams scored all of Lord Botetourt's points. By the half, Northside led 18-13 and Williams had scored 11.
Oddly enough, Northside didn't have a single assist, steal or blocked shot in the first half. The Vikings had only missed shots and 21 of the game's 35 rebounds. From the floor, Northside had gone 6-of-21.
``We had some good looks at the basket, but we couldn't get the ball to drop,'' said Meredith of his team's poor shooting.
Late in the game, the Cavaliers got to the free-throw line with a chance to pull even and missed key shots. ``We normally don't even get to the line with that chance. When we missed [in that situation] tonight, it could have demoralized us,'' said Meredith.
Lord Botetourt's best chance came when Northside led 26-23. The Vikings were in the middle of a dry spell that saw them go the final 5 minutes, 20 seconds of the third period without a point.
The Cavaliers didn't do much better. Lord Botetourt scored only one basket in the final 2:06 of the third period to make it a one-point game. They got within two points in the final quarter, but missed two free throws and the Vikings began to pull away.
Northside, which was so sharp against Salem and William Byrd less than two weeks ago, seems to be in a mild slump, but Pope has an explanation.
``I think there are different times during the season on any level of basketball that a team has more energy and more bounce in its step. Look at the pros, they go through their dry spells,'' said Pope.
``When this happens, you just hope you do the other things well and we did that tonight.''
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB