Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 23, 1995 TAG: 9502230042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
This isn't some heat-of-the-moment assertion from a steamy locker room or the residue of an overwrought postgame harangue, either. The facts are inescapable:
FACT NO. 1 The Blue Demons haven't been ranked in Timesland all season and infrequently so in the state Group AA poll.
FACT NO. 2 The size of the players (as opposed to the size of their hearts, for example) is almost always one of the first topics of conversation brought up about the team by outsiders.
FACT NO. 3 The New River District is not held in particularly high regard (what three-team district is?). Ergo Christiansburg, the undefeated regular season champion, is not held in particularly high regard.
To address these facts in turn:
The lack of ranking isn't altogether surprising considering the overweighting of Group A teams (12 of 21) on the Blue Demons schedule. But expect no apology from Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson.
``Floyd County has a pretty good basketball team, Auburn has a pretty good basketball team, Grayson County has a pretty good team, Radford has a pretty good team, George Wythe has a pretty good team. Except for Auburn and Grayson County, all those teams used to be with us in the New River District, too. And Christiansburg had a hard time beating some of them back then.''
Well put, but it is understandable if the schedule is viewed with some skepticism. Little does that matter to Thompson, though. The Demons won only thrice two years ago and were but two games over .500 a year ago.
``The biggest thing we had to overcome was the kids believing they actually could win,'' Thompson said. ``I think they thought they were going to be better this year, but I'm not sure that they knew whether or not they could win a lot. The schedule helped their confidence.''
As for the lack of size, nothing has changed since a year ago.
``Last year, when we faced a team with a big man, we were in trouble,'' Thompson said.
To a certain extent, that's still the case. But there is a difference now.
``We have some athletes now,'' said senior forward John Hairston, a three-year starter who has proved he's among that group by averaging a league-leading 15.5 points per game while shooting 46.5 percent from 3-point range.
In Hairston, guard Darrell Calloway, center Ryan Hubble, forward Donald Thompson and point guard Mischa Alexander, Christiansburg has a group that makes up for its lack of size with superior athletic ability.
``We have more team quickness than we ever have,'' Gerald Thompson said. ``We can put four or five guys out there who can flat get after it.''
There isn't a whole lot of dropoff when Thompson puts in what he calls his ``Gold Team.'' Depending on the circumstances, point guard Jesse McHose, guard Brian Porter, forward Trey Stone, forward Carlton Ashbrook, and either David Rhudy or Tim Kingston come in with either four or two minutes left in the first quarter every game.
As for the New River District, can Christiansburg be blamed because Blacksburg and Carroll County have struggled?
Nobody has to tell Christiansburg's veterans about struggling.
``We just plain got tired of losing,'' Hairston said. ``Every year, teams thinking, there's Christiansburg and all we have to do is run over them. It's embarrassing.''
Christiansburg has had much to be proud of this year.
``All we want to do is get somewhere where we can show people something,'' said Hubble, a center so versatile that he's shooting 37 percent from 3-point range.
By getting somewhere, what Hubble has in mind is making it to the state tournament. To do so, the Demons will have to win two games in the Region IV tournament.
Christiansburg has come as far as it has because of the contributions of many.
``Everybody does something well,'' is the way Gerald Thompson puts it.
Aside from Hairston, a couple of contributors deserve closer examination. They are Donald Thompson and Calloway, perhaps the two most improved players on the team.
Calloway was scoring 13.4 points per game on an eye-opening accuracy rate of 64.4 percent from the field, 42 percent from 3-point range.
``I'll take the open shot,`` he said. ``But I'm not going to take a shot with somebody's hand in my face.''
As for Thompson, he wasn't even playing basketball two years ago. Last year, most of the time he was sitting on the bench while he learned how to play organized basketball.
``There were different rules to learn, new plays - it was hard,'' he said. ``I thought about quitting a few times.''
``We wouldn't have let him quit,'' Calloway said.
Thompson ought to thank his teammates for their concern. It's just one more way for the guys to remember they respect each other, even if nobody else does.
by CNB