Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Both teams had to withstand upset bids Thursday night, but when the Roanoke Valley District girls' basketball tournament semifinals concluded, Pulaski County and Cave Spring still were on their annual collision course.
Pulaski County, the regular-season champion, took charge in the second quarter and downed William Fleming 53-36 in the first semifinal. In the second game, seven-time defending tournament champion Cave Spring came back from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat Franklin County 63-42.
Pulaski County (20-2) and Cave Spring (17-5) will meet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Salem Civic Center for the tournament title.
``It'll be a great championship game - like it always is,'' said Cave Spring coach Linda Long. ``We tend to keep it exciting for the spectators and cardiac arrest for the coaches and players.''
Both teams have earned berths in next week's Northwestern Region tournament.
``We expected to be playing Cave Spring in the final, now it's going to happen,'' said Pulaski County coach Rod Reedy. ``We've won the regular-season [title] three times, we've won the Northwestern Region, we've been state runner-up twice. But we haven't captured the district tournament. That was one of the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season.''
The losses ended the season for Franklin County (10-10) and William Fleming (13-9).
Pulaski County had quite a game going with William Fleming until Carrie McConnell helped the Cougars take over.
In a little more than a minute in the closing stages of the second period, McConnell scored eight points - two 3-pointers and a driving layup - and assisted on back-to-back baskets by Jodie Hallett and Mary Bishop.
``I was getting the ball and I was open,'' said McConnell, a senior guard. ``Luckily, the shots were going in.''
That spurt turned a one-point lead into a 25-12 advantage. After that, the lead remained double digits the rest of the game.
``That's the way it goes sometimes,'' said William Fleming coach Roland Lovelace. ``I thought [Pulaski County] played a great game. They played an aggressive game, and they made some big shots. They deserved to win.''
The Cougars stayed in front in the second half as Hallett took over inside, scoring 17 points of her game-high 23 points in the final two periods
``We seem to start out [slowly]; it takes us time to get going,'' said Hallett, who also pulled down a team-high six rebounds. ``We just don't worry about it. We just get it started.''
During the last two quarters, Pulaski County's lead ranged from 11 to 17 points.
Felicia Manns led the Colonels with 15 points.
McConnell finished with 16 points and nine assists.
In the other semifinal, Cave Spring was in the unaccustomed position of trailing at halftime.
The second half was another story. The Knights outscored Franklin County 41-11 in the last 14 minutes to win easily.
``We weren't strong pressuring the ball in the first half,'' said Cave Spring guard Aimee Beightol, who scored a game-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals. ``We put our pressure defense on [in the second half], and I think we got the intensity up.''
The two decisive stretches came in the third quarter. The first started after Franklin County took a 31-22 lead with 6 minutes, 5 seconds left in the period.
During a 1 1/2-minute span that began at the five-minute mark, the Knights rolled off nine points. Cheryl Rhodes had seven of the points, including a three-point play with 3:38 left in the quarter that tied the score at 31.
``We had to try to take the ball inside,'' Rhodes said . ``That was one of our keys. And we had to run the floor, run the break.''
Cave Spring took the lead for good in the final two minutes of the period. Beightol drove the lane, Allison Beightol hit a 3-pointer, and Jaclyn Banks added a stick-back during a 7-2 run that put the Knights in front 38-33.
The Knights then used their inside game and foul shooting to pull away over the final period.
Meanwhile, the Eagles could never rediscover the formula that allowed them to control the first half.
``We were trying to stay with what we were doing,'' said Franklin County coach Deborah Crockett. ``Good teams are going to pick up and Cave Spring is a good team. You can't do the same thing on a good team all night long.''
In the second quarter, the Eagles had six different players score. Franklin County also stymied Cave Spring's offense, holding the Knights to 4-for-13 shooting and five turnovers.
Aimee Beightol kept Cave Spring in the game with 12 first-half points.
Susie Wilson paced Franklin County with 11 points, including four in the second quarter.
Rhodes added 14 points for Cave Spring.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB