Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502280020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The duo helped the Indians hold off Christiansburg 67-66 in the final of the New River District boys' basketball tournament.
It was the Indians' fifth consecutive district tournament title; Christiansburg never has won the tournament. Both teams advance to the Region IV tournament Tuesday, with the Blue Demons (19-4) entertaining Lee-Jonesville and Blacksburg (10-11) visiting Graham.
Trailing by a point with five seconds left, Christiansburg had a chance after the Indians turned over the ball on a lane violation. Wheeler drew the key defensive assignment - John Hairston, the district's leading scorer. Hairston got the ball just before the buzzer, but the only shot he had was a 3-pointer that fell short to the left of the basket.
``Coach [Bob Trear] told me to stay in front of him, not to let him get between me and the basket,'' Wheeler said. ``He said not to worry about helping out inside, someone else would take care of that. I had to not let him get the ball [in the open]. He's a streaky shooter. I had to stay with him.''
Earlier, Hairston had brought the Demons to 56-55 with back-to-back 3-pointers. But this time, defense spoiled the Demons' plans.
``We wanted to get the ball to John,'' said Gerald Thompson, Christiansburg's coach. ``Hairston is our scorer. We wanted to have him shoot it.''
A few seconds before Hairston misfired, Christiansburg had a better chance to go ahead. After a missed Blacksburg free throw, Darrell Calloway drove the lane and took a short, running one-hander. But instead of adding to his team-high 21 points, the shot bounced off the right side of the rim and right into Marshall's arms with seven seconds to go.
``After the last time Calloway drove in for a layup on us, Coach [Trear] told us someone would have to step up,'' Marshall said. ``I hung in there and got the rebound.''
Marshall promptly was fouled with five seconds left. But he was called for a lane violation - his foot was over the free-throw line. That nullified his free throw and gave the Demons another chance.
It also was the last of five unsuccessful free-throw shooting episodes for the Indians in the final 39 seconds. They missed the front end of four consecutive one-and-ones before Marshall's misstep. That allowed Christiansburg to cut the lead from five points to one.
Blacksburg scored six points in the final 26 seconds of the first half, including five by Trent Peterson, to take a 31-25 lead. It expanded the lead to as many as 13 points in the third quarter as Philip Klaus scored 10 of his game-high 26 points.
``Coming off the picks, I just got open,'' said Klaus, who also pulled down 10 rebounds. ``I shot it and it swished through.''
by CNB