Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502280034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
No matter what happens before or after, the Knights are next to a mortal lock. It was that way for the eighth consecutive year Saturday as the Knights beat regular-season champion Pulaski County 63-57 at the Salem Civic Center.
Cave Spring (18-4) opens the Northwestern Region Tournament at home Tuesday against an opponent to be determined Monday. Pulaski County (20-3) will be on the road for the opening round of the regional.
Cave Spring's domination of the RVD Tournament hasn't always carried over to the regular season. In the eight year span, the Cougars have won three titles.While the Cougars have won three regular-season titles in the past eight years, they have not been able to break the Knights' stranglehold on the tournament championship.
``We couldn't win the tournament when we were second in the state twice and had Terri Garland [now at Virginia Tech],'' said Rod Reedy, Pulaski County's coach.
The Knights' latest victory was a strange one. After losing two of three regular-season games to Pulaski County in defensive struggles - two contests finished with both teams in the 30s - the Knights came out firing.
``We wanted to shoot 50 or 60 times,'' said Cave Spring guard Aimee Beightol, who led both teams with 22 points, along with five assists and three steals. Her twin sister, Allison, had four assists and two steals.
``Last time we shot only 29 times,'' Aimee Beightol said. ``We can't score unless we shoot, so we stepped it up.''
The Knights attempted 37 shots in this one, but that was because they went to a delay game most of the fourth quarter after getting a big lead near the end of the third period.
``We told the kids at practice that if you only shoot 29 times, you have to hit 100 percent to win,'' said Linda Long, Cave Spring's coach.
The turning point of the game came as Aimee Beightol hit a layup and drew a foul from Pulaski's 6-foot-2 Kim Cruise, her fourth. A technical foul then was called on Pulaski County's Carrie McConnell.The delay game was made possible when the Knights were the beneficiaries of a five-point possession. Aimee Beightol made a layup and drew a foul from Pulaski's 6-foot-2 center Kim Cruise, her fourth. The Cougars' Carrie McConnell then was whistled for a technical foul.
Aimee Beightol hit three free throws, giving the Knights a five-point play and a 46-38 lead. What had been a game swinging back and forth was suddenly in the Knights' hands to win or losein balance suddenly was Cave Spring's to win or lose.
``That took the Pulaski County fans out of the game,'' said Linda Long, the Knights' coach. ``It also has to be a letdown for a team playing a one- or two-point game to all of a sudden be eight or 10 points behind.''
Reedy agreed.
``And remember the play before, Carrie was called for walking and a basket she had scored was disallowed,'' Reedy said. ``It was a huge, huge possession.''
The Knights took a 52-40 lead early in the final quarter on a two of buckets by Cheryl Rhodes. Then, Cave Spring went to a delay game, forcing the Cougars to foul. The Knights missed the front end of five one-and-ones, but Pulaski County never could pull closer than five points.
``We had our chances, but we failed to execute,'' Reedy said. ``They'd get an offensive rebound or we'd turn the ball over.''
``We put in a new spread offense,'' Aimee Beightol said. ``We weren't getting the ball to the right people. We had that big lead and we needed to take care of the ball. We'll work on this for the region.''
Both coaches were forced to make changes. The Knights' 6-4 center, Lisa Bryan, was lost for the season with mononucleosis, and Jaclyn Banks was moved to center.
Banks, who played center before transferring from William Byrd during the summer, got 16 points and nine rebounds. The board work was important as Cave Spring dominated the rebounding 27-22, something the Knights were unable to do in the two losses to the Cougars.
``I felt capable [of doing the job], but I had to step up,'' Banks said.
Emily Rappold moved into the starting lineup for the Knights and responded with nine points.
Meanwhile, Pulaski County's Jodie Hallett burned Cave Spring's defense from outside. Hallett hit four 3-point shots and had 16 points in the first half.
``I've taken those shots sometimes, but never that many,'' said Hallett, who never was listed among Timesland's 3-point shot leaders. ``They were going in, and that's the most I've hit. I felt lucky.''
Said Long: ``[Hallett] made the first and I thought, OK. Then she made another and I thought she was trying to win the game by herself. When she made the third and fourth, we had to change defenses. I told Cheryl to not let her catch the ball unless she was a step or two farther out.''
That worked. Hallett hit only one 3-pointer in the second half.
But McConnell took over for Pulaski with Kara Buckner. McConnell scored 16 of her 20 points after intermission and Buckner had seven points in the third quarter. The Cougars shot well, making 21 of 45 field-goal attempts.
The Knights, who hit 20 of 37 from the field, couldn't put away the game until Banks' layup made it 62-55 with 30 seconds left.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***