Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503130003
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Northside knows the way to the state's final four in Group AA boys' basketball.
The Vikings had been there three of the past four years. So after a frustrating first half, Northside refused to panic and used a much smoother performance to down Christiansburg 78-61 in Salem on Saturday in a Group AA quarterfinal.
What the Vikings (20-7) haven't been able to do recently is win a state championship. They've come up empty in the three previous final four trips. Northside will continue its pursuit of that elusive crown at 2:45 p.m. Friday at Liberty University's Vines Center, where the Vikings take on Caroline, a 66-65 winner over Bluestone in another quarterfinal Saturday.
The Blue Demons (20-6) led 35-34 after hitting 14 of 30 shots in the first half while Northside went 13-for-38. The second quarter was particularly disastrous for the Vikings, who struggled to run their offense, hit only six of 23 shots and were outscored 16-14 despite dominating the boards 19-9.
Any resemblance between that performance and the one in the second half was purely coincidental. Maurice Garrison set the tone by getting inside for a layup after intermission. Sam Barrett followed with a short jumper and a 3-point shot from a corner, and Ben Peete added a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Just like that, Northside had a 44-35 lead and control of the game.
``Coach [Billy Pope ] said if I had a feeling, go with it. That's what I did,'' Barrett said. ``I think we were pumped up at half with the talk by Coach Pope. He told us to go to the boards.''
Garrison finished the game with 13 rebounds and 17 points.
``We pulled together and came out on top. But we were just not [playing] the first half,'' Garrison said.
Said Pope: ``I think we got rattled by some shots they hit and that made us speed up. We can't play offense like that.
``We have a number of guys who can score and pass. So at the half, we didn't change anything. We just said, `Take your time and play one possession at a time.'''
It worked. Barrett connected for 12 points in the final two quarters, Garrison moved easily inside and guards Justin Porterfield and Peete continually hit back-door plays against the Demons' man-to-man defense. Porterfield and Peete wound up with six assists each and a number of easy layups.
``We picked up our intensity and played better ball together,'' Porterfield said. ``We hustled on defense. We didn't change, we just knew we had to pick it up.''
The junior playmaker said the Vikings weren't taking Christiansburg lightly, even though the Blue Demons had a record that included games against a number of Group A schools compared with a Vikings schedule that included matchups with some of the better teams from the Group AAA Northwestern Region.
``When you get this far, everybody is good. They came after us,'' Porterfield said.
Christiansburg dominated early behind point guard Mischa Alexander, who had all five of his assists in the opening half, and the shooting of Darrell Calloway and John Hairston. Calloway and Hairston hit from far out the Blue Demons outscored the Vikings 9-2 to take the halftime lead.
``They just pushed the ball inside to their strength,'' said Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson, discussing the second half. ``Looking at us, we're not very big, strong or physical, and the second half they were physical.''
Pope never thought about changing his man-to-man defense, even under the Blue Demons' early barrage.
``If they hit the shots the second half they did in the first half, I don't know what defense you play,'' Pope said.
by CNB