Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504110056
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Make that several reasons, as the Buffaloes dominated the All-Timesland girls' basketball team, taking Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors and placing another player on the first team.
Floyd County's Leigh-Ann Pursifull is the Timesland girls' basketball Player of the Year, and the Buffaloes' Alan Cantrell is the Coach of the Year.
Pursifull is joined on the All-Timesland team by teammate Carrie Chaffin. Both have signed Division I scholarships for next year. Pursifull is headed to Winthrop, and Chaffin will play for North Carolina-Wilmington.
The only honor Floyd County didn't take was Sizzlin' Sophomore of the Year. That went to Martinsville's Erica Brandon.
With Pursifull, Chaffin and Cantrell leading the charge, no team came closer than 14 points to the Buffaloes, who blew out Group AA Salem by 27 and 22 points. The Spartans won the Blue Ridge District regular season and tournament titles.
Chaffin and Pursifull are joined on the All-Timesland team by Bassett's Kim Hairston, a repeat selection, and a pair of Group AAA standouts - Cave Spring's Aimee Beightol and Pulaski County's Jodie Hallett.
The second team consists of Blue Ridge District co-players of the year Cathy Smith of William Byrd and Shellie Johnson of Salem, William Fleming's Felicia Manns, Martinsville's Samantha Ferguson and Cicely Becker of Fieldale-Collinsville.
Joining Brandon on the Sizzlin' Sophomores are Lord Botetourt's Sara Moore and Sarah Hicks, Sue Lynn Cowlbeck of Liberty and Suzanne Webb of Narrows.
Playing small forward and off-guard for Floyd County, Pursifull is the Buffaloes' second straight player of the year. Lynette Nolley was given the honor last year.
``I never dreamed we could finish this way,'' Pursifull said of the unbeaten season and state championship. ``We thought we'd make it back to the state tournament, but we weren't sure how we'd do. Our new players came together and played strong.''
Even though most of the Buffaloes' victories were blowouts, Pursifull said the season was interesting.
``I don't know if `boring' was the right word to describe it. It was a lot better than being under a lot of pressure every game.''
While Pursifull manned the perimeter, Chaffin took over the inside for Floyd County. She averaged 7.5 rebounds and frequently played defense against the opposing center. Offensively, she had one of her best games by scoring 21 points in the Group A state championship game in which Floyd County beat Buffalo Gap 77-41.
Bassett's Hairston, who will play for Radford University, was the leading scorer on the All-Timesland team with a 22.7 average. This included a four-point game early, but the guard came back to score 28 or more points on six occasions. She also dealt out 6.2 assists and shot 46 percent from the field.
At Cave Spring, Beightol lifted the Knights to the Roanoke Valley District tournament title. In three regional games, Beightol led Cave Spring to the title by averaging 21.7 points. During the season, she averaged 17.1 points and seven assists per game and shot 50 percent from the field.
For Pulaski County, Hallett averaged 14.3 points a game for a balanced Cougars team that won the regular season RVD title. Pulaski County coach Rod Reedy says that Hallett might have been the best offensive player ever to play for him.
On the second team, Smith and Johnson shared top honors as juniors in the Blue Ridge District. They were close a year ago when Johnson edged Smith as Timesland's Sizzlin' Sophomore.
Ferguson, Martinsville's point guard, led Timesland with 8.7 assists. Becker's high-scoring was part of the reason Fieldale-Collinsville was so strong in the Piedmont District and made its first Region III appearance. Manns averaged double figures in both rebounding and scoring for Fleming.
SIZZLIN' SOPHS: It was perhaps the best year ever for outstanding 10th grade girls' basketball players in Timesland.
First, Brandon beat out a pair of Lord Botetourt players - Sara Moore and Sarah Hicks - for top honors. All three were outstanding, but Brandon got the nod. The team is completed by Liberty's Sue Lynn Cowlbeck and Narrows Suzanne Webb.
George Wythe's Lisa Garland was beaten out by Webb. Wythe had four sophomores who were major contributors and should make the Maroons a Group A team to watch in the next few years.
Brandon didn't learn her basketball in a recreation league.
``I got started playing [in pickup games] against the boys when I was in sixth grade,'' Brandon said.
She averaged 12.6 points as a freshman and stepped it up by nearly four points last fall. This year, Brandon was Martinsville's leading scorer as the Bulldogs finished 20-4.
Hicks and Moore scored more than 30 points a game between them. Hicks played inside, but it was Moore, a guard, who led the team in rebounding with 8.1 per game. Hicks added 7.2 rebounds per game and shot 52.2 percent from the field.
Cowlbeck was versatile in leading Liberty to the Region III tournament. She averaged 13.5 rebounds to go with a double-figure scoring average.
Webb also was a double-double player. Webb became a consistent double-figures scorer late in the season and led the Green Wave to a 13-9 record.
by CNB