Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506060041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
After Salem's Henley beat Blacksburg's Gibb 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) to advance to the final, I could say that in 35 years of covering sports from junior high to Super Bowl and World Series games, this was one of the 10 most exciting and meaningful contests I had witnessed.
Henley fought off triple-match point in the second set and trailed 4-1 in both tie-breakers before winning.
It was an odd battle, with 12 consecutive service breaks. In the entire match, there was only one service ace.
Henley battled fatigue from having played two matches in the team tournament and had to use a racket with broken strings. The fact that his replacement racket was out of commission caused him problems in the early going.
Meanwhile, Gibb couldn't get his overhead going and missed some great setups.
When Henley won the second set, he said, ``I don't know how I pulled that off.''
Watching most of this with great interest was Dave Petersen, an assistant principal at Blacksburg. Petersen had coached Henley for two years at Salem and knew Gibb from following the Indians the past two years after taking the job in Blacksburg.
When the match ended, Gibb rushed out to be by himself after congratulating Henley. The next day, he spoke with Petersen.
``He told me that if it had to be this way, he has another year while this was Jeff's senior year,'' Petersen said.
The two finalists have not always been angels on the court. In this match, Henley was penalized a game to start the second set for abusing the ball at the end of the first set. It might have been an overreaction on the part of the official because this was an important match and I've seen worse behavior go unpunished.
The previous week, Henley had been thrown out of a Region III team match for abusing his racket.
In the 1994 Group AA tournament, Gibb protested the final call of a match that was over and used some profanity. Originally, he was going to be defaulted the next day, but because he had not received a warning and the match was over, Gibb escaped punishment.
``As an administrator, I could not be more proud of the way Robert represented Blacksburg High School,'' Petersen said of this year's match with Henley. ``Robert worked very hard controlling himself. He learned you can't control an opponent if you don't control yourself.''
Henley deserved the same compliment. Other than the incident in the Region III team competition, he played great and was great fun to watch in the state tournament. There were no other temperamental outbursts from either player.
Petersen knew Henley wouldn't go quietly, despite the fact he had played two matches in the team competition while Gibb had not played at all.
``I never saw Jeff given up in a match. He's just one of these players that you never count out,'' Petersen said. ``I felt when Robert went up 4-3 in the second set, he had to shut the door. I knew, give Jeff an inch, he'll take a mile.''
This match brings up another point. Why is the Group AAA tournament played over three days, while the Group AA and Group A tournaments are played in two days?
``That's a good question,'' Petersen said. ``The explanation I was told was the competition wasn't as high in AA and A as AAA. I have some concerns on that. The length of the court is the same and all three tournaments should be the same length.''
Had it been hot and steamy on Wednesday, Henley might not have won. It was not fair to have a tired Henley facing a fresh Gibb.
``Going back to 1989, none of the individual state champions have been involved in team play that final day. I can remember only one other occasion, other than Jeff this year, that the state champion was involved in team play on the first day,'' Petersen said.
York's Carl Maymi beat Henley in the final after playing in the team competition. But Henley, who beat Maymi in straight sets the previous day in team play, was drained mentally from his match with Gibb and lost in three sets.
Glenvar's Nick Varney failed in the Group A final against Clarke County's Patrick Bartlett. Varney might not have won had Bartlett played in the team tournament. With the Clarke County player rested after Glenvar played for the team championship in the morning, Varney had little chance.
``Right now, if you're No.1 on a team in the tournament and playing for the individual crown, you're penalized by your team being there,'' Petersen said. ``If you're going to decide who is the state singles champion, all things should be equal.''
FETES FOR FEATS: Two old war horses who retired as coaches this past season were and will be recognized by their friends.
On Saturday, a Husky Hall Recognition was held in the Martinsville High School auditorium to honor the state's winningest public school boys' basketball coach. Hall's teams went 605-178 and won seven state championships.
Parry McCluer coach Bob Williams, whose football teams won five Group A titles, will be honored at 7 p.m. Friday at the American Legion Building in Buena Vista. There will be a 45-minute reception with hors d'oeuvres and a brief, lighthearted program, followed by dancing with music by The Flames. Tickets are $15.
COACHING CAROUSEL: Jim Hall has stepped down for personal reasons after one season as Bassett's football coach.
The Bengals have had six coaches in seven years since Jerry Cannaday resigned, with only Mike Myers staying more than one season. Hall's Bassett team made the playoffs and upset Dan River in the Region III Division 3 semifinals before losing to William Campbell in the championship game.
At Martinsville, there still is no word on a successor to Husky Hall, but longtime assistant Troy Wells remains the favorite for the job.
by CNB