Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120009
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Long
The two-time defending Group A state champions took their we're-the-little-guys-and-we have-a-chip-on-our-shoulder routine through a series of home-and-home September dates with the big girls from surrounding Group AA state powers.
Winning eight of 12 against that kind of schedule while trying to rebuild a graduation-depleted program has to be considered an accomplishment. When you expect to win them all, that isn't good enough, though.
Floyd County did win them all for a while, 59 straight going into this year. But the streak didn't consume people like you'd think it might
``Some of us took losing the streak pretty hard,'' said senior point guard Melissa Cantrell, who experienced twice the number of losses this past month as she has in every season combined going back through junior varsity. ``All good things must come to an end, though.''
Now the Buffaloes are back to that part of the season in which the only foes left are Group A teams including the rest of the member of the Three Rivers District.
Floyd County opened defense of its league title last week by mauling a sound Auburn team 79-48. The Buffaloes defended, they rebounded, they sank 3-pointers (eight of them), and they ran the floor in one continuous stampede.
Kind of reminds you of something you've seen before.
Auburn coach Tim Goetz thought of his fellow district coaches who may not yet be aware of what they'll soon be dealing with in Floyd County.
``I'd like to say good luck to [Giles coach] John Howlett, [Shawsvile coach] Tracy Poff, and [Radford coach] Brenda King,'' Goetz said. ``I wish them well. I'll help them any way I can. I even have tape they can watch.''
They, too, have seen it before. Same system, same intensity (if anything poses a potential threat to Floyd County coach Alan Cantrell any time soon it'll be a case of spontaneous combustion), same lopsided scores.
Different players.
Well, they're not all different. Melissa Cantrell, the coach's daughter, is back for a fourth season and is leading the team in scoring (14.9 points per game), 3-pointers (21), and assists (6.4 per game).
Julie Sowers is another hard-bitten veteran of the most recent state championship, if you can call a sophomore hard-bitten. She scores 13.9 points per game, corrals six rebounds per game, and leads the team in 3-point shooting (44.1).
Jill Quesenberry is another well-traveled sophomore and the team's most accurate marksman (46.8 field goal percentage). Other sylphs such as Amy Vest and Karen Pursifull, the younger sister of 1994 Timesland player of the year Leigh-Ann Pursifull, have been getting their minutes as well.
Vest, a natural point guard and a good shooter, broke through for 16 points and a trio of 3-pointers against Auburn. Her time to shine may be coming soon.
More underclassmen are having an impact. Guard Sonya Hylton and forward Sara Conner are starters. Conner leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game and is third in scoring (10.8 points per game).
The seniors who have been through state championship campaigns past are fewer this year. Along with Cantrell, the others include post player J.J. Sowers (it's Jennifer Jean to her parents, J.J. to everybody else), Charity Shrewsbury, and Sara Fralin.
All of them play, sometimes together as an off-the-bench unit of shock troops. At one recent practice, Fralin was popping every jump shot that became available to her.
``I've been working on it and I will take it,'' she said.
There has been some concern that Floyd County was going to have matchup problems with taller teams. For the first time in a good while, there are no 6-footers on the Buffaloes roster.
But when Floyd County played Auburn, with its frontcourt of three near 6-footers including team leader Crystal Moles, Floyd County's pressure defense and accurate shooting negated whatever height advantage the Eagles may have enjoyed.
Taking on the tall AA teams such as Byrd was viewed as an educational tool.
``We're hoping it's going to pay off down the line,'' Alan Cantrell said.
Cantrell finds other ways to challenge them. One recent practice, he brought in Melissa's brother Travis and Jason Dalton along with Adam Harris, all of whom play for the boys' varsity, to scrimmage with the girls. Assistant coach Jerry Light was pressed into service, too. Cantrell has been doing it for years.
``Makes us get tough, that's for sure,'' Melissa Cantrell said.
``The guys are a lot faster, they can see over everything, and they can jump,'' Sara Conner said. Then, to Melissa Cantrell, she asked: ``How can they see what we can't see?''
``I don't know,'' Cantrell said.
``The call of the wild, I guess,'' Conner said.
Which is another way of saying survival of the fittest.
by CNB