Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 13, 1995 TAG: 9510130083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES C. BLACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Situations like this usually are reserved for the team leader, but junior Cathy Smith was on the bench after fouling out.
So, with five seconds left in overtime, Allen caught a pass from a teammate, spun toward the basket and - swoosh! Celebration time.
Allen's turnaround jumper with no time remaining capped a second-half comeback as Byrd knocked off previously undefeated Lord Botetourt 59-57 in a Blue Ridge District girls' high school basketball game Thursday.
``I can't believe it went in,'' the misty-eyed sophomore said. ``The only thing going through my mind was I was going to miss the shot and the game was going to go into another overtime.''
But Byrd coach Richard Thrasher had a lot of confidence in Allen.
``We've been trying to get her to be a little more offensive-minded,'' Thrasher said. ``We want her to catch the ball, turn around and shoot. She has a nice touch.''
What was supposed to be a battle of the unbeatens was derailed when Byrd (13-1 overall, 3-1 district) lost at Salem on Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers (14-1, 3-1) led by 11 points late in the third quarter and had a 51-47 lead with 4:04 left in the game when Smith fouled out trying to block a field-goal attempt by Lord Botetourt's Sarah Hicks. Hicks hit one of two free-throw attempts for a five-point lead.
But instead of capitalizing on Byrd's misfortune, the Cavaliers stopped attacking the basket.
The Terriers cut the deficit to 52-50 on a 3-pointer by Sara Moore with 2:55 remaining.
Then Botetourt's Sarah Moore hit a free throw with 1:35 to put the Cavaliers up 53-50.
However, Allen made her most important offensive play of the night prior to overtime.
She hit a basket and went to the line hoping to tie the score with a free-throw with 1:22 left. Allen had missed her first six free-throw attempts. But in crunch time, she nailed this one, and the two teams were scoreless for the rest of regulation.
``I'm not that good at free throws, but I've been practicing them really hard,'' Allen said.
In overtime, Allen hit a field goal and Lara Nester made two free throws to give Byrd a 57-53 lead.
Botetourt later tied the score on four free throws by Moore, the second pair coming with 43.8 seconds left.
And then Allen hit the final of her team-high 16 points for Byrd to end the game.
Despite losing its first game of the season, Botetourt coach David Wheat tried to give words of encouragement to his team.
``I told my kids that with each game, you never stay the same,'' Wheat said. ``You get better or you get worse. We lost tonight, but we got better. We'll get them next time.''
Moore and Hicks each scored 20 points for Botetourt.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB