ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512040002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
It was vintage William Byrd girls' basketball Friday in a Group AA semifinal at the Salem Civic Center.
The Terriers fell behind, appeared to be on the ropes, then bounded back late in the game to defeat Park View-Sterling 64-57 in overtime. The Terriers earned a trip to the championship game against Lord Botetourt at 2:30 p.m. today.
It was an unusual game in another sense. Byrd, known for stopping the opposition's leading scorer, hardly could contain Park View's Renee Lettington. The 6-foot-1 senior lived up to advance billing with 38 points and 12 rebounds.
``We didn't do a good job picking her up for some reason,'' said Richard Thrasher, Byrd's coach. ``We didn't communicate, but even so she can flat out shoot the ball.''
In two state tournament games, Lettington scored 85 points and had 40 rebounds. She had 16 points in a torrid third period as the Patriots (25-4) outscored Byrd 22-12 to seemingly take control.
It wasn't enough, though, because the Terriers (25-3) offset Lettington with two players. Brandy Allen, a 6-foot sophomore, had the game of her career with 29 points in displaying the early-season form that made her Byrd's top scorer.
``I've been working on my shots all week,'' Allen said. ``I stayed an hour every day after practice.''
Senior Cathy Smith, playing despite a sprained right shoulder suffered in a first-round game at Grundy, contributed 24 points, five assists and six steals that were key as Byrd's press wiped out a nine-point deficit.
``I knew we could come back,'' Smith said. ``We had to. This team has worked so hard the whole year. We didn't want to get down, but two down or 22 down, we'd never give up.''
The victory matched huge rallies in the regular season against Lord Botetourt and Martinsville when the Terriers seemingly pulled off miracles to win those games. This time Byrd rallied earlier and tied the score when Smith stole the ball for a layup that made it 48-48 with 1:28 left.
The Terriers went ahead 50-48 on a short jumper by Allen. But Lettington, who scored only one field goal in the final period, made it a big one as she tied the score with a jumper to necessitate overtime.
``I knew when we went to overtime, they looked tired,'' Thrasher said. ``They play basically six people. So I figured we'd win.''
The Patriots had two leads, but Byrd dominated overtime. Smith scored eight and Allen added five to propel the Terriers into a state final for the third time in Thrasher's 12-year coaching career.
``We let them off the hook,'' said Larry Sims, Park View's coach. ``We started playing not to lose and did some things uncommon to this club. Down the stretch, we were our own worst enemy. At one point, we had three unforced turnovers in a row.''
The Patriots' coach realized, though, that one girl wasn't going to win the game.
``They're a little deeper than we are and they went to the middle,'' he said. ``That's where we've been a little soft. It makes a difference to have two scorers like that [Allen and Smith] to stop when both of them were looking for the basket.''
Guard Kelli Runyon came up with six assists and three steals, and Kim Kendrick had four steals for Byrd. The Terriers' press forced 12 turnovers by Park View in the third quarter besides taking Lettington out of the game.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB