ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512040085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
There are only so many ways to stop a scorer, and William Byrd's defense was no match for Lord Botetourt junior Sarah Hicks.
The 6-foot center, held 10 points below her average in four prior games against the Terriers, took control in the second half as the Cavaliers won 43-39 Saturday to claim the Group AA girls' basketball championship at the Salem Civic Center.
Hicks scored 23 points and hauled down eight rebounds. She had 17 points and five rebounds after halftime as Botetourt, down 35-29 with 7:34 left, rallied. She scored four important points in the final 30 seconds to settle the game.
``This is when it counted, when I needed to step up,'' Hicks said. ``My teammates gave me a lot of great passes.''
Byrd employed the same 1-1-3 zone defense to clog the middle and shut down Hicks as it had in earlier meetings. In one game, Hicks stepped outside but had little success shooting jumpers. This time, the Cavaliers center became a board banger.
``I just tried to hit the backboard on my inside shots. I worked a lot harder to get my shots off. I knew they'd play the same defense, but I decided that this [title game] is what we worked so hard for and I had to get up,'' said Hicks.
The last few minutes were as hectic as the other four games between these teams. Byrd (25-4) won three times, but the Cavaliers (26-4) prevailed when it counted - for the Region III title to get a first-round state tournament game at home and then for the state championship.
Botetourt went to a press in the fourth quarter and it effectively changed the tempo. Hicks pulled the Cavaliers within a point on a layup with 1:40 left. After the Terriers missed, Sara Moore was fouled with 1:06 left and made one free throw for a 37-37 tie.
Lord Botetourt finally took the lead as Marisa Michalski, the team's only senior, sank a free throw with 1:02 remaining to make it 39-38. Byrd took its last lead with 51 seconds remaining when Cathy Smith, who scored all of her 10 points after intermission, got a tip-in off a missed shot by Brandy Allen.
Hicks followed her own miss and got a stickback with 28.4 seconds left to give the Cavaliers the lead for good. William Byrd senior Kelli Runyon then missed a one-and-one free-throw attempt and Hicks dropped in two free throws with 18 seconds remaining for a 42-39 lead. Moore's free throw with nine-tenths of a second left secured the victory.
``I thought we could do it,'' Moore said. ``If it came down to the last few seconds as it did two weeks ago [in the region], things would fall our way again.''
Lord Botetourt coach David Wheat changed defenses several times in an effort to create a faster tempo before resorting to a full-court press.
``The only reason I didn't go to it earlier was we played the last game Friday [in the semifinals] and it was late when people went to bed. I was holding back but I knew we'd have to go to it eventually,'' said Wheat.
Byrd coach Richard Thrasher tried just about everything as he failed for the third time to win a Group AA championship game.
``Against their press, we didn't get the ball up the floor quickly enough,'' he said. ``But give them credit, they made the shots at the end. I can't complain about our team for I think we exceeded what people expected of us.''
Byrd had controlled the action starting in the second quarter when Thrasher used a lineup of reserves Sara Moore, Erin Caldwell and Brennan Sigel with Smith and Kim Kendrick. The Terriers outscored the Cavaliers 10-4 to take a 20-17 lead at intermission.
The three reserves had all 10 points and Caldwell, a freshman, contributed six points, two assists and three steals for the game.
``I surprised myself,'' said Caldwell. ``I never expected to play as much. I kind of thought we had this game, but all of a sudden, we lost momentum and nothing really went right at the end.''
Botetourt got 35 of 43 points from Sara Moore and Hicks, but Michalski, Aimee Bird, Katrina Elliott and reserve Amanda Nichols contributed in other ways besides scoring.
``We wouldn't be here now if it was not for Michalski the last three weeks,'' said Wheat. ``She's made a difference in taking us from an A team to an A-one team. It seems as if every night we've had someone from that group step up big.''
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. ROGER HART/Staff Lord Botetourt's Sarah Hicks (30)by CNBgrabs a rebound in front of William Byrd's Brandy Allen (right) in
the state title game. color
2. ROGER HART/Staff The Lord Botetourt bench celebrates the
Cavaliers' Group AA championship game victory over William Byrd on
Saturday.