ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512040087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
The Blue Ridge District's neighborhood rerun for the Group AA girls' basketball championship swung when Sarah Hicks changed locations.
It wasn't the family move the 6-foot junior made after her freshman season, from Northside High to Lord Botetourt -- although the Cavaliers wouldn't have been on this title trip without her.
The move that lifted Botetourt to a 43-39 victory over William Byrd on Saturday afternoon at the Salem Civic Center wasn't one of those Hicks made for her game-high 23 points. It was the one without the ball.
The Vinton team was showing a 1-1-3 and dropping into a matchup zone, surrounding the Botetourt star like pit-bull Terriers. When Hicks went outside in the fourth quarter, it opened up more than passing lanes through the Byrd defense.
``I'd like to tell you it was great strategy,'' Botetourt coach David Wheat said. ``It wasn't. Actually, we discovered what we did practicing for Culpeper (the Cavaliers' victim in Friday night's state semifinal).''
To give point guard Sara Moore a simulated feel for what defending tall Culpeper playmaker Sonya Bowles would take, the Cavaliers had Hicks play the part of Bowles in practice last Tuesday.
Moore got the idea, and Wheat got another one. Hicks, who sees the floor and passes better than most post players on her level, could make a pass, and cut and get the ball inside. Or, she could make a pass, cut, and roll to the side of the paint.
While Byrd's offense was spreading out Botetourt and trying to protect a second-half lead with little besides patience, the Cavaliers were doing the same thing - albeit in a more subtle way.
Botetourt won its second Virginia High School League title in school history - following a boys' golf crown four years ago - because of more aggressive play down the stretch.
The Cavaliers also had the best player on the floor. Hicks had 45 points and 18 rebounds in two state games in less than 24 hours. In four previous games, the Terriers had held Hicks about 10 points below her season average of almost 22 per game.
Because of her size, mobility and grasp of the game, she might be the best Group AA college prospect to play hoops in the Roanoke Valley since girls' hoops, with summer camps and AAU ball, became serious business.
About 20 colleges already have scouted the junior, whose aggressiveness stamps her Division I future, too, probably at the three spot.
Hicks may know how a state title feels at sweet 16, but she probably doesn't realize how good she can be at a game she began playing at 7 for the Williamson Road Recreation Club.
``I play every day if I can,'' Hicks said. ``My school work gets done first, then I work at my game. They say the players that practice today are the ones that play tomorrow. I believe that.''
The more than 4,000 fans who paid to see the state finals doubleheader were treated to a Group AA nightcap that produced the expected knuckle-cracking. In five games between Botetourt and Byrd this season, the Terriers won three by a total of 10 points, the Cavaliers two by 11.
``It's the toughest district around,'' Hicks said of the Blue Ridge. ``We were really determined we would win this time again. This was the one that counted. We thought if we picked things up, we could go to the basket.''
Botetourt scored 11 of the game's last 13 points. Hicks had eight of those. Her follow shot with 28.6 seconds gave the Cavaliers the lead for good.
In the second half of Botetourt's 26th victory in 30 games, Hicks had 17 points. Byrd had 19, and only two hoops in the last seven minutes. The 39 points was a season low for the Terriers (25-4), and Hicks' inside presence was bothersome, too.
``I don't think I've ever seen a player turn around a game on defense like Sarah can,'' said Wheat, who finished his seventh year as the Cavaliers' coach holding the title trophy and game ball.
``She just finds a way to get her hand on the ball. There was one time in the first half she knocked it loose, then went through three people and stole it, like a guided missile.''
Yes, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see Hicks lifting her game to another level, either.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB