ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 6, 1995 TAG: 9512060090
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
It was opening night Tuesday in Vinton, and Chris Childress brought down the house.
Childress, a 6-foot-2 senior forward for William Byrd, scored 30 points to lead the Terriers to a 70-54 victory over Cave Spring in a non-district boys' basketball game.
Childress made 11 of 19 field-goal attempts and was eight-of-nine from the free-throw line. He scored at least six points in each quarter and committed only one foul.
``Childress did a great job,'' said coach Chris Carr, whose Cave Spring team saw its record slip to 1-1. ''We don't really have anybody who matches up with his athleticism.''
Childress had a strong supporting cast, with Mayo Wilson (16 points), Frank English and Kevin Stump (10 each) scoring in double figures.
``Not bad for our first game,'' said Paul Barnard, Byrd's coach. ``We try to get three or four kids involved in the scoring. It's a team game, and spreading the points around makes for better basketball.''
The Terriers got out of the blocks quickly, opening a 15-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Wilson converted a long 3-point attempt, and English had two three-point plays, drawing fouls on inside baskets.
``The difference [between the two teams] tonight was defensive intensity,'' Carr said. ``They came out tonight with a mission to shut us down, and we came out in lackluster fashion. All the difference in the score came in the first three minutes of the game and in the first three minutes of the second half.
``We had a poor practice yesterday. We lacked intensity then, too.''
After falling behind 38-25, the Knights closed to 38-30 at intermission, thanks to two free throws from point guard Jeff Lang, a steal of the inbounds pass and a basket by David Harms - all in the second quarter's last four seconds.
Cave Spring committed three turnovers in the first 40 seconds of the third period and quickly trailed 46-32. The Knights mustered a rally of sorts, pulling as close as nine points (55-46) near the end, but Byrd effectively held the ball in the game's final minutes.
Alex Phillips was Cave Spring's leading scorer, with 15 points, most of them coming on inside moves. Lang contributed 11 points, but only made two of 12 field-goal attempts.
``Three things concerned me tonight,'' Barnard said. ``Our rebounding was weak in the first half; they got to the foul line early in the first half and we didn't; and when we got off to a 13-point lead in the first half, they cut it back to eight.
``We've got to learn to keep our focus.''
Neither team handled the ball especially well. Byrd was credited with 21 turnovers, three more than the visiting team.
The Terriers shot 57 percent from the field (26-of-46), compared with 39 percent for the Knights (19-of-49).
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB