ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512290103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOLS
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
There is a certain magic to covering high school athletics.
One longtime sportswriter I know said it's the best beat in a sports department, and he's a college beat writer who has covered NCAA tournaments and bowl games.
I found out what he meant when I took a rare night off from Tuesday night high school basketball to attend the Vanderbilt-Virginia men's basketball game.
I went there as a Vanderbilt alumnus and helped this paper's UVa writer, Doug Doughty, get quotes from the Commodores' dressing room after the game.
There was no problem with me cheering on press row, because I learned long ago to control my emotions. My wife, Binki, detests the way I sometime sit like one of the presidents on Mount Rushmore when we attend athletic events together, but I just don't cheer that much except maybe in front of the television for Vanderbilt or when Virginia Tech and Virginia are playing other schools.
I covered the father of Drew Maddux, a sophomore guard for Vanderbilt, when the elder Maddux was in high school about 28 years ago in Nashville, Tenn. Ray Maddux was the Metro player of the year for Nashville in basketball as a senior.
When I walked back to the Commodores' dressing room after the game, there was Ray Maddux. He instantly recognized me and I'm not sure how, because I've added a few pounds and gray hairs and now wear glasses. He seemed happier to see me than he was to see his son, whom he introduced to me.
Ray Maddux hasn't changed a bit. He still looks the same as he did when he was a 6-foot-7 center in high school. In fact, father and son look more like brothers, especially in the face.
I often run into people I covered in college athletics years later and, while they are cordial and recognize me, there's no warmth there as was with the Maddux clan. Even the son was glad to see the antique sportswriter who facetiously claimed he had made his father famous as much as the many rebounds he collected and the points he scored.
TROUBLED TIMES: On a less happy note were remarks made recently by former Radford High School football player Kevin Saunders, now the head coach at William Campbell.
After Saunders' team lost to Graham 7-6 in a Group AA Division 3 semifinal during the past weekend, he blasted the Roanoke-based officiating crew of Ruben Terry, Dan Phlegar, Harry McKnight, Mark Driscoll and John Bradd, who were assigned to the game by the Virginia High School League.
Saunders was quoted by a Lynchburg newspaper as saying, ``That was pitiful. That was the worst officiating in a ... playoff game that I have ever seen in my life. I don't want to take [anything] away from Graham, but that was a disgrace.''
Saunders made no mention of some calls that went his way to sustain his team's touchdown drive and one to kill a drive by Graham.
What Saunders said publicly is a no-no under VHSL rules that prohibit coaches from criticizing officials in the media. It is likely that some kind of sanctions will come down against Saunders. His punishment could be as severe as a one-game suspension at the beginning of next season with a warning that if he violates the rule again, he'll be gone for good.
William Campbell officials are looking into the matter and will make a report this week to the VHSL. If the school takes action the VHSL deems appropriate, it will be handled at that level.
The officiating crew Saunders blasted included some of the best and most experienced officials in the Western Officials Association. Four of the officials were assigned to handle the Salem-Northside regular-season game that is one of the toughest for any officiating crew because of the intensity of the rivalry.
Saunders always has been outspoken, so maybe a game on the sideline would serve as a refresher course on postgame decorum.
A NEW KICK: Michael Sams, superintendent of Bath County schools, says the Chargers are adding boys' soccer as a spring sport in 1996.
Bath County, with an enrollment of 197, will be the smallest school in the state with a soccer team. It replaces West Point (253 enrollment) as the soccer-playing school with the fewest students.
When it comes to sports, Bath County isn't shy about its offerings. In the spring, boys can compete in track and field, baseball and tennis. For girls, track and field and softball are options.
The soccer team will be coed, as it is at other Group A schools such as Glenvar, James River, George Wythe and Giles, which were the only Region C teams with teams this year.
BAD DEFEAT: GW-Danville really did beat Patrick Henry 115-73 on Tuesday in boys' basketball; that was no typo. It probably was the worst loss ever for a PH team coached by Woody Deans - or anyone for that matter.
In 1992-1993, PH was 4-17 after its top two returning players, Curtis Staples and Tim Basham, transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Grayson County. With Staples and Basham expected to return along with Shannon Taylor, Deans had scheduled some tough teams. The Patriots were routed 67-33 by a nationally ranked DeMatha squad. Later, PH lost to Dunbar of Washington, D.C., 72-33.
The current PH team is no powerhouse, but it is better than the 1992-93 squad. This GW team also pasted Franklin County 89-53 and might be the best Group AAA squad in the state.
``The team Woody had in 1988 [that won the Group AAA title] would probably hang with GW,'' said former PH coach Dick Kepley, who was at Tuesday's game, ``but it's the most talented team I've seen in 10 years.''
LENGTH: Medium: 98 linesby CNB