ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9601020028
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOLS
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
The end of the year gives us a chance to look back at some of the top names in Timesland sports.
Not the most prominent ones, but the ones that challenge the computer jockeys who take high school games on the phone.
The hardest name for me is Roanoke Catholic's Aki Al-Zubaidi. I hardly ever put the hyphen in the right place for the Celtics' football and basketball player. He must have done something right, though, because he was a second-team choice at defensive back for the State Independent Schools' team. He's only a junior, so we should have plenty of chances to get the hyphen right next year.
Patrick Henry has a senior football lineman named T-Jay Tate. The problem is that when his name originally was submitted by the Patriots' coaches, it was listed as ``T-J Tate.'' The correct spelling wasn't confirmed until he made second-team All-Timesland.
Before he graduates, we'll certainly want to check where Loopy Lewis, a sophomore lineman for Northside, got his name. The school lists it as ``Loopy'' in the football program and doesn't bother with his given name. It should be worth learning, because he was one of Timesland's better 10th-graders during the 1995 football season.
The best descriptive name for a Timesland athlete this year was an easy choice. Shawsville's Jett Marrs was second-team All-Timesland. He wasn't a running back, which probably was the best place for a guy with such a mercurial moniker. But Marrs did use his speed as a wide receiver, tying for second in Timesland in receptions with 38.
In Henry County and the City of Martinsville, preseason football rosters were loaded with players sharing the same last names. But if you bet those names were Wilson, Jones or Smith, you would lose a bundle.
There wasn't a Jones on a preseason roster from those five schools. There were three players named Wilson and one named Smith.
The most popular last name? Hairston. There were 19 Hairstons, and Laurel Park had the most, with nine, while Bassett didn't have a Hairston listed.
In boys' basketball, every team had a Hairston on its preseason roster for a total of five. There was no player named Jones playing Piedmont District boys' basketball.
Carlisle, a private school in Henry County, had no Hairstons and no one named Jones, Smith or Wilson. The Chiefs do have juniors Rizwan Javaid and Rehmon Javaid, which will make for some interesting calls to The Roanoke Times' sports department when they score points.
In Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball, Patrick Henry's Devon Battle - a Sizzlin' Sophomore in football - is known as ``Boo.''
By the way, there is no player named Jones in Blue Ridge District boys' basketball. Maybe it's not that common a name after all.
IT'S COMING BACK: The NationsBank Holiday Hoops Classic will return next season.
The tournament has drawn well, especially considering the bad weather and scheduling conflicts that have plagued the event.
In the Classic's first year (1993), a snowstorm forced the postponement of games, pushing the final back to New Year's Day at Salem High School in conflict with college bowl games. A matchup between Salem and Northside filled the gym despite the competition.
This season, the final round was moved to the morning and afternoon to avoid a conflict with the sold-out Virginia-Virginia Tech basketball game at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Some high school fans either sold or didn't bother to buy Tech-UVa. tickets. When the Holiday Hoops Classic times were switched, they still missed the college game.
``I think the tournament's been a success and we've had some nice crowds,'' said Salem athletic director Sandy Hadaway, who along with Spartans coach Charlie Morgan, has worked hard to make the tournament a success.
With Christmas falling on a Wednesday next year, the tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday. That could make it difficult for out-of-town teams such as this year's champion, Riverside of Durham, N.C., if a snowstorm forces postponements.
It also will be interesting to see how many Timesland teams return. Cave Spring pulled out this year, as did Fieldale-Collinsville. Both had been in the first two tournaments. Patrick Henry and William Fleming replaced them in the tournament, but surprisingly, neither squad made it to the championship or third-place games.
STATE FINALIST? Salem made the championship game of the Holiday Hoops Classic for the second time in three years. The previous winter, Northside met Cave Spring in the championship game.
It's interesting to note the Blue Ridge District team going the furthest in the Holiday Hoops field has played for the Group AA championship the past two years. Salem won the 1994 title and Northside lost the 1995 crown to Nansemond River.
Does that mean this Salem team might make the Group AA title game? Stay tuned.
SLOW START: Pat Paye, a former assistant at William Byrd and the son of William Fleming boys' basketball coach Burrall Paye, is off to a slow start as a head coach. His William Campbell team beat Buckingham County in a mild upset on the road Thursday to enter 1996 with a 2-4 record.
Paye is trying to build a program. Though he has a number of decent athletes, his efforts were stymied when William Campbell made the semifinal round of the Group AA Division 3 playoffs in football. Most of the basketball players at the school also were on the football team.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 linesby CNB