ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
The unhappy plight of racing greyhounds was brought to life in excruciating detail for Cave Spring High's basketball team Tuesday night.
Just as the sporting dogs chase a mechanized hare they'll never catch as amused gamblers look on, the Knights pursued Northside, their host for a non-district engagement. Cave Spring caught up finally, but then only for a moment, before the Vikings escaped again.
The Knights had their chances in the closing moments but Northside hung on for the 50-45 victory.
Thus was avenged a 65-60 setback to Cave Spring earlier in the year, but not without some anxious moments for the Vikings.
Down 47-45 and with the ball, the Knights called timeout with 1:13 left to plot strategy.
``We wanted to be the team with the last shot,'' Cave Spring coach Chris Carr said. ``If we hit a 3-point shot, we win the game. If we get the ball inside, maybe we hit a shot and get fouled.''
The plan went awry. With the coaches frantically hollering and motioning for a time out, the players continued to run the play. Then a tough break - Chris Johnston, the only junior on the floor for the Knights, was whistled for a walk.
``I would have liked for the players to have settled the game on the floor,'' Carr said.
After that, they did. Northside guards Ben Peete and Justin Porterfield drilled three of four free-throw attempts in the last 6.4 seconds to provide the Vikings with the final margin.
For Northside, it was a double-bonus shot at redemption, first for the initial loss to the Knights and then for a dreary 51-22 defeat to Petersburg in the Crestar Classic this past weekend. Northside slowed the pace in that game but eventually ground to a halt as shot after shot clanged off.
Northside used many of the same tactics again Tuesday.
``The thing we wanted to do was get a lot of touches and get good shots,'' Northside coach Billy Pope said. ``That tended to give us good rebounding position and rebounding has been a big concern for us.''
Particularly against the Knights, who outboarded Northside by a double-figure margin the first time they played. This time, the Knights won that battle again, but only by a 24-22 spread. Unlike the Petersburg game, Northside shot well, too, making 45 percent of its field-goal attempts (18-of-40), a figure that was dragged down by a 4-for-14 second quarter.
The big gunner Tuesday was Peete, who buried a pair of 3-pointers en route to a game-high 21 points, 13 of those coming in the first half. The scoring was sorely needed because Northside's other major threat, Porterfield, sat for lengthy stretches with foul problems. Porterfield was on the floor when it counted most, though, and finished with eight points and many clutch assists.
``That was a big step for us,'' Pope said. ``We kept our composure when they got the lead and Porterfield was on the bench.''
Cave Spring had its own demons to chase after William Byrd crushed the Knights 77-62 Monday. The Knights bounced back from that debacle behind Alex Phillips (14 points, five rebounds) and Jeff Lang. Lang made 7 of 14 field-goal attempts against Northside, none of them very easy, on the way to 20 points. Five of the field goals were 3-pointers. Lang's first game back after an ankle sprain two weeks ago was Monday.
``It looks like his ankle is healed,'' Pope said.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. Jeff Lang (right) of Cave Springby CNBdrives toward the basket as Northside defender Ben Peete applies
pressure.