ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
CAVE SPRING RALLIES to advance in the Roanoke Valley District girls' basketball tournament.
Jackie Banks' put-back with four seconds remaining completed an improbable comeback as Cave Spring defeated William Fleming 49-47 in the Roanoke Valley District girls' basketball tournament semifinals Thursday night.
``I don't know how many rebounds Jackie had tonight, but if she only had one, that would be the one to have,'' said Linda Long, the Knights' coach.
Banks' shot capped a final 24 minutes of play that saw Cave Spring (14-7) charge back from a 22-7 first-quarter deficit.
Banks led Cave Spring with 12 points and Lisa Bryan added 11. Renita Walker paced the Colonels (12-8) with 15 points.
Cave Spring's victory, coupled with Pulaski County's 92-63 win over Franklin County, means the Knights advance to the Group AAA Northwest Region tournament. Cave Spring will face Pulaski County for the fifth time this season in the RVD tournament championship Saturday at 5:30.
``We've played four games in five days and just didn't have our legs at the beginning,'' Long said. ``We just battled back behind Amber Neil and Mandy Warsaw.''
Neil and Warsaw were called up from the Cave Spring JV team Tuesday, and Neil passed her first major test with flying colors, coming off the bench to score eight points.
``Amber and Mandy give us a lot of quickness off the bench,'' Long said. ``Plus it gave Stacie [Morioka] a chance to rest. She's been playing 32 minutes a game for us all season.''
With fresh legs on the floor, Cave Spring held William Fleming without a field goal for 17 minutes.
``We took too many quick shots during the second half,'' said Roland Lovelace, William Fleming's coach. ``Earlier we were taking what they gave us. We just didn't continue to do that down the stretch.''
During that span, the Knights mounted a charge and tied the score at 32 on two free throws from Banks with 1:12 left in the third quarter.
Cave Spring took its first lead at 36-34 with 6:50 remaining when Bryan found Alyssa Redick open for a layup.
The Knights pushed their lead to five before a three-point play by Colonels guard Shaunarey Walker and a steal and layup by Renita Walker knotted the score at 42 with 3:50 left to play.
The teams exchanged free throws over the next 1:32, and after three more ties, the score stood 47-47 and set the stage for Banks' heroics.
Neil recorded a steal with two minutes to play and the Knights played for one shot.
``We wanted to run the clock down to 30 seconds and then run our offense,'' Long said. ``Morioka made a good pass to Amber [Neil] and she took a good shot. Thankfully, Jackie [Banks] was there to tip it in.''
Concerning yet another meeting with the Cougars, Long said, ``We've played each other so much we probably know each others' names and addresses. It should be a great ballgame.''
Pulaski County 92, Franklin County 63: The Eagles (4-17) shot 30 percent from the field, committed 20 turnovers, fired up nine airballs and had seven shots blocked in their loss to the regular-season champion Cougars.
Pulaski County (15-6) compiled a robust 60 percent shooting performance and ran off spurts of 22-3, 16-1 and 8-0.
Five Cougars scored in double figures, led by Sarah Donald's 14 points. The district's leading scorer, Katrina Williams added 13.
``That's the kind of scoring we've gotten all year,'' said Buddy Farris, Pulaski County's coach.
The Eagles were led by Kelli Preston's 18 points. Penee Clayborne hit for 15.
``We ran into a hot team tonight,'' said Debra Crockett, Franklin County's coach. ``It seemed like they didn't miss a shot in the third quarter.''
In reality, the Cougars were 11-of-15 in the period as they pushed a 46-27 halftime lead to 68-46.
``They were pulling up and hitting shots. there was just nothing we could do,'' Crockett said. ``We had a hand in their face on most of them. They were just playing well.''
Pulaski County dominated play in the first half, scoring 20 points in the paint.
As good as the Pulaski County offense was, it was the Cougars' defense that literally stole the show.
Pulaski County forced 11 first-half turnovers while holding Franklin County to 31 percent (11-of-36) shooting.
With 47 seconds left in the first quarter, the Eagles had more turnovers (nine) than points (seven), and had missed nine consecutive field-goal attempts.
``We did a lot of things to help them out,'' Crockett said. ``Their intensity brought some things out in us I thought we had put behind us this year.
``But you have to give Pulaski County a lot of credit. If they continue to play this way, I predict they will win the tournament.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB