ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
It's not a good idea to let William Fleming's James Stokes think he's playing his last high school basketball game.
Faced with that prospect Tuesday, Stokes took control in overtime to lift the Colonels over Halifax County 68-64 in a Northwest Region first-round game at Fleming.
The Colonels (17-6) were struggling with a team they had beaten by 10 and 19 points in regular-season meetings. Stokes had scored all eight of Fleming's points in the fourth quarter, but the senior missed a long desperation shot at the buzzer that could have ended the game in regulation time.
In overtime, Stokes scored the first five points for his team. His layup and free throw with 2:23 left put Fleming ahead for good at 61-58.
The Colonels advance to face Potomac, ranked sixth in the Associated Press Group AAA poll, on Thursday in Roanoke with a trip to the state tournament at stake.
For the game, Stokes posted the third-best scoring game of his career, with 29 points, one shy of the 30 he scored against Halifax County in a regular-season game last winter and two short of his 32 against Monacan this season. He also had eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
``I started thinking: If this is my last game, I'm going out strong,'' Stokes said. ``I played as hard as I can and it worked.
``I was concerned because Halifax County has improved since the first game and we played like we had never seen them before.
Halifax County coach Don Thompson, who has seen Stokes for the last time, said as long as his team could play a zone, it maintained some control.
``I felt like we could contain Stokes a little better,'' Thompson said. ``When Tim Davis fouled out [in overtime], we had no one strong enough to get around him.''
Richard Wilson's perimeter shooting gave Fleming a 14-6 advantage midway through the first quarter. Halifax County (11-10) came back behind Carlos Jackson and Shannon Jennings in the second quarter as they combined for 19 points to give the Comets a 35-32 lead at intermission.
``I think we looked past this game because we had had some good practices. The kids went out there and thought they wouldn't have any problems,'' said Marshall Ashford, the Colonels' coach.
Fleming scored the first three baskets of the second half, starting with a jumper by Stokes as the Colonels went ahead 38-35. Halifax County stayed close, but Fleming controlled the game.
Then, the Colonels, in an effort to bring Halifax County out of its zone, went to a delay game in the fourth quarter. Stokes' dunk made it 56-52 with 1:23 left, but Halifax rallied on a short jumper by Jackson, and a steal by Jennings, who fed to Jackson for a layup to tie the score with 32.9 seconds left.
Fleming nearly didn't get a final shot, and the one taken by Stokes had little chance as he threw it up desperately from the left side of the court.
``We tried to power up the tempo with traps'' in the first quarter, Ashford said. ``We weren't going to hold the ball in the delay game. We felt if they went man-to-man, they had no one to play with James.''
Thompson said, ``If I had been in the same position, I'd have probably done the same thing.''
In overtime, after Stokes put Fleming ahead, Wilson clinched it with four free throws.
For the game, Fleming hit 22 of 46 shots and the Comets connected on 27 of 50 and held a 31-24 rebounding advantage. Stokes had 22 of Fleming's 36 points after intermission. More importantly, he never tried to leave the game because of fatigue.
``The way this game was going, I could have played longer. I wasn't even winded. I could have played all night,'' said Stokes, who saw to it the Colonels will play again for at least one more night.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff. James Stokes (50) ofby CNBWilliam Fleming gets two points the easy way Tuesday night against
Halifax County. color.