ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RUSTBURG
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
The last time Salem met Laurel Park in the Region III boys' basketball tournament, it was a four-overtime game.
In the latest chapter between these two teams, it was mostly Spartans as Salem pulled away in the second half for a 62-45 first-round victory Wednesday at Rustburg High School.
The victory puts Salem (16-8) in the Region III semifinals for the third time since Charlie Morgan took over as head coach four years ago.
The Spartans' task Friday won't be easy. They advance to meet unbeaten Liberty, the top-ranked team in the Associated Press Group AA poll and Timesland's top-rated team, for a berth in the state tournament.
Before the Spartans could take a shot at Liberty, they had to stop Laurel Park senior Rashad Wall. The Piedmont District's player of the year managed 18 points, four blocks, three steals and 13 rebounds, but it wasn't nearly enough to make this contest close.
Salem contained Wall long enough to take an early lead and, with patience on offense that included back-door passes and drives down the middle for layups, kept extending the lead.
Meanwhile, guard Andy Beach's main defensive task in Salem's matchup zone defense was to pester Wall with help from fellow guards Herschel Thomas and Sam Lazzaro.
``We wanted to keep someone matched up on him,'' Morgan said. ``We had a tough time doing that because we don't usually do that out of our defensive sets.
``Andy has guarded the other team's best player all year long. We said we didn't want [Wall] getting more than one shot.''
``He's a good player and has some good power moves,'' said Beach, a 5-foot-111/2 guard ``He's probably the biggest player I've guarded since we played Riverside'' of Durham, N.C., in the NationsBank Holiday Hoops Classic.
Offensively, Salem controlled the ball, working Thomas free for open jumpers en route to 19 points, freeing Scott Hall and Eric Grinnell for back-door passes or clearing help from the middle to let Beach drive.
``We didn't play well tonight,'' said Laurel Park coach Frank Scott, whose young team upset the field a week ago to win the Piedmont tournament after going 8-8 in the conference during the regular season.
``Rashad sucked up two early fouls and that didn't help any,'' Scott said. ``We weren't being aggressive. We never got into the rhythm.
``We had seen what they'd do, that they'd go for the back-door pass. We felt if they got the lead, they'd start making five or six passes [before shooting]. But we're a young team and we'll build on what we did last week.''
Salem hit 28 of 55 shots from the field, but the Lancers had a 37-23 rebounding advantage. The Spartans' defense forced turnovers as Laurel Park had 10 more miscues than Salem, which came up with six steals including three by Thomas. Laurel Park made only 16 of 46 shots.
Salem took the lead for good midway through the second quarter as Grinnell slipped in for a layup to make it 19-17, starting an 11-2 run in which the Spartans center scored three times and Thomas twice.
After intermission, Salem used a 12-0 run to put away the game. The Spartans took a 43-23 lead as Thomas and Beach scored twice.
Liberty and Salem are old foes, though they haven't met during the regular season.
``We scrimmaged them in the fall and played them an overtime game at team camp in the summer,'' Morgan said. ``Mark Hanks [Liberty's coach] does a great job and we have our work cut out for us Friday.''
``Both teams are really good,'' Beach said. ``It's going to be a dogfight.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB