ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996 TAG: 9603010086
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RUSTBURG
THE VIKINGS EARN their sixth Group AA tournament berth in seven years with a 50-49 victory.
``A thriller? Is that the word?'' an ecstatic and exhausted Northside basketball coach Billy Pope asked.
That was about the only question Pope couldn't answer Thursday night. Pesky defense and accurate shooting in the clutch helped Pope's Vikings overcome a strong effort from Fieldale-Collinsville and record a 50-49 victory in a semifinal of the Region III tournament at Rustburg High School.
Northside (16-7 and the fifth-ranked team in Timesland) advances to Saturday's championship game, playing the winner of tonight's semifinal between Salem and Liberty. With Thursday's victory, the Vikings also earned a berth in next week's Group AA tournament, a distinction they have achieved six times in the past seven years.
Thursday's victory was anything but automatic, however. Northside led on only three occasions against the taller Cavaliers for a grand total of about 90 seconds.
Senior center Adam Gray stole a rebound and scored a stick-back with 30 seconds remaining, putting the Vikings ahead for the final time, 48-47.
Northside's other leads (27-26 and 33-32) came in the third quarter.
With the Vikings ahead 48-47, the Cavaliers' Delvin Joyce missed the front end of a one-and-one with 5.9 seconds left.
After two Ben Peete free throws with 3.6 seconds left gave the Vikings a 50-47 lead, the Cavaliers attempted to set up a tying field goal. Brad Harmon found Mancino Craighead with a three-quarter-court pass and Craighead made his shot at the buzzer. But his feet were just inside the 3-point arc.
``This win was great because we had a hard time all night,'' Pope said. ``They [Fieldale-Collinsville] played with confidence from the start; they jumped all over us at first,'' taking a 9-2 lead two minutes into the game.
``But through it all, we battled back,'' he said. ``I'm really not sure how we won.''
Coach Ben Gravely said his Fieldale-Collinsville team just missed a couple of free throws at the end.
``That's been our problem all season,'' he said. ``On the last play, we drew that up and they did a good job executing it. Craighead is a wide receiver on the football team and he knows how to catch a pass.''
The Cavaliers (16-4) led by seven points (18-11) at the end of the first quarter, when Craighead, a senior forward, hit a layup at the buzzer.
Peete kept Northside in the game, scoring 11 of the Vikings' first 13 points. Peete had 13 of Northside's 20 at the half, but Fieldale-Collinsville still led 26-20.
The Vikings' Justin Porterfield, who sat out most of the first half with foul trouble, stood out in the third period, notching five points and several dazzling assists and steals. But the Cavaliers, who shot 61 percent from the floor for the game, retained control.
Fieldale-Collinsville led 47-43 with three minutes to play when a Porterfield 3-pointer cut the lead to one. Each team missed an opportunity to change the score before Gray's heroics.
``The guys carried me along,'' said Gray, a former Vikings starter who missed the past five weeks with an ankle injury, but came off the bench Thursday to score nine points. ``I couldn't have done it without them. They wouldn't let me quit.''
Peete and Porterfield scored 20 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Northside. The Cavaliers' Harmon also finished with 20 points, and Craighead had 17.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB