ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603040117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
Finally, the verdict is in. Liberty can play and survive a close game.
After whipping 21 consecutive opponents by mostly big scores, Northside gave the Minutemen a tussle before Liberty prevailed 54-45 to claim the Region III boys' basketball championship Saturday at the Vines Center at Liberty University.
The Minutemen (22-0) couldn't put away the pesky Vikings (16-8) until the last few minutes in a game that Northside refused to allow to reach the tommy-gun tempo Liberty thrives on.
The Minutemen will play a first-round Group AA tournament game against Gate City at a Roanoke-area site to be determined, while Northside will travel to face Virginia High in Southwest Virginia.
The Vikings had a realistic chance to upset the state's top-ranked Group AA team until point guard Justin Porterfield was whistled for an offensive foul, his fifth, with 4:48 left and the Minutemen clinging to a 41-39 lead.
Liberty's Raymond Arrington missed a field-goal attempt, but reserve Chaney Preston followed with a tip to put the Minutemen ahead by four.
A half-minute later, after Northside's Ben Peete missed a 3-point try that spun out, Preston got a fast-break layup for a 45-39 lead that forced Northside to start fouling in an attempt to catch up.
``I think this game will help us. It was a great crowd with a hard fought game,'' said Liberty coach Mark Hanks. ``I knew with their guards the type of game it would be. No one was going to score 70 or 80 points. It was definitely a Northside-type game. The Vikings are used to thrillers.
``We've been in a lot of these type games this year, and we're ready for them. We'd like to have been a tad closer at the end. I can't speak for them [about a close game being an advantage for Northside],'' said Vikings coach Billy Pope.
It was a gimpy-legged J.J. Coles who turned the game toward Liberty in what was essentially a battle of guards. Coles had to sit out much of the first half with two personal fouls and an injured right knee.
``The trainer says its tendinitis. He's been battling it for a year,'' said Hanks.
Coles scored eight points in the final quarter. He hit six straight free throws. More importantly, he limped off the bench near the end of the third quarter and nailed a jumper that gave Liberty a 37-36 lead.
Porterfield was equally magnificent in another way. He had seven assists in the first half. His prettiest one came in the second quarter when he lofted a half-court pass to Adam Gray for a layup that tied the score 26-26. Xavier Lee's 3-point shot put the Vikings ahead 29-26 at intermission.
Porterfield and Peete had foul problems with Peete picking up three in the first half.
``It doesn't take a real smart person to want Justin and Ben in there for the whole game. We'd like to have had a few fouls back,'' said Pope.
The Vikings made 13 of 25 shots in the first half, but cooled off to five of 23 after intermission.
Liberty wasn't in the groove as it had been in the semifinals against Salem. The Minutemen made 16 of 41 for the game and 5 of 14 from 3-point range. Northside countered by hitting seven of 12 3-pointers.
Arrington had 12 points to help Coles, but Liberty helped itself by turning up the pressure defense late in the game and coming up with 10 steals total.
``Last year, those two guards hurt us and we couldn't make them turn the ball over. We ran a couple of traps in the final quarter and got some steals,'' said Hanks.
``It was big when Porterfield went out. Peete had to penetrate and dish. I'm sure they'd rather have had Porterfield doing that and Peete shooting.''
The Vikings had a 33-30 edge on the boards as Adam Wimmer grabbed 11 rebounds. At one critical point during the final period, Northside had a volley of three shots but couldn't get one of them to fall.
LIBERTY (54)
Arrington 3 5-6 12, Roop 2 0-0 5, Carson 1 2-6 4, Reynolds 0 3-4 3, Coles 6 6-6 20, Stevens 1 1-2 4, Preston 3 0-1 6. Totals 16 17-25 54.
NORTHSIDE (45)
Peete 6 3-4 18, Gray 1 0-0 2, Wimmer 4 0-1 8, Peters 2 1-3 6, Porterfield 2 0-0 4, Lee 3 0-0 7. Totals 18 4-8 45.
Liberty||15--11--11--17-54
Northside||13--16---7---9-45
Three-point goals: Coles 2, Arrington, Roop, Stevens, Peete 3, Peters, Lee. Team fouls: Liberty 15, Northside 22. Fouled out: Porterfield, Peters.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 linesby CNB