ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
EIGHT TIMESLAND SENIORS are going out with class as they lead their four teams into the state boys' basketball semifinals at Liberty University's Vines Center.
Four Timesland schools, located within 35 miles of one another, will be seeking boys' basketball state championships this weekend at Liberty University.
No matter what happens, the four schools - Glenvar, Liberty, Northside and William Fleming - will consider the season a success. Each of the four teams made the final four in the state tournament, and each team had two key seniors who helped make the program among the state's best for the past two winters.
Glenvar, which plays Northumberland at 7 p.m. today in a Group A semifinal, is led by forwards Cory Willis and James Williams.
Liberty, ranked No.1 in the Associated Press' Group AA poll, takes on defending champion Nansemond River at 1 p.m. Friday. The Minutemen boast guards J.J. Coles and Gregg Reynolds, who have been the leaders of a press that is the Minutemen's calling card.
Northside, which has made the Group AA semifinal round four of the past five years and meets Lakeland at 2:30 p.m. Friday, also has a great set of guards in Justin Porterfield and Ben Peete, who have been the leaders of the Vikings' most recent forays into state tournament play.
William Fleming, a dominant Group AAA team in the Northwest Region that has made the state tournament semifinals three of the past four seasons, has front-court power in 6-foot-51/2 James Stokes, perhaps the state's hottest player, and 6-6 center Sterling Tate, who has averaged double-figure scoring since the first of the year after recovering from preseason knee surgery.
The Colonels will be the last Timesland team to play, battling Hopewell at 7 p.m. Friday.
Combined, these eight players have accounted for 6,771 points, led by Stokes, with 1,202 points, and Porterfield, who has 1,021.
Undoubtedly, Willis (907) and Williams (766), as well as Reynolds (845) and Coles (778), also might have been 1,000-point scorers if they had not played on teams with balanced scoring.
Peete (779) has been a varsity regular for two seasons after transferring into the Vikings' program. Tate (473) has been hampered by two knee operations or he would have scored more points.
The hottest player among the eight is Stokes, who is averaging 28.3 points in his past four outings. Tate's return has been a key to freeing Stokes inside.
``The last two summers, Sterling has had knee surgery. Last year, he didn't play until after Christmas,'' said Marshall Ashford, Fleming's coach. ``This year, he played right away.
``His mother asked me if he was playing a little hesitant. But now he's playing and not worrying about his knee. A lot of people double up on James [Stokes] and don't realize Sterling can score on the 10-foot jumper, plus he's a good offensive rebounder.''
Off the court, Stokes and Tate are good friends. ``In practice,'' Ashford said, ``they go against each other and try to outdo each other.''
At Liberty, Coles and Reynolds also are standout football players, making the All-Timesland team in the fall. In the past three years, Liberty has a 62-10 record on the court with Coles and Reynolds at guard.
``You can't ask for a more consistent pair of guards,'' said Mark Hanks, Liberty's coach. ``They don't always put up the greatest stat lines, but we don't require that in our system,
``If you put these two in another program that emphasizes scoring, both of them would have flourished and been 1,000-point scorers. They don't care about stats. The big stat for them is in the `W' column, and that's what makes them so special.''
Northside's two guards have combined for 1,800 points. Porterfield is averaging 5.5 assists and Peete 3.0 assists for their careers. This season, Porterfield is averaging 6.4 assists and he has 459 for his career, which means he's had a hand in more than 900 points by other players, including many by Peete.
``I won't rank guards,'' said coach Billy Pope, whose Northside program has been oriented toward front-court players. ``But they rank, as a pair, with the best I've had.
``They both act like point guards. It's a nice situation we have, not to limit one in one role and the other in another. They both have made each other better players.''
Pope says the best thing these two have done is change their styles to help the team.
``For instance, Ben is the second-leading rebounder on this team,'' the coach says. ``I put him down there [playing low on offense and defense] and said we need you to rebound. We didn't need that last year. Justin has been matched up guarding several post players for other teams.
``Other guys on our team look up to them and how competitive they are. But Justin and Ben also respect what the others do. Two guys [alone] won't get you this far.''
Art Lawrence, Glenvar's coach, says his two key seniors have the ability to score inside or outside.
``James Williams is the best post player I've had since I've been here,'' he said. ``He's a good ball-handler who also helps bring the ball up the floor. That's something you don't always see in a big man. James has good range and can make the 15-footer. He's done it in practice, but we don't let him go too far from the basket.''
Lawrence remembers bringing up Willis as a sophomore.
``He was up two days and wanted to go back to junior varsity,'' Lawrence said. ``He didn't think he could contribute.''
Willis did contribute, scoring 183 points as Glenvar made the Region C tournament. That was the foundation for 1995, when the Highlanders finished second in the state, and for this year's second consecutive Region C title team.
``This year, James asked me late in the season if he had made all-district. He didn't make it last year. I already knew, but I couldn't tell him,'' said Lawrence, who was sworn to secrecy.
As it turned out, Williams not only made all-district, he was the Pioneer's player of the year.
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