ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
In the final hectic seconds, Liberty High School basketball coach Mark Hanks was glad to see the color red.
``They threw up a runner and all I could see was the red light [behind the basket] go off,'' said Hanks.
That made it official that the Minutemen had beaten Lakeland 53-50 Saturday at Liberty University to take the Group AA championship.
The Minutemen (25-0) had taken a three-point lead with 5.8 seconds left when Cheyney Preston got behind Lakeland's press for an easy layup.
After that the Cavaliers (19-10) had only one chance - to make a 3-point shot. Amon Cross would have been the one to take it, but the pass came to Bryan Baker, whose running shot was off just enough for the Minutemen and their crowd to start celebrating on the Vines Center's floor.
``We thought they'd go to Cross, so we had Gregg [Reynolds] on him and Peanut [Raymond Arrington Jr.] was going to double him,'' said Hanks.
``We wanted the ball to go to Cross,'' said Lakeland coach John Fuller. ``They had it covered well.''
For Hanks, it ends three years of building to a state title. It started with a Region III appearance in 1994, a berth in the Group AA semifinals last year when Nansemond River wore down the Minutemen on the way to the title and finally the ultimate - a championship.
``This team believed from the start it could win the state,'' said Hanks. ``Every day, they'd talk about it in the lunch room. I'd shake my head and say, `How can we win the state with no one taller than 6 feet, 2 inches?'
``To do something like this, you have to be a dreamer. And I'm a firm believer in dreaming dreams.''
This was a defensive game all the way as Liberty had to battle the taller Cavaliers and overcome a horrendous 3-point shooting day, in which it hit only one 3 in 14 attempts.
The Minutemen won the rebounding war 36-31, which became a factor late in the fourth quarter.
Liberty led 47-37 with 5:13 left after Preston hit a hook shot from the lane. Lakeland went to a press and the Minutemen had trouble hitting free throws.
With 3:55 left, Cross' follow shot made it 47-42 and then Liberty controlled the ball for almost the entire next 2:47.
In this span, Liberty missed four shots - and got the offensive rebound three times. The only time Lakeland touched the ball came after a defensive rebound by James Pruden, who started a fastbreak only to see Lakeland throw away the ball.
With 1:09 left, sophomore Robert Carson hit a free throw to make it 48-42.
``We wanted to go for a layup, but it turned into a delay,'' said Hanks. ``Once I had to call timeout and told them to keep attacking. We haven't run a delay the whole year and maybe that's why it didn't work.''
After Carson's free throw, Cross missed a one-and-one with 1:04 left. Preston rebounded, lost the ball and Pruden got a layup to make it 48-44.
After J.J. Coles was called for a foul as Liberty tried to come up the court, Pruden hit two free throws, trimming the Minutemen's lead to two with 50 seconds left.
Carson was fouled. He missed, but Preston got the rebound. He was fouled and hit two free throws with 45 seconds remaining for a 50-46 lead. Pruden came right back with a layup.
This time, Arrington was fouled. He made only one, missing for the second time in 24 attempts in three state tournament games.
Damon Tillery, who had a game-high 19 points for Lakeland, slipped in for a layup to make it 51-50 with 14 seconds left.
Now came the biggest play in Liberty's season. Arrington inbounded to Coles, who fed to Reynolds. The senior guard whipped a long pass to Preston, who was all alone for the easy basket.
``I didn't have time enough to get scared. I knew Gregg would throw it to me, so I took my time,'' said Preston.
``Coach Hanks told us we could get behind them,'' said Reynolds. ``I knew when I saw Cheyney that if I could get it out of my hands, we'd win the state.''
Tillery had 17 points in the first three quarters to keep the Cavaliers in the game.
``We wanted to start Carson on him, but we were afraid he'd get in foul trouble,'' said Hanks. ``So Neil Roop took him early.''
Lakeland led early, but yielded to Liberty as fatigue and foul problems took their toll on 6-7 John Ricks, who blocked five shots. Ricks never fouled out, but he missed much of the second half.
``I had a good first half and they played me more physical [in the second half],'' said Tillery. ``We were tired because we were so happy to be in the state finals that we were up all night talking about it.''
Liberty never abandoned trying to shoot 3-pointers, but the Minutemen didn't run open throttle as they had all year. It became a half-court game and the Minutemen were very good at getting key points during the first three quarters.
``Coach Hanks told us to keep shooting,'' said Arrington of the 3-pointers. ``But we never could find the range.''
Arrington led Liberty with 16 points, three more than Coles. Coles and Reynolds combined for six of Liberty's 13 steals.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff. 1. Liberty's Cheyneyby CNBPreston goes up for a rebound in front of Lakeland's Damon Tillery
(40) and Herman Knight (30) on Saturday in the Group AA final. 2.
Lakeland's Damon Tillery (left) attempts a shot over Liberty's
Raymond Arrington Jr. on Saturday. color.