ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604090002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOLS
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
Remember when Popeye used to lose Olive Oyl after being pushed around by Bluto, the muscular bully?
Popeye went out, ate his spinach, flexed some muscles of his own and beat up on Bluto to reclaim Olive.
Maybe it's time to serve some spinach to the West team in the Virginia High School Coaches' Association boys' all-star basketball game. The series is one of the most lopsided in the state, with the East winning five in a row and 17 of the past 21 games.
VHSCA officials pondered switching boundaries to make it a more competitive game. They dismissed that idea because it would have to be done for all sports, and that would ruin the competitive balance in the other games.
This summer, the West might not need spinach or gerrymandering of boundaries to win. Despite what's happened in the past, it's hard to imagine the West not being favored.
First, the lack of big people that has helped create the imbalance won't be a factor, thanks to a quartet of inside players: 6-foot-5 James Stokes of William Fleming; 6-6 Rolan Roberts of Potomac, who has committed to Virginia Tech; 6-6 Bobby Wimbush, who helped lead George Washington-Danville to the Group AAA title; and 6-5 James Williams of Glenvar, the Pioneer District's player of the year.
The sleeper for the West may be 6-10 John Pugh of Herndon, who has signed with Fordham after averaging 16 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game. Somehow, Pugh was not nominated for All-Group AAA consideration.
``It's going to be fun,'' said West coach Mark Hanks, whose Liberty team won the Group AA title without a player taller than 6-2. ``I haven't seen anyone over 6-2 in so long, it will be interesting.''
The frontcourt also will feature an outstanding trio of small forwards with the quickness to complement the big men inside in William Byrd's Chris Childress, Woodbridge's Aaron Demory and Council's Mike Ratliff. All three stand about 6-3.
In the backcourt, it's a dream team with Liberty's J.J. Coles, who is very quick; Justin Porterfield, who is Northside's standout passer; Altavista sharpshooter Dennis Brown, who was the Seminole District's player of the year; and Albemarle's Mark Bressan, who like Brown is quick and can shoot but offers more height.
No matter how Hanks and the other coaches substitute, there won't be as big a drop-off as there has been in recent years, and unlike other all-star teams - both East and West - this one has depth.
Meanwhile, the East is hurt by the fact that its best players - Indian River's Jason Capel, Hampton's Ron Curry, Nansemond River's Antoine Willie and Hopewell's Monsanto Pope are underclassmen and are, therefore, ineligible to play.
For Timesland fans, four of the area's best players - Stokes, Childress, Porterfield and Williams - are on the team. Childress averaged nearly 26 points a game, and each of the other three led his team to the state semifinals.
SILVER ANNIVERSARY: When the VHSCA holds its all-star games and coaches' clinic July 8-11 in Hampton, it will mark the 25th anniversary of the football and basketball games.
The first all-star football game was played at Victory Stadium in Roanoke on a sweltering July night in 1972, with the West winning 16-14. In boys' basketball, the West won 100-92 at the Salem Civic Center. The West actually won the first three games in the series.
Baseball was added in 1976 and girls' basketball in 1980, but the games had moved out of the Roanoke Valley by then. Next came softball in 1990, with volleyball added two years ago and boys' soccer in 1995.
600 VICTORIES: Bobby Bowden, Florida State's coach, will be the featured speaker at a dinner May 14 when Hampton High School celebrates its 600th football victory as a school.
The Crabbers achieved their 600th victory during the 1995 regular season and finished the state playoffs with 605. Head coach Mike Smith, with 259 of those victories, has been assistant or head coach for about half the total. At 54, Smith has an excellent chance of winning 300 games as a head coach and an outside shot at 400.
MAKING POINTS: Staunton River's Hunter Hoggatt has had three terrific seasons and earned a basketball grant to Virginia Commonwealth. But he's not likely catch the state's top junior, Stacy Ervin of Twin Springs, in scoring.
Ervin has 1,860 points going into his senior year compared with 1,575 for Hoggatt. The Staunton River sharpshooter, provided he remains in the state, does have a chance to catch Nansemond River's Willie (1,641) and James Wood's Michael Crawford (1,590), who are just ahead of him in career scoring.
To catch Willie, the state's Group AA player of the year, Hoggatt will have to pick up the pace. Willie had 727 points in 1995-96, while Hoggatt had 561. Willie figures to slow down, however, because Nansemond River is moving to Group AAA and might not make the final four for the third consecutive year.
In girls' basketball, James Madison High School's Katie Smrcka-Duffy, headed to North Carolina State on a scholarship, finished her career with 2,463 points, the second-best total in state history. The two-time Group AAA player of the year was way behind Phoebus' Le'Keshia Frett, who had 3,290 and was the national player of the year before going to the University of Georgia.
HELP!: Pulaski County needs a football scrimmage opponent Aug.17 because of a scheduling conflict with Woodrow Wilson of Beckley, W.Va.
The Cougars also need a team to replace William Fleming and fill out the Bob Hudson Touchdown Classic, which is fast becoming Timesland's best lead-in jamboree to the season. The Classic will be played Aug.24 in Dublin.
Interested schools should contact Pulaski County's coach, Joel Hicks, at the school.
LENGTH: Long : 102 linesby CNB