ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
THE TERRIERS SHARE the Blue Ridge District girls' basketball lead with Northside after a typically tough victory over the Spartans.
One thing that never changes in Timesland girls' basketball is the fierce competition between Salem and William Byrd.
The casts change, but the coaches and closely contested games don't. In this year's first meeting of the Blue Ridge District rivals, William Byrd held off Salem 58-56 on Tuesday night to remain tied with Northside atop the district standings.
First, Salem would send Sarah Palmer to the middle of the Byrd zone and she'd hit a short jumper. Then, the Terriers closed off that option.
Offensively, Byrd would feed inside to 6-foot-2 Stephanie Parnell or 6-0 Brandy Allen. They combined for 28 points, but Salem stole the ball enough times on that play to stay in the game.
Finally, sophomore Erin Caldwell, who hadn't taken a shot of any kind for Byrd, hit five of six free throws in the final 2:13.
``I've been practicing free throws a lot in practice,'' Caldwell said. ``I don't think about the pressure [at the end]. I just ignore it.''
Freshman Andrea Gay, who had four steals and 10 points, hit eight of 12 free throws, but two of the misses came with 9.9 seconds left and Byrd (8-1 overall, 3-0 in the Blue Ridge) nursing a one-point lead.
At the other end, the Spartans' Erin Patrick missed a one-and-one with Gay drawing a foul on the rebound. She hit one free throw with 2.6 seconds left and missed the second. The best Salem could get was a full-court desperation throw by Palmer that went only half the distance.
``If you play each other as many years as we have, you pretty much know what the other one is going to do,'' said Salem coach Dee Wright, who started matching wits with Byrd's Richard Thrasher when they met in the 1984 Group AA championship game. Wright was at Radford then.
``This was our best game, except for some spurts where we lost our heads and became unfocused,'' Wright said of her young team, which is 7-2 overall and 2-1 in the district after losing its share of the lead.
Byrd had two leads of eight points and one of seven in the second half. Each time, the Spartans rallied.
``This was a typical Salem-Byrd game with two good, young teams going after each other,'' Thrasher said. ``Both teams played in spurts, but Salem played a great game. They made some tough shots when we had hands in their faces.''
Byrd led 55-51 after Gay made a free throw with 48 seconds left. Palmer came right back with a layup, but Caldwell hit two free throws to restore the four-point lead with 22.1 seconds left.
That should have been the game, but Salem sophomore Lindsay Carroll hit a 3-pointer with 11.1 seconds remaining, setting up the final frenzied finish.
Palmer wound up with a game-high 19 points, including eight in the first quarter. She continually bounced in and out of the zone and led Salem with three steals.
``We made some mistakes in our zone,'' Thrasher said. ``She shouldn't have been that open.''
Help came from junior point guard Mandy Williams with five assists and 10 points. Erin Collins scored 10 of her 12 points during the last two quarters.
``This was Mandy's best game,'' Wright said. ``She was 95 percent totally focused.''
Byrd got 10 points from Parnell before she fouled out. Caldwell dealt four assists.
The Terriers hit 20 of 31 field-goal attempts; Salem made 22 of 52, which might be the biggest reason this close game came out in favor of the Terriers.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. William Byrd's Andrea Gay is hackedby CNBby Salem's Mandy Williams (44) during Tuesday's Blue Ridge District
showdown.