ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
The Demons recover after wasting most of a 15-point halftime lead in a 48-38 girls' basketball victory over the Blacksburg Indians.
If a blown big lead is as wrenching an emotional experience as basketball offers, the Christiansburg High School girls' team found the ideal antidote for a sleepless night.
The path to nocturnal bliss started at the free-throw line Tuesday night. The Demons buried 12 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter to hold off fast-closing Montgomery County rival Blacksburg 48-38 in a Blue Ridge District game on the Blue Demons' floor.
Christiansburg (6-3 overall, 1-0 in the district) needed every one of those free throws, too. Blacksburg, which looked like a chalk outline midway through the game, rose from the coffin like Dracula and had a 15-point halftime deficit (24-9) down to 31-27 when Casey Beamer buried a jumper with 5 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the game. Blacksburg then proceeded to make its next 10 freebies, four each coming from Amber Reed and Stewart Milton.
Reed would go on to sink seven of eight on the way to scoring a game-high 20 points. She has been the team's leading scorer in four of nine games. Milton, the point guard, made all four of her free throws to score her only points.
Blacksburg's record is 3-7 overall, 0-3 in the district.
``Christiansburg came well-prepared and got the ball to the people it needed to get the ball to,'' said Mickey McGuigan, Blacksburg's coach. ``We've done this before. We were way down to Lord Botetourt, then had it to within three points in the fourth quarter before losing. Salem also had a big lead before we came back to make it closer.
``We still haven't figured out how to get past that three- or four-point deficit.''
Composure was the key issue for the Blue Demons. In short, they kept theirs throughout.
``We made some mistakes to let them back in the game, but then we started going to the line and that gave us the confidence we needed to pull it out,'' said Danny Knott, Christiansburg's coach.
Center Lisa Dalton added 10 points for the Demons.
Knott singled out Shannon Hart and Christie Brown for a pair of crucial potentially game-turning shots in the fourth quarter.
Karly Geller led the Indians with 13 points and Angela Feret had eight.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB