ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
It wasn't easy, but with a week left in the regular season, Lord Botetourt is all alone atop the Blue Ridge District girls' basketball race.
The Cavaliers overcame a Salem defense designed to stop Sarah Hicks and Sara Moore and posted a 56-36 victory Thursday on the Spartans' floor. That victory, coupled with William Byrd's triumph at Northside, left the Cavaliers (18-1 overall, 11-1 district) a game ahead of the Terriers and the Vikings.
Lord Botetourt still has a showdown game against Northside next Tuesday that could create a three-way logjam at the top or leave the Cavaliers with at least a tie for the district title.
Salem (9-9, 4-8) has been fighting injuries all season and brought up three junior varsity players for the game, all of whom saw a lot of playing time. The Spartans' 3-2 zone defense worked on Hicks, who didn't score until her basket with six seconds left in the first half gave Botetourt a 25-19 lead.
After intermission, Salem went to a triangle-and-one defense against Moore, daring Hicks to regain her scoring touch. The 6-foot senior did that with 13 points in the second half.
Moore had only eight points, but dealt out seven assists.
If Hicks and Moore had their scoring problems, Aimee Bird didn't. The Botetourt forward had 15 points to share scoring honors with Hicks. It was her second-highest scoring game this year.
``I just take the shots when I'm open,'' said Bird. ``They were giving me some shots. Other teams will probably be doing this as the tournaments get closer.''
Lord Botetourt coach David Wheat had a quick fix to get Hicks back on the scoring track. ``At the half, we just told Sarah to take it to the hoop, just to let her instincts take over.''
Hicks made six of seven shots in the final 16 minutes and Lord Botetourt dominated by outscoring the Spartans 31-17.
``We did well the first half, then we kind of got out of sync,'' said Salem coach Dee Wright. ``But Botetourt played like a championship team after we had contained them the first half.''
The Cavaliers also did an excellent defensive job, stopping Salem's Sarah Palmer with just four points, her low for the year. Like the Spartans' defense, the Cavaliers used a box-and-one on the junior.
Salem didn't have a double-figure scorer, but Lindsay Carroll kept the Spartans close in the first half with her outside shooting and wound up with nine points despite not scoring the final quarter.
Is Lord Botetourt struggling from pressure created by having four starters back from last year's Group AA state championship team?
``Maybe we're playing as if we're tight,'' Wheat said, ``but every team comes out and plays us hard from the opening tip. If they stay with us, it gives them confidence.''
Could the Cavaliers have been looking ahead to the Northside game?
``I wasn't, but you never know about the girls,'' Wheat said. ``We try to guard against that.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB