ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 7, 1996 TAG: 9612100023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: ROUNDUP
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
Liberty opened its season-long defense of its 1995-96 Group AA championship Friday night by holding off Martinsville 68-56 in Bedford and winning its 26th straight game over the past two seasons.
The Minutemen looked like state champions early by taking a 21-6 first-quarter lead. Martinsville, though, rallied behind Jason Wells' eight points in the second quarter to pull the Bulldogs within three, 33-30, at halftime.
Martinsville (1-1), which opened its season by defeating Tunstall on Tuesday, took a 34-30 lead in the third, its only lead of the game.
Liberty's Rodney Morris then scored nine points in the quarter for Liberty (1-0), which carried a 49-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
Morris finished with 15 points. Raymond Arrington also scored 15 and made all five of his free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter.
Robert Carson scored 10 for the Minute men. Leander Preston led Martinsville with 17 points and Wells added 14.
Patrick County 75, Carroll County 62: Corey Reynolds capped a week of prodigious scoring by netting 40 points to propel the Cougars to a victory over the Cavaliers in a non-district game in Stuart.
Reynolds' outburst came on the heels of efforts of 37 and 33 points, respectively, in Patrick County's first two games. That's an average of 36.6 points per game.
The 6-foot senior point guard scored 18 points in the second quarter, when Patrick County (3-0) outscored the Cavaliers 29-14. He made 11 of 12 free throws to seal victory in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Hill scored 14 points for the Cougars. Earl Johnson led Carroll County (1-2) with 14 points, Roanld Mankins had 13 and Jody Edwards 10.
Christiansburg 69, Radford 64, OT: Mike Kazee tipped in a missed shot with three seconds left to send the game to overtime and scored six of the Blue Demons' eight points in the extra period.
The Bobcats (0-1) mustered just one field goal in overtime after leading most of the non-district matchup in Christiansburg. Radford got ahead on the strength on 3-point shooting. The Bobcats canned 12 long-range shots for the game..
Scott Baker led the Demons with 24 points and Kazee had 20. Warden Crowder led Radford with 21 points (five 3-pointers), John Robertson had 14 and Adam Artrip 13.
Floyd County 81, Galax 62: Derek Saunders scored 14 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Buffaloes (2-0) to a non-district victory over the Maroon Tide (0-2) in Galax.
The Maroon Tide trailed only 59-53 after three quarters, but a big quarter by Saunders and turnovers in the fourth put away the Tide. Travis Cantrell and Jason Dalton led the Buffaloes with 21 and 19 points respectively.
Scott Hall scored 21 points for Galax.
Graham 67, Rocky Gap 35: Graham (2-0) opened with a 13-2 run and never looked back in winning a non-district game at Rocky Gap.
Rusty Rose led the G-Men with 13 points and Jordan Burton added 11.
Matthew Akers led Rocky Gap (0-2) with 11 points.
Laurel Park 70, Chatham 44: It was father versus son as Frank Scott Sr., Laurel Park's 14-year coach, got the best of his son, Frank Scott Jr., who is fresh out of Virginia State University.
The Lancers took over early with their full-court press and never let the Cavaliers get settled. Jeff Slade led Laurel Park (2-0) with 14 points while Tony Carter had 12 and Eric Jones 11.
Mario Fitzgerald had 12 for homestanding Chatham (0-2).
Magna Vista 69, William Campbell 31: The Warriors outscored the Generals 27-2 at one point in the first half to take control of a non-district game at Martinsville.
Harvey Millner scored 12 of his 18 points in the second and third quarters to lead Magna Vista (2-0). The Warriors outscored William Campbell 35-4 in the middle two quarters.
Chad Blackstock scored 12 for the Warriors.
Giles 74, Bland 69: A watered-down crowd saw the Spartans win a back-and-forth game over the Rockets in Pearisburg.
With many of its fans on the way to Richmond to see the Giles football team play for the state championship today, the Giles basketball team got the lead, lost it, and got it back in the fourth quarter.
Giles coach John Howlett said, ``I tried to move the game but couldn't find anywhere to put it.''
Howlett has a sister in Richmond. Howlett also had some good performances against Bland. Robbie Claytor led the way with 21 points and eight assists while Ben Brown had 16. Landon Cassidy and Jason Edwards had 11 apiece. The Spartans pulled away in the fourth quarter when it made nine of 14 free throws. Senior captain Adam Jones did not play for Giles because of an ankle injury suffered in the closing seconds of the team's Tuesday opener.
The Rockets got 16 points from John Thompson, 15 from Lee Meadows and 12 from Heath Puckett.
George Wythe 77, Fort Chiswell 50: Brian Barnes scored 16 points to propel the Maroons to a season-opening, non-district victory in a Wythe County battle.
Damien Taylor scored 13 for George Wythe (1-0) and Matt Smiley added 10.
Derrick Jackson led Fort Chiswell (0-1) with 14.
Parry McCluer 57, Rockbridge County 51: David Downs scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Fighting Blues to a non-district, overtime victory over the Wildcats in Lexington.
The Fighting Blues (2-0) rebounded a Wildcats miss on the front end of a one-and-one free throw and Downs hit a 3-pointer with :20 remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. The Wildcats (0-1) hit one of three free-throw attempts in overtime while the Blues were 8 for 12.
Chip Coleman scored 13 and David Coleman added 11 points for the Fighting Blues.
Jaymie Terrell led the Wildcats with 13 points. Ricky Wright and Luke Serber added 12 points each.
Greater Beckley (W.Va.) Christian 58, Gateway Christian 50: Denny Hazelwood scored 15 points to lead Greater Beckley Christian over Gateway Christian in Beckley, W.Va.
Alan Surface led all scorers with 18 points for Gateway Christian (1-2), which trailed 21-18 at the half and 39-26 after the third quarter.
Joe Graham pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with his six points for Gateway Christian.
Josh Anderson added 12 points for Greater Beckley Christian (1-0) and Shaun Garfen chipped in 11.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Long : 126 linesby CNB