ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 29, 1996 TAG: 9612310033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: NATIONSBANK CLASSIC
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
After being upset in the first round of the NationsBank Holiday Hoops Classic on Thursday, Cave Spring had something to prove.
The Knights did just that by coming back to win their next two games to take fifth place in the tournament. Saturday, Cave Spring whipped host Salem 51-41 to complete the comeback. Earlier this month, the Knights beat the Spartans when Salem was without three starters.
In the other consolation games, William Byrd kept Northside winless by pounding the Vikings 52-35 for seventh place and Gar-Field of Dale City eased past Group A Glenvar as expected, 65-37 to claim the third spot.
Cave Spring (7-2) got 20 points from center Alex Phillips, but it was defense that turned the game in favor of the Knights. Cave Spring held Salem to five points in the third quarter to take control. All this made up for a first-round loss to Glenvar.
``We really shut them down,'' said Cave Spring coach Billy Hicks. ``I kind of challenged our team. Micah Bibby is our stopper and we challenged him to stop [Salem's] Herschel Thomas.''
Thomas led Salem (2-5) with 10 points. He, Kwam Lewis and Eric Grinnell were missing in the first game against Cave Spring.
``Our kids and I felt like we didn't have control of that game until the fourth quarter. We were looking forward to playing Salem and when they didn't have three starters, we had a letdown because we felt it might be easy,'' said Hicks.
Byrd (5-3) also used strong defense, holding Northside (0-6) to just nine points total in the second and third quarters. Byrd's big men, Jason Thomas and Kevin Stump, led a balanced attack with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
``We struggled a little offensively, but we played well defensively,'' said Byrd coach Paul Barnard. ``We had talked before the tournament about playing three days in a row and keeping our mental focus. We struggled a little today, but we were able to move forward in the second half.''
Gar-Field (6-3) led Glenvar (2-8) by only four points at the half before pulling away in the last two quarters. Kareem Kyer scored a game-high 22 points with 18 of them coming after intermission. Before the half, Kelvin Pollard scored nine of his 16 points to help Gar-Field stay ahead. Glenvar was led by Josh Hollifield with 10.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB