ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080063
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Yucky illness stampeded through the ranks of Cave Spring High's boys' basketball team earlier this week. Strong young men were sent to their beds with acute digestive distress.
"It ravaged our team,'' said Knights coach Billy Hicks, who had been among the fallen.
It was quite something then that the Knights recovered sufficiently to bop Franklin County 57-41 in a Roanoke Valley District game Tuesday night.
Spencer Baird, Ryan Boitnott, and Alex Phillips - usually starters for the Knights - missed practice Monday and sat, as per team law, for the first several minutes of Tuesday's competition. Corey Paxton suffered miseries untold during his bout with the bug. And the coach?
"Couldn't even get my head off the pillow,'' Hicks said.
That bad?
"It was uglier than that fourth quarter tonight,'' he said.
With 15 of the Eagles' 23 fouls coming in the second half and most of those falling in the fourth quarter, it turned out to be a thrilling game for free throw enthusiasts.
As long as they weren't particularly concerned with accuracy.
The Knights misfired on nine of their last 19 foul shots after hitting 10 of their first 13.
"I don't know what the problem was,'' said Baird, the point guard who sank six of nine en route to scoring 10 points. "Usually, it's the other way around. We miss them at first then make them in the fourth quarter.''
Cave Spring improved to 9-2 overall, 2-0 in the district by doing what it usually does: spreading the scoring around. Ricky Dierker hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 16. David Harms added another triple and 11 points. Big man Alex Phillips never seemed to get into the offensive groove after coming off the bench and finished with eight points. He went 6-for-10 from the stripe.
"He's one of the best big men in the district if not the best,'' Franklin County coach Calvin Preston said. "I'm pleased we were able to hold him down, although I don't know if he was just having an off night.''
Preston liked his team's defense, even the third-quarter stretch when Cave Spring made nine of 11 shots to take control of the game.
"There's nothing you can do with good shooting,'' Preston said. "Cave Spring shoots the ball very well and always has.''
Franklin County (4-7, 0-1) had trouble with its offense, despite the 15 points provided by Bobby Basham and 10 from Henry Eggleston.
"I'm concerned with our offense,'' Preston said. "We just didn't shoot the ball well.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB