ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
At William Fleming, playing time will be shared this winter.
It was a good thing the Colonels had plenty of players Friday. Without such depth, early foul problems could have been a factor in Fleming's game with Cave Spring.
However, Fleming hardly blinked on the way to a 65-53 Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball victory in a game that wasn't as close as the final score.
When starters Percy Pannell and Richard Wilson picked up three early fouls, Fleming coach Roland Lovelace had confidence in his reserves. That's because Fleming shares points and playing time on what is one of Timesland's deeper teams.
The Colonels (9-3 overall, 3-0 RVD) never trailed as they took undisputed possession of first place in the district. Fleming scored the final seven points of the opening quarter for a 12-4 lead and blew open the game when William Hankins and R.J. Reynolds combined for three consecutive 3-point goals for a 29-12 lead late in the second quarter.
The defense wasn't doing badly, either. Except for 6-foot-6 Alex Phillips, Fleming shut down the Knights. And Phillips started slowly, hitting just one of his first seven shots. When he left the game, he had more than half of Cave Spring's 42 points at the time with a game-high 22. The problem was that Fleming had 62.
``The guys are hustling, playing well as a team,'' said Lovelace. ``We've got a lot of kids with the same talent level. You have to give kids a chance to play and it helps out a lot in that [foul trouble] situation.''
There's no dominant scorer for Fleming, meaning opposing clubs can't focus on stopping just one or two players. Friday, Charles Burnette scored 14 and Brad Dunleavy 11, but for the season, the Colonels have had no leader among RVD scorers.
``It's just a whole team effort. We look for everyone. There's no one certain person,'' said Burnette.
Fleming shot well (23-of-48) from the field and owned a 40-27 advantage on the boards with Pannell pulling down 12 rebounds despite his foul problems.
``We missed some shots early and were 2-of-7 from the free-throw line in the first half. We didn't give ourselves a chance,'' said Cave Spring coach Billy Hicks. ``They're so deep that when Wilson and Reynolds had four fouls, they bring Hankins off the bench.''
Hicks said his team wanted to stop Brad Dunleavy and Wilson from penetrating, which it did to some extent. It also wanted to take away the Colonels' transition game.
``But they hit five layups in the first half on transition,'' Hicks said. ``Then those 3-pointers. We knew R.J. could shoot, but he's improved.''
Cave Spring made 20 of 49 shots and pulled closer because Ricky Dierker zipped in two 3-pointers in the final few seconds. Phillips was only 8-of-19 from the field with 10 rebounds. The Knights' other star was Doug Harms, who had five steals.
Fleming catches Potomac in the second game of the Crestar Classic today at Salem at 4:45 p.m. in a rematch of last year's Group AA Northwest Region semifinal that the Colonels won as James Stokes dominated and hit two last-second free throws. ``We won't have one player dominate today the way James did last year,'' said Burnette.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN STAFF. Ryan Boitnott of Cave Spring looksby CNBat the basket as Percy Pannell of William Fleming moves in on
defense.