ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
SALEM HOLDS OFF the rival Vikings 70-66 on Marshall Woolridge's 3-point accuracy.
Salem High's basketball game with neighboring Northside on Friday night had no Blue Ridge District or Region III titles depending on its outcome. It was not part of a tournament and did not so much as have first place in the league standings at stake.
You would have never known it.
With equal measures of partisans for both sides in full howl in the Salem gymnasium, the two old rivals scrapped right down to the final horn before Salem prevailed 70-66.
If there was ever a game to make a coach loosen his tie and doff his sport coat, this was it.
``Northside and Salem is always going to be a dogfight,'' Salem coach Charlie Morgan said. ``Every game we've played except one that I can remember has been like this the past four years.''
The proceedings were easily enough described. The teams swapped leads through the first quarter before Marshall Woolridge put the Spartans ahead to stay with a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 39 seconds left. From then on, the Vikings chased.
And were those Spartans ever elusive.
``They never gave us an inch of breathing room,'' Northside coach Billy Pope said.
Salem (5-6 overall, 4-2 district) remained a game out of first place in the league standings. Northside (2-9, 2-4) continues to look for some sort of breakthrough in its most difficult season in years.
Northside had a chance to tie in the last 20 seconds. Greg Perdue had seized an offensive rebound after teammate Xavier Lee had missed two free throws with 28 seconds left. Perdue's swooping baseline shot made the score 68-66 with 20 seconds left.
Following a time out, Woolridge was fouled and he missed a pair of free throws. Perdue rebounded the second miss. Seconds later, though, Herschel Thomas swiped the ball. Another Vikings foul - the teams combined for 49, 26 of those by Northside - and Woolridge was back on the stripe. This time, he buried both and that was the final margin.
Woolridge was an offensive bomb all night, making five 3-pointers and sinking eight of 10 free throws. It was a career-high in scoring. Salem needed it because ace sixth man Scott Hall is out because of an injured knee.
``Woolridge had a phenomenal game,'' Pope said. ``He was really cool under pressure.''
Thomas chipped in three more triples and 17 points to go with four assists. Big man Eric Grinnell had 16 points before becoming the second Salem player to foul out.
``Very rarely do we have two players foul out,'' Morgan said.
Northside lost its most productive player to fouls, too. Daryl Holmes scored 24 points before he was dismissed. Dwone Steele added 11 points for the Vikings, who outrebounded the Spartans 20-17 and shot 56.1 percent to Salem's 54.1 percent.
It was a virtual wash at the foul line, where Northside made 19 of 29 and Salem 20 of 31.
``We gave up too many easy baskets,'' Morgan said. ``Northside never quit.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB