ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 basketball TAG: 9701220074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
EIGHTY PERCENT of Cave Spring's victories this season have come against nearby Group AA opponents.
The biggest step for Cave Spring's boys' basketball team might be learning to take care of Blue Ridge District rivals.
The Knights never have won a Group AAA Roanoke Valley District title, and it probably won't happen until they handle teams from the Group AA Blue Ridge.
Maybe the time has come. Although the Knights are a long shot to win the RVD this year, they are dominating the Blue Ridge.
On Tuesday, Cave Spring (10-4) ran its record against Blue Ridge teams to 8-0 by blasting Northside 69-62. Before this season, Cave Spring was only 25-26 against Blue Ridge teams in the 1990s.
``We've usually split with Northside and Salem, but we haven't beaten William Byrd in three years,'' said Cave Spring coach Billy Hicks. ``We want to play teams from the Blue Ridge because they're a natural rivalry and bring good crowds.''
The Knights never trailed against Northside. Still ahead this season are games against Byrd and Salem, so Cave Spring could complete a sweep of Blue Ridge teams.
Against Northside, the Knights got help off the bench as Mark Snodgrass, a transfer from E.C. Glass, had a career-high 15 points. He and 6-foot-6 Alex Phillips (18 points) led the rout.
``When Mark was ready to come here,'' said Hicks, ``Mike [Dufrene, E.C. Glass coach] called me and said, `I'm sending you a [good] player.' He's a natural wing player, but we've had to play him out of position. Still, he's shown flashes of brilliance.''
Snodgrass had five points in the second quarter when Hicks used his bench and he continued to score in the second half. He was part of an assault that saw the Knights connect on 26 of 50 shots and dominate the boards 35-26. Phillips led with seven rebounds.
Northside (2-11) continued to struggle. The Vikings' frustration can be shown in one statistic. As a team, they had six steals. Cave Spring guard Spencer Baird had that many by himself, including four in the first quarter.
``He's sneaky and we call him the `Slippery Eel' because of that,'' said Hicks. ``For him to be effective, he has to play under control.''
Northside hit only 13 of 39 shots and made numerous turnovers. The Vikings did manage to score the final nine points of the first half to cut it to 27-19 by halftime. However, Cave Spring put away the Vikings by opening the second half with a 13-4 run.
``We gave up 13 points in the first three minutes,'' said Northside coach Billy Pope. ``You dig yourself in a hole on the road when you do that.''
``We have to learn from that. On the road, you have to get at it defensively. Still, they only got 12-13 points the next few minutes and we were back in the contest with a chance of winning.'' NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB