ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DALEVILLE
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
Coach Bob Trear had specific instructions for his Blacksburg boys' basketball team before Tuesday's Blue Ridge District tournament game.
``I told them, `There are two ways to go into the Salem Civic Center tomorrow,''' said Trear, referring to the site of the tournament semifinals. ```They'll either tell you to sit [on the bench] to the right or to the left. Or you can go anywhere you want in the stands.'''
The Indians (9-12) upset third-seeded Lord Botetourt 48-47 on a 3-point shot by Stefano Karmis with eight seconds left. It means the Indians will get instructions on where to sit as they face William Byrd in the 8:30 p.m. semifinal.
As Karmis launched his game-winner, Trear was shouting for his team to call time out.
``I'm sure glad you're hard of hearing,'' Trear told Karmis with a smile during an impromptu postgame talk with his team outside the dressing room.
``I heard him, but I wasn't calling it,'' said Karmis, who rebounded a missed free throw by Lord Botetourt's Michael Yates, dribbled downcourt and let go for the Indians' only 3-pointer of the night.
``I told Randy [Cross] or Stefano we weren't going for the tie, go for a 3,'' said Trear, whose team was down by a field goal. ``Two times we had tried to get a two-pointer to tie and they made good defensive plays.''
After both defensive plays, Yates was fouled. But he missed four free throws in the final 41 seconds. On Yates' final miss, the ball bounced off the rim to Karmis.
``I thought about [the 3-point shot] on the free-throw line,'' Karmis said. ``I knew I was going to bring it down and shoot it.''
``We didn't think they'd take a 3-point shot,'' said Ed Purdy, Lord Botetourt's coach. ``It was a gutsy play.''
Karmis' rebound was another major factor in the story. The Indians dominated the boards 31-19 as Philip Klaus hauled down 13 rebounds.
Karmis' winner followed a 3-point shot by Yates, who came into the game hitting 36.5 percent beyond the arc. His third 3-pointer put Botetourt up 47-45 with 1:14 left. For the night, he led the Cavaliers with 17 points.
``You can't blame it on any one thing,'' Purdy said of the loss. ``Michael is our best free-throw shooter [71 percent]. We blew plays from the first quarter to the last that hurt us. But if I put it on one thing, it would be rebounding.''
Klaus changed the momentum late in the third quarter, despite picking up his fourth personal foul with 1:58 left in the period and the Cavaliers (12-8) leading 33-30. By the end of the quarter, he had scored three baskets and put the Indians ahead.
``I just said, `We have to get going.' I played on the same way I had all along,'' said Klaus, who led both teams with 19 points while also dishing out five assists.
``We couldn't get a sub to the bench for him,'' Trear said of his leaving his star in the game with four personals. ``We kept feeding it in to him. That's the idea.''
Botetourt hit 17 of 35 shots, but Blacksburg switched from man-to-man to a zone, stopping the Cavaliers' penetration. It worked as Lord Botetourt went without a point for more than five minutes of a stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Blacksburg connected on 20 of 45 shots, with Karmis going 5-for-5.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN STAFF. Blacksburg's Krishna Pacifici triesby CNBto control the ball against Lord Botetourt defenders Sean Osborne
(12) and Jason Hunt. color.