ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190094
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
THE SPARTANS and Bobcats end the season for Shawsville and Auburn, respectively, in the district tournament at Blacksburg.
The opening round of the Three Rivers District boys' basketball tournament went just about according to plan. The Giles Spartans and Radford Bobcats, both expected to win their quarterfinals Tuesday night at Blacksburg High School, easily advanced to the semifinals.
Giles used an 18-5 third-quarter advantage to spark a 71-44 victory over Shawsville. The victory pits the Spartans against Glenvar, the tournament's second seed, at 8 p.m. Thursday.
``They were still hanging around at the half, so I told the kids to get out there and take care of business,'' said John Howlett, Giles' coach. ``We stepped up our defensive pressure and finally got the cushion we needed.''
Leading 39-30 with 6:04 remaining in the third, the Spartans rolled off a 12-0 run to close the quarter. Giles seniors Aaron Albert and Landon Cassidy each contributed five third-quarter points.
``We had been trading baskets with them until late in the second quarter, then we missed some easy ones,'' said Fred Horeise, the Shawsville coach. ``The bottom line is when they got the lead, the bottom just fell out for us.''
Senior Ben Brown paced Giles with a game-high 15 points. Seniors Robbie Claytor and Adam Jones also contributed 10 each.
Senior Chance Hall, who drained three fourth-quarter 3-pointers, led Shawsville with 11.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Radford out-hustled the Auburn Eagles from start to finish for a 67-45 victory and a date with top-seeded Floyd County at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
``I think we were trying to get them in a running style of play,'' said Rick Cormany, Radford's coach. ``They have two kids that are tough on the inside, and we didn't want to let them get set offensively and kick it inside.''
The run-and-gun tempo worked to perfection for the Bobcats, who turned numerous Eagle turnovers into quick layups.
Leading the charge for Radford were juniors Adam Artrip and Tony Hash, who led the way with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Artrip did most of his damage from the perimeter, hitting three 3-pointers. Hash, on the other hand, got the job done inside. The forward scored the first eight points of the third quarter for the Bobcats on two short jumpers, a layup and two free throws to push their lead to 23.
``They just simply outplayed us,'' said Kevin Harris, Auburn's coach. ``We really needed to control the tempo and get the ball inside, and if you don't do things like that against a team of their caliber you get beat.''
Sophomore Adam Loveday and senior Phil Morris paced the Eagles with 10 points apiece.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB