ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Much has been asked of Christiansburg High basketball players Michael Kazee and Eric Lucas, and from them, plenty has been delivered.
Kazee, a 6-foot-5 junior center, and Lucas, a 6-1 senior point guard, have carried most of the heavy freight for their team this year. When times have gone well, which hasn't been all that often, those two have been at the head of the parade.
When times have been tough, they were the ones who were expected to lead the way down the debris-strewn path to a turnaround.
When the whistles blew and the basketball was tossed aloft, they've been dependable as a headache at tax time.
Lucas, you couldn't get out of the lineup with a crowbar.
``If he's hurt, he'll come out,'' Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson said. ``Other than that, he probably won't.''
Much may have been asked of these two, but there is a point where a line must be drawn and enough be declared enough. There are things that Kazee and Lucas simply won't do.
In Lucas' case, you just can't ask him to stop throwing the grading curve off on the Scholastic Assessment Test.
As for Kazee, all you need to know is that the hair is here to stay.
Here to stay until Metallica comes through next week.
Kazee's light-colored hair is cut in sort of a medieval Japanese samurai style. Approximately. Put it this way: The likes of this particular 'do haven't ever been seen on the Blue Demons' floor until Kazee showed up under it last year at hoops time.
``He says he's going to shave it all off after he goes to the Metallica concert soon,'' Lucas said.
As if Kazee wasn't on the cutting edge of skull-top fashion already. Not that he doesn't have plenty inside that skull as it is.
``He's a straight-A student, very family-oriented, and a super-nice kid,'' Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson said. ``Never had a problem out of him. Only problem we've had from him is he's too nice.''
Lucas is as nice as he can be, too, although he isn't above roughnecking it every now and then on the basketball floor. Elsewhere, he's a solid young citizen and an excellent student. He intends to study engineering at Virginia Tech after having flown through admissions on the wings of a 1310 (out of 1600) score on the SAT.
Lucas is better known for his baseball playing and he's free to admit that that's his favorite sport. However, he has grown increasingly fond of hoops after having a breakthrough season this year. Before the Demons finished the season with a 68-55 loss to Salem in the Blue Ridge District tournament, Lucas was leading the team with a 14.8 scoring average.
``Last year, we had tons of scorers and I didn't have to score,'' he said. ``All I had to do was get them the ball. There was no pressure on me. Now, a lot of those scorers are gone and I have to pick up from them. I wouldn't say I've come out of nowhere this year, but my stats have gone up.''
Neither has Kazee come out of nowhere. He was a featured low-post scorer last year as a sophomore. This year, he is the low-post offense for Christiansburg.
``My stats don't matter to me at all as long as we win,'' Kazee said.
The numbers look pretty good nevertheless. Kazee is averaging 14.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game to go with 56 blocked shots.
He can do all that and sing the national anthem before the game, too. A member of the all-county chorus, Kazee plays the piano in his mellower moments, heavy metal guitar at other times.
He'll have more time for his musical pursuits now that the season's over for Christiansburg. He was plenty busy when the Demons were playing, just like Lucas. Between the two of them, they were as close to a combined 60 minutes per game as two players could be.
``We've gotten a lot of mileage out of those two,'' Thompson said.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. 1. Christiansburg's Mike Kazee (#52,by CNBleft) and Eric Lucas (above) in action against Blacksburg High. 2.
Kazee, a 6-foot-5 junior center, and Lucas, a 6-1 senior point
guard, have carried most of the heavy freight for their team this
year. color.