ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
It took awhile, but Liberty landed the punch that finally knocked Blacksburg off the tournament trail.
The Indians, hoping to pull a fourth consecutive upset, stayed around until midway through the third quarter. The Minutemen scored the final 10 points of the period on the way to a 68-49 victory Tuesday in the Region III boys' basketball tournament at the Salem Civic Center.
Liberty (22-1) moves into a semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday against Gretna and can earn a third consecutive trip to the Group AA tournament. The Minutemen won the title last year.
It wasn't easy for Liberty on Tuesday. The Minutemen's floor leader, Raymond Arrington, made only four of 13 field-goal attempts. Part of the problem might have been Blacksburg's attempt to slow the tempo, though the Indians never completely controlled the pace.
``It was kind of like Princeton, which my guys would hate to play,'' said Liberty coach Mark Hanks, referring to the NCAA Tournament's most feared first-round opponent. ``Arrington struggled and he might have played his worst game since the sixth grade.''
Arrington may have shot poorly, but the rest of his game was fine. The 1996 All-Timesland forward had seven assists and two steals. Scoring help came from point guard Robert Carson (14 points) and Kelly Garrett (17).
``I knew [the shots] wouldn't fall, so I had to get my teammates open,'' Arrington said. ``Kelly's always been a good shooter. We kind of have to make him shoot when he's open. I just told him to keep throwing them up.''
Garrett picked up Liberty in the opening 16 minutes, hitting four consecutive 3-point shots as the Minutemen went up 26-17. By intermission, it was 30-26, though, as the Indians stormed back behind Matt Maher's seven points in the second quarter.
``When I miss my first couple of shots, I think I'm not hitting,'' said Garrett, who is Arrington's cousin. ``This is the hottest I've ever been.''
Blacksburg seemed to be in good shape at intermission, despite Garrett's burst.
``We never did what we wanted to do,'' said Bob Trear, the Indians' coach. ``We wanted to be patient, but we got caught up in the press early and never could get in our half-court game.''
The Indians led 36-35 when Maher made a layup with 5:29 remaining in the third period, but it would be the final lead for the Indians (11-13). Brandon Mills and Arrington got baskets to open a 39-36 lead.
``We couldn't have been more pleased at the half,'' Trear said. ``We had turned the ball over too many times [13], but we were pleased that we were close.''
The turnovers kept coming after intermission and Blacksburg finally had to leave its zone defense and go man-to-man.
``We were totally disrupted by their quickness,'' Trear said. ``We took a lot of 3-point shots and even if we had made them that still would have been bad because the game would have been quicker.''
Blacksburg was led by Philip Klaus, the Blue Ridge District's player of the year, who had 16 points and nine rebounds.
NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Don Petersen. Liberty's Courtney Preston (left) tries toby CNBcontain Blacksburg's Randy Cross on Tuesday. Preston's Minutemen won
68-49. color.