ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 TAG: 9702270018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Recovery time for the got-the-blues Floyd County Buffaloes was swift.
Actually, just how blue these Buffs were after losing to Glenvar 57-55 in the championship of the Three Rivers District tournament last Saturday is a matter of interpretation.
Alan Cantrell, the Floyd County coach, certainly didn't appear to be grief stricken.
``I felt real good about our effort against Glenvar,'' Cantrell said. ``The defense did a good job. Offensively, some things just didn't fall for us.''
Conveniently, the loss did nothing to affect Floyd County's assignment in the Group A Region C tournament. The Buffs would have entertained Pioneer District runner-up Bath County regardless.
So Cantrell loaded up his four seniors, Derek Saunders, Adam Harris, Allen Underwood and Phillip Gillespie, as well as junior Travis Cantrell, who also happens to be the coach's son, and took them to see the Georgia Tech at North Carolina State game last weekend. That and two days off seemed to refresh everybody.
A grinding day of practice Monday and the Buffs were were ready for Bath County.
Whether the Chargers were ready for Floyd County is hard to tell. Regardless, the Buffs torched them 84-47 to advance to Friday night's semifinals at Radford University's Dedmon Center. Victory there earns the winner a trip to the state tournament.
The Bath County battering was typical Floyd County. One minute the Buffaloes are hanging on to a 12-11 lead, the next they're off on a 35-6 charge that carried them into the break and, for all intents, into the next round.
Saunders, the angular center who transferred in from Northside as a sophomore, continued on the roll he'd established in the second half of the Glenvar game. Saunders scored 14 of his 16 points against Glenvar after intermission. He followed that with 21 points and seven rebounds against the Chargers. Cantrell chipped in 22, Underwood 11, and junior Jason Dalton 10. Harris and 6-foot-5 junior Brian Swortzel combined for 16.
In short, Floyd County again looked like the team that resided atop the state poll for most of the year. The Buffs toppled from that perch after a late-season loss to Giles. After the loss to Glenvar, the question was inevitable: is Floyd County slipping?
``The loss to Giles hurt worse than the one to Glenvar,'' Travis Cantrell said. ``We played well against Glenvar.''
Actually, Floyd County has played well all year.
``The effort has been there all year, the good attitude has been there,'' Alan Cantrell said. ``Nothing gets them all tore up.''
The players have the reputation of being a fun-loving group, but you'd never know it from one of their practices. If a smile appeared on any face during one recent session, it wasn't apparent to the casual observer.
``When we hit that floor, we're all business,'' Underwood said.
Which is just as the coach wants it.
``I don't think they've had a bad practice all year,'' Alan Cantrell said.
If they have, it hasn't shown up in the game. Don't tell Floyd County's foes that the Buffs are a year away, either. It may upset them.
Both the team's leading scorers, Cantrell (19 points per game, 6 assists per game) and Dalton (19 ppg., five rebounds) are juniors. They're not taking the attitude that the team is a year away.
``I just want to win state, plain and simple,'' Dalton said.
In that, he isn't alone.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM STAFF. Floyd's Travis Cantrell grabs a reboundby CNBagainst a Radford High School player. color.