ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997 TAG: 9703030114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
Robert Locust just kept repeating the number 42 over and over.
If the Gretna boys' basketball coach goes to sleep counting sheep, he'll stop at 42. That was his unlucky number Friday night, when it was worn by Liberty senior Cheney Preston, who showed the Minutemen how to reach the Group AA tournament for the third consecutive year.
In a game of crazy statistics, Preston came up with nine second-half rebounds and 12 points - both well above his norms - as he led Liberty past the Hawks 77-54 at the Salem Civic Center.
The Minutemen go for their second consecutive Region III title tonight at 7:30 when they play Salem at the civic center. The Spartans beat William Campbell 69-53 in Friday's other semifinal to qualify for the state tournament.
``Who's No.42? He was the key to the second half,'' Locust said of Preston. ``When he got the ball around the paint, his hands clamped down on it and you couldn't get it away from him.''
One thing Liberty (23-1) could do was get the ball away from Gretna (14-10). In the craziest set of statistics, the Minutemen had 19 steals - five by Raymond Arrington - to offset 15 blocks by Gretna.
Still, Preston and his teammates went inside. After being outrebounded in the first half, Liberty dominated the boards 32-23 after intermission as Gretna couldn't keep up with the frantic tempo.
``I believe it was the fastest-paced game we've played,'' Preston said. ``They wanted to run. It's probably the first time a team wanted to run with us.''
The Minutemen hit only 29 of 84 field-goal attempts, but Gretna also was off, converting 24 of 66. Neither team had any consistency from 3-point range, other than Liberty's Kelly Garrett, who made three of five including one just before halftime that put the Minutemen ahead to stay at 34-32.
``It was 32 minutes of craziness,'' said Liberty coach Mark Hanks. ``We talked about two keys. We wanted to stop their early offense, but we didn't do that. They'd release two, three people when we shot the ball.''
The Hawks went on top 17-14 with a 9-0 run. It was the Hawks' best moment and about the last time they had control of the game.
``The second thing was rebounding,'' Hanks said, referring back to his pregame keys. ``One way to stop the fast break is to get the rebound when you shoot. I told Cheney I wanted him to have three rebounds for scores. That's what made him so valuable last year. He had gotten away from doing that.''
The Minutemen scored the first five points of the second half as they gained control and, except for a brief Gretna flurry early in the fourth quarter, Liberty dominated the second half.
``I thought a fast-paced game was to their advantage,'' Hanks said. ``We knew the teams that beat them [in the Dogwood District] had tempoed the game. But helter-skelter is our game. That's what got us here, and you go with what brung you.''
Locust had no thoughts of trying to slow Liberty as other teams have. ``If you do, they just double-[team] your guard, and running isn't bad for us,'' the Gretna coach said.
The Hawks' Howard Slayton blocked eight shots, seven more than Liberty got as a team. It didn't bother the Minutemen who went inside all night.
``I knew a pump fake gets them off their feet and you go to the foul line,'' said Arrington, who had a game-high 21 points. ``Sure they blocked a lot of shots, but they got a lot of fouls.
``We knew the game would be uptempo. We were just hoping they'd make more turnovers than we did.''
Gretna committed 28 turnovers to 15 for the Minutemen.
It appeared Liberty stepped up its press in the second half. ``We didn't,'' Arrington said. ``We just hadn't showed them all our presses.''
The bench was a factor as Liberty's reserves doubled up their Gretna counterparts 24-12. Robert Carson, a starter, pitched in 12 points and his best moment came on a steal where he put a spin move on a defender at the other end to draw a foul on a fast-break layup. The only problem was Carson missed the free throw. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN STAFF. 1. Liberty's Brandon Mills pulls upby CNBfor a shot over Gretna's Howard Slayton during their Region III
semifinal Friday night at the Salem Civic Center. Mills scored five
points as the Minutemen advanced with a 77-54 victory. color. 2.
Liberty's Raymond Arrington (3) and Gretna's Howard Slayton battle
for a loose ball Friday night at the Salem Civic Center.