ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997 TAG: 9703110045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FAIRFAX
SOURCE: CHRIS LANG THE ROANOKE TIMES
Hayfield guards Cornell Felton and Steve Miles combined for 50 points as the Hawks advanced to a Group AAA semifinal by downing the undermanned Colonels 75-64 at Robinson High School in Fairfax.
Hayfield advances to meet Northwest Region champion Potomac at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Lynchburg. Potomac beat Northern Region runner-up Yorktown 74-58 in a quarterfinal game Saturday night at Woodbridge High School.
Fleming had defeated Hayfield in the state quarterfinal round in 1993 and 1994, but without starting forward Brad Dunleavy, the Colonels found the task of winning in a hostile environment too difficult. Fleming coach Roland Lovelace would not use Dunleavy's absence because of illness as an excuse.
``We play basketball,'' Lovelace said. ``We have to play with what we have. We had a good shot without him.''
Fleming never led Saturday night, but battled back from a 13-point halftime deficit to tie the score at 59 with 3:01 remaining in the game on a Percy Pannell reverse layup.
Hayfield answered the challenge. Felton, who scored a game-high 26 points, threaded through the Colonels' defense for a layup and was fouled by Pannell. He made the free throw and put the Hawks up for good, 62-59.
Felton, who picked up his fourth personal foul with 7:19 left in the fourth quarter, was playing hurt, said coach Brian Metress. Felton complained of stomach pain during the week, and it was feared to be appendicitis. But tests showed nothing wrong with him internally, and he played with the pain.
Even when Felton picked up his fourth foul, Metress would not take him out of the game.
``I just decided that if we were going to lose, we were going to lose with seven minutes to go,'' Metress said. ``He wasn't going to pick up anything stupid for his fifth foul. He's a smart player.''
Fleming cut its deficit to three again after a Richard Wilson jumper with 1:53 left cut it to 64-61. Fleming center Michael Fleshman fouled Hayfield forward Clayton Lea, who hit one of the two free throws to push the lead to four.
Hawks forward Carlos Jones rebounded the miss of the second shot, and put in a reverse layup to put the lead at 67-61 with 1:19 to play.
Fleming had two shots at the basket on its next possession. The first, a 3-pointer by Roland Reynolds, would not fall. The second look, a jumper from the paint by Charles Burnette, rolled in and out of the basket.
Lea, a 6-foot-8 center, hit two more free throws to put the lead at 69-61 with 52 seconds left and effectively ice the game. Other than Lea, most of the Hayfield players were 6-1 or shorter as the Hawks started the game with a four-guard lineup.
``They don't have any size to counter Clayton, but they do have quickness to the boards,'' Metress said. ``They had 6-3 guys and 6-4 guys all around.''
Fleming withstood a furious start from the Hawks, who scored the game's first eight points. A 3-pointer by Jones put Hayfield ahead 14-2 after 2:34 of the game.
But Fleming would respond, mostly behind the shooting of reserve guard William Hankins. The 6-1 junior led the Colonels with 16 points, including four 3-point bombs that helped Fleming get back into the game.
``Hankins has done a good job for us all year,'' Lovelace said. ``He knew he had to step it up. He just did what he had to do.'' NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB