ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997 TAG: 9703170111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: RAY COX THE ROANOKE TIMES
Floyd County rallies late to win the first Group A boys' basketball title in school history.
As basketball turning points go, this one seemed so obvious.
Down by three points to hugely talented Surry County and losing ground fast as the third quarter was drawing to a close, Floyd County fell to its lowest emotional point of Saturday's Group A boys' basketball championship game.
One of its best players, Jason Dalton, had just committed his fourth and fifth fouls, the fifth being a technical when he reacted to the fourth.
A pivotal moment, for sure, but not the sort you might think. In fact, it was just the prompt that Floyd County needed to take control of the game.
The Buffaloes were stouthearted down the stretch as they took over to beat the Cougars 66-63 in front of 3,503 leather-lunged customers at the Vines Center.
It was the first state championship for the Floyd County boys' team. The Buffaloes' girls have won twice previously while being directed by the same coaching maestro as the boys, Alan Cantrell.
Nobody celebrated more joyously than he, either. Perhaps only Cantrell and the players knew how tough this one was.
Floyd County (25-2) trailed 59-52 when Shernard Newby drove the lane for a soft finger roll with 4 minutes, 57 seconds left. The Buffaloes firmed to the task after that, firing off a 14-4 run in the last 4:45.
``Losing Jason like that may have given us a little boost,'' guard Travis Cantrell said. ``It made us play harder.''
In the final telling stretch, the leadership of the team was taken over by a pair of seniors - center Derek Saunders, guard Adam Harris - and the younger Cantrell. It was Cantrell who hit a pair of free throws and later a huge bucket on a pull-up jumper that made the score 64-63 with 43 seconds left. That was the first time the Buffaloes had been ahead since midway through the third quarter.
They wouldn't trail again.
Harris, meanwhile, was making three of four free throws in the last 1:21. Two of his free throws with 8.2 seconds left provided final margin. Harris finished with 13 points and was one of four double-figure scorers for Floyd County. Cantrell added 19.
Another big contributor was Saunders, who had a terrific game in the paint while battling the pogo-legged Cougars during the course of playing 311/4 of a possible 32 minutes. Saunders scored 11 points to go with 11 rebounds as Floyd County won the rebounding match 39-32.
Saunders made three of nine shots from the floor, but all the misses were agonizing
``I couldn't let it frustrate me,'' he said.
Instead, he frustrated the Cougars by drawing several crucial charges at key points. Surry County (24-4) twice was victimized by charging calls in the last minute. Both were key components of the Cougars' downfall.
``The turning point for us was when we allowed the officials to get into the ballgame,'' said Joseph Ellis, Surry County's coach. ``I kept telling the players that they had been making that [charging] call all night against us. Penetration is our game, though, and I guess it's hard to change and pull up and take the jumper or kick the ball back outside when you're used to driving.''
Surry County got 15 points each of Newby and Joey Ellis, the coach's son, 14 and eight rebounds from Darrell Warren, and 10 from Adrian Shears. The Cougars did not score in the last 3:10, though. see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. DON PETERSEN THE ROANOKE TIMES Floyd County playersby CNB(from left) Adam Harris, Jason Dalton, Travis Cantrell and others
hold the Group A championship trophy aloft after beating Surry
County 66-63 at Liberty University. color
2. DON PETERSEN THE ROANOKE TIMES Floyd County's Derek Saunders
(right) and Surry County's Shernard Newby battle for a loose ball
during the Group A championship game. color