Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991 TAG: 9102090440
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I just wanted to get revenge for when they beat us by 32 points [80-48] last year," said the reserve guard.
Johnson exacted his revenge. The Patriots led all the way in routing the Colonels 69-54 Friday at the Salem Civic Center to take control of the district race and an automatic spot in the Group AAA Northwestern Region tournament.
PH (14-4 overall) is 5-0 in the district. That leaves them two games in front of Fleming (10-5) and Cave Spring, each 3-2 in the district.
Johnson came off the bench to score 20 points. If his free-throw shooting (7-of-12) left something to be desired, the rest of his game didn't. He took turns with Toby Webb in guarding Fleming leader Dontel Arrington, who was held to 11 points.
Johnson connected on 6-of-9 shots from the field, had five rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Johnson also drew a lot of praise from Troy Manns, the Patriots' point guard. With both playing at the same time, it seemed as if PH had two point guards.
"Troy is the difference for us," Manns said, comparing PH's play earlier in the year with its present status. "He gives us more ball handling in the backcourt and leadership. It takes a lot of pressure off me."
Manns had a good game with six assists; the Patriots had 14 as a team. PH also controlled the rebounding 32-25; Timmy Basham, another reserve, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
Johnson was in the middle of almost everything as there were three technical fouls dealt out to the two teams. "I felt a little feisty," Johnson said. "I wanted to stir things up. I wanted to play as much as I could."
It was Johnson's longest stint of the year, and he might have gotten winded. That might have hurt his free-throw shooting, but it didn't faze his or the team's defense as the Patriots shut down the Colonels.
"I thought we played excellent man-to-man defense," said PH coach Woody Deans. "Troy [Johnson] does a lot of things well for us, but every game we've had a different high scorer. I thought Timmy Basham really played a great game with his rebounding, though he got only four points.
"On Troy's free-throw shooting, I think his legs got tired. When you get tired, your shooting goes."
The Patriots were on top by 13 points at halftime and opened the third period with an 8-2 spurt during which the Patriots' twin forwards - Monty and Troy Anderson - hit three field goals between them. Fleming never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
PATRICK HENRY (69)
M. Anderson 5 0-0 10, Manns 3 1-2 7, Callis 0 1-2 1, Webb 5 0-0 11, T. Anderson 7 0-0 16, Basham 2 0-2 4, Johnson 6 7-12 20. Totals 28 9-18 69. WILLIAM FLEMING (54)
Milam 7 2-2 16, Hubbard 2 2-2 8, Williams 2 5-6 9, Jennings 4 1-1 10, Arrington 2 7-9 11. Totals 17 17-20 54. Patrick Henry 16191420-69 William Fleming 10121319-54 Three-point goals: T. Anderson 2, Webb, Johnson, Hubbard 2, Jennings. Team fouls: Patrick Henry 17, William Fleming 16. Fouled out: Hubbard. Technical fouls: Callis, William Fleming bench, Jennings. JV: 56-47, Patrick Henry. B2 B1 PH PH
by CNB