Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 1, 1992 TAG: 9202010297
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
PULASKI BURNS UP WILLIAM FLEMING
In an odd Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball game Friday night, Pulaski County's Chris Burns was always there to put William Fleming away.Burns scored 30 points, including 16 when he fired in four 3-point goals and two other shots in a torrid third quarter that should have been enough to assure Pulaski County (7-6 overall, 2-2 Roanoke Valley) of the 73-69 victory.
That was especially true because Fleming's Carlos Rhodes, the RVD's leading scorer ahead of Burns going into the game, hadn't scored and had taken only three shots.
Early in the fourth, Fleming (9-5, 2-2) was only one point behind the Cougars because of David Williams' 17 points, 15 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots.
Try as they might, the Colonels never got a shot at the lead and Burns decided the game by hitting two free throws with two seconds remaining.
"I don't know that we played well," said Pulaski County coach Pat Burns, who is Chris' father. "But we played hard and that's something we didn't do early when we played all those road games."
This was only the third home game for the Cougars and it was evident in the third quarter that Chris Burns had his spot on the court. He also kept getting feeds from teammate Kevin Alexander, who had nine assists.
"I just had that feeling," Burns said. "My teammates were setting good picks and Kevin got me the ball. We had a good run and couldn't put them away. They just kept coming."
Williams kept Fleming in the game early with 13 points in the first half. When Pulaski County put the clamps on him in the second half, Shawnell Jackson scored 13, eight in the fourth quarter. Reggie Reynolds was consistent for the Colonels, spreading his 14 points almost evenly through the game on his outside shooting.
Time and again, the Colonels appeared to be out of the game. Jackson's layup made it 55-54 with 6:56, but that's the closest Fleming could come. Alexander answered with a short jumper and the Colonels never got closer until freshman Derrick Hines stole the ball and hit a jumper to make it 71-69 with four seconds left.
After a timeout, Fleming had to foul and Burns went to the line to account for his career-high 30th point.
"All we needed was for our defense to stop them once," said Fleming's Williams with a sigh.
It might have helped if Rhodes, who was 11-of-29 the last two games, could shake his shooting slump. However, he wound up 1-of-7 with a late 3-pointer that set up Hines' play.
"We're just young," Fleming coach Burrall Paye said. "We'll have intensity for three minutes and then for two minutes we won't. You can't make 14-year-olds become 17-year-olds." \