COLONELS GRAB RVD TITLE FLEMING'S RHODES STRIKES EARLY IN WIN OVER COUGARS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 2, 1993                   TAG: 9303020179
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
COLONELS GRAB RVD TITLE FLEMING'S RHODES STRIKES EARLY IN WIN OVER COUGARS
When William Fleming's Carlos Rhodes came out hitting, the Colonels had Pulaski County right where they wanted them.
Rhodes made his first three shots and Fleming connected on five straight for the game's first 10 points on the way to a 63-49 victory in the Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball tournament championship game Monday night at the Salem Civic Center.
Then the Colonels (18-5) shifted to a delay game on offense and went to a zone defense to take away the Cougars' inside game. From that point, Pulaski County never got close.
Fleming will play host to a first-round Group AAA Northwestern Region game Wednesday against G.W. Danville. Pulaski County (17-7) is on the road at Halifax County.
Fleming coach Burrall Paye might not have resorted to the delay game that quickly. With his team hitting at will, it seemed so easy until Jemare Crump picked up his third foul late in the first quarter.
"Then I decided to pull them out. It's not that we can't play against a sagging man-to-man or zone defense like they were playing. But by going to the spread, it gives us layups," Paye said.
After falling behind by 10, Pulaski County closed to five points only one time. Rhodes and point guard Derrick Hines controlled the game. Rhodes connected on 11 of 14 shots as he scored a game-high 29 points; Hines dealt out 10 assists and added 10 points.
"That's probably the best I've shot," Rhodes said. "I like that spread offense and Derrick is such a good assist man."
Hines was a maestro running Fleming's offense, which probably never has looked better.
"When Coach Paye put us in that offense, I loved it," Hines said. "It opens things up for me and I kind of felt as if I was picking them to pieces."
Fleming wound up hitting 27 of 47 shots. David Hutchinson added 12 points.
Meanwhile, Pulaski County couldn't go to 6-foot-5 Chris Foster inside. He wound up with 14 points, but really wasn't a factor.
Forced to shoot from outside, the Cougars made only 15 of 51 shots. It might not have been as close at the end if Pulaski County hadn't made five 3-point shots in the final quarter with Tyrone Hash nailing four of them. For the game, though, Pulaski County made only 6 of 18 attempts from 3-point range.
Pulaski County coach Pat Burns knew his club was in trouble when it spotted the Colonels a 10-0 lead.
"It's very hard to play from behind with them. As for their spread, they all put it on the floor and they can all finish it off.
"I think Hines is the best point guard in the district and one of the best around."
Fleming's defense was superb. "We didn't want to show the matchup zone defense too long," said Paye, who wanted to give nothing away to regional opponents.
Fleming basically collapsed on Foster to keep him from dominating. The Colonels' zone also refused to let Eric Webb come inside.
"They were surrounding Foster and we didn't do a very good job getting the ball to him. At times there five [Fleming] guys in the paint," Burns said.
The only hitch came when Paye erupted at the officials in the first half and picked up a technical. Webb hit two free throws to make it 29-23, but Pulaski missed adding a field goal and Rhodes hustled down for a layup that made it 31-23 at the half.
It was 34-27 early in the second half when the Colonels went on another run. Rhodes stuffed one and got two layups for a 13-point lead and Pulaski County never got within single digits of Fleming after that.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB