INDIANS READY TO ADJUST TO WHATEVER GATE CITY DOES

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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993                   TAG: 9303040199
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-10   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CHRIS STEUART STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
INDIANS READY TO ADJUST TO WHATEVER GATE CITY DOES
Ready or not, here they come.
Gate City toppled Graham High School to advance to the semifinals of the Group AA Region IV high school boys' basketball tournament against New River District champion Blacksburg at Blacksburg High School tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Blacksburg coach Bob Trear said he doesn't really know what to expect from the Blue Devils because he hasn't seen them play and has only heard rumors.
"Basically you prepare for these games all season," Trear said. "At the beginning of the game you just have to adjust to what you see and hope your players respond well to what you ask them to do."
Trear said the Blue Devils are pretty big on the front line and that may be the biggest threat the team poses to Blacksburg.
But Trear said he won't allow his cast of three-point bombardiers to start chucking away from distant lands right at the start of the game.
"You also have to compare the roster to what they put on the court," Trear said. "Sometimes a guy is 6-foot-5 on the roster and then he winds up being closer to 6-3 or something like that."
The Indians stormed through the end of the season, rebounding from a 2-8 start, to win 10 of their last 12 and finish 11-10.
"Lately we have been fortunate to win games and not play really well," Trear said of his young squad that has matured over the course of the season.
"This group has already exceeded the expectations around the area. They are still a young team and some nights they are hot and others they are cold," he said. "You just have to accept the reality of what kind of night it is going to be when you have it. It all comes down to how they play on a given night."
The Indians may be without the services of forwards Anthony Wheeler and Dallas Strager because of the flu. Strager missed school Wednesday and Wheeler wasn't feeling well.
"We might have one of them, but we probably won't have both," Trear said. "We need both of those guys, though."
If Blacksburg wins tonight they will host the winner of the Tazewell at Virginia High game at Blacksburg High School on Saturday night.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB