BULLDOGS WIN A CLOSE ONE

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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993                   TAG: 9303060206
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: JOHN MONTGOMERY
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
BULLDOGS WIN A CLOSE ONE
The Martinsville Bulldogs must be able to empathize with Jay Leno.
They performed admirably, put on an entertaining show and held the attention of the fans.
But Martinsville had the unenviable task of taking center stage after a show-stopper for the ages, a four-overtime thriller.
It was a tough act to follow, and everybody was still talking about the other guy.
For the record, Martinsville downed Amherst County 58-57 in the semifinal nightcap of the Region III basketball tournament Friday night at the Vines Center.
The Bulldogs (21-4) will face Piedmont District rival Laurel Park for the regional championship at Bassett High School tonight at 7:30. The Lancers wore down Salem, after four extra periods, 80-77 in the first game.
Laurel Park defeated Martinsville twice during the regular season.
Senior guard Maurice Spencer paced the Martinsville attack with 16 points, on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, but the hero turned out to be Todd Johnson.
Johnson stole the ball from Amherst's Scott Christian with less than 10 seconds remaining to preserve the one-point win.
Johnson's heroics offset a 31-point scoring performance by Justin Johannes, a 6-7 big man with a soft shooting touch. Amherst (18-5) was trying to work the ball to Johannes for the final shot when Johnson made his steal.
The first half was a see-saw battle with five ties and 15 lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points until the final two minutes before intermission, when Johnson hit two 3-pointers (after missing his first five shots) to give Martinsville some temporary breathing room.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB