Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993 TAG: 9303180091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
STATE'S BEST CHASE TITLES
Five Timesland basketball teams came here a year ago and won one state championship and two runner-up spots.This year, there will be four Timesland teams in the semifinals.
Cave Spring's girls qualified last week, just before the "Blizzard of '93" hit late Friday night and Saturday. The Knights beat W.T. Woodson 58-51 in Fairfax, then had to wait until Sunday afternoon before they could get home.
The Knights (25-3) will be the first Timesland team to play in the state tournament when they take on Menchville today at 1 p.m. in the Group AAA girls' tournament. In the other semifinal, defending champion Phoebus meets powerful James Madison at 2:45 p.m.
About the time Cave Spring came home, Fleming (22-5) was trying to decide when it could safely drive to Fairfax for its quarterfinal game against Hayfield, which had been postponed by the snowstorm. The Colonels at first were going Monday, then finally went Tuesday. They beat Hayfield 56-50 and now will play John Marshall on Friday night at 7 in a Group AAA boys' semifinal game.
Martinsville (22-5) and Laurel Park (25-1) also didn't find out until Tuesday if they'd be included in the Virginia High School League's final four Group AA teams. Coach Husky Hall's Martinsville team earned its first trip to the semifinals since 1990 as they beat Gate City 64-46, and Laurel Park overcame Virginia High's slowdown for a 49-36 victory.
Friday afternoon, Martinsville will play Spotswood (25-1) at 1 and Laurel Park will take on Greensville County (19-8) at 2:45.
As for the Group A semifinals, they were in the air until Wednesday, when Twin Springs eliminated Covington 61-60 and Floyd County lost to Hurley 52-40 in the last of the state tournament's first-round games.
Awaiting the winners of those two games are Franklin (27-0) and Prince Edward County (23-5). Franklin, the only unbeaten team left in any of the four tournaments, will face Hurley tonight at 7, and Prince Edward County will play Twin Springs at 8:45.
The advantage of playing before the blizzard was a big one, Cave Spring girls' coach Linda Long said. "It's a plus to have gotten the game over with. One of the things the kids said that they won't have to worry about whether they're playing [first-round games] Monday or Tuesday. We can concentrate on our game Thursday."
Cave Spring has been to six consecutive state tournaments and faces a Menchville team that has only three seniors.
"They play a lot like us - full court and press the whole time," Long said. "We played just average against W.T. Woodson. We can't play like that and expect to win."
"We're both similar in that we have a good guard, small forwards, we're decent rebounding, play the fast break and have good ball handlers," said Menchville coach Phil Ford, whose team is 21-6, with four losses against Phoebus.
"I don't know if" Cave Spring's state tournament experience "will effect our team. Our girls don't know Cave Spring, but they've been there before and that's an advantage for them."
Fleming also didn't play that well in its first-round boys' game against Hayfield. The Colonels' game with John Marshall (22-5) could be a scoring extravaganza if both teams open the throttle and run at will.
The Colonels have played in two delay games against Hayfield and Woodbridge. Because of that, leading scorer Carlos Rhodes has been out of sync and scored only 17 points after averaging better than 20.
"They have a couple of big kids and they've run almost exclusively. Now we'll watch a tape and see if we can run with those big fellows. If we can't, then maybe we'll be stalling and give them something to think about," Fleming coach Burrall Paye said.
John Marshall is paced by 6-4 Edmund Sherod (18.3 ppg., 10.1 rpg.), son of the former Virginia Commonwealth standout with the same name.
The other Group AAA game will match Bethel (26-3) and outstanding football/basketball prospect Allen Iverson against Woodbridge (25-2) at 7:45 Friday night.
Hall will be trying for his eighth Group AA state title at Martinsville. Before the season began, Hall would not have forecast his team making it this far.
"Looking at the kids we had, we knew we'd have to work hard just to be respectable. We picked Laurel Park, Magna Vista, Fieldale-Collinsville and Tunstall ahead of us with the talent they had coming back," Hall said.
Three of Martinsville's five losses came to Laurel Park. The Lancers are ranked No. 1 in Group AA and will be in the semifinals for the second consecutive year.
An interesting note, although not a particularly comforting one for Lancers coach Frank Scott, is that two of the three past state champions - Lee and Nansemond River - beat Laurel Park at University Hall on the way to the crown.
This team, though, is different from those Lancer outfits. Missing is 6-foot-8 Odell Hodge, last year's Timesland player of the year. Laurel Park seems to be much quicker and pushes the ball more than in the Hodge years.