Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 13, 1993 TAG: 9302150261
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
WILLIAM FLEMING RUNS PAST FRANKLIN COUNTY
There wasn't anything supernatural about it, unless you're disposed to thinking of things in those terms. Still, there was lot to be frightened by for Franklin County on Friday night.William Fleming crushed the host Eagles 80-63 in a Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball game, which gave the Eagles faithful plenty to worry about as it was. Yet it was suggested there were even more heart-fluttering elements at work.
First, there was the Eagles' incredible disappearing rebounders. While the Eagles weren't exactly the invisible men, the Colonels' 45-22 rebounding advantage indicated that Franklin County had all but vanished in that regard.
"Unfortunately, a lot of teams are going to be outrebounded by William Fleming because they have four horses who go to the boards hard, and I mean hard," Franklin County coach Calvin Preston said. "They go to the boards as hard as any team I've seen in a long, long time."
Then there was the matter of the Eagles' offense against the Colonels' matchup zone. Fleming may have ended up with more points during those confrontations than did the Eagles. It was enough to send shivers down the spine of the most resolute of the Franklin County hoops purists.
"The thing that hurt us was the `Phantom Offense,' " Preston said of his team's lack of attack. "That was somebody else's offense, not mine."
Fleming (13-4 overall, 6-0 in the district) has a knack for casting the sorts of basketball spells that make the other guys forget who they are and how they got here. That's why the Colonels were tied for No. 9 in this week's Group AAA poll.
Fleming began a blowout in the first half, paused as Franklin County (9-9, 3-3) regrouped after intermission, and still won comfortably.
"The first half, we were much more relaxed," Colonels point guard Derrick Hines said. "In the second half, we tensed up some and let the refs get to us. It was a mental thing. We needed to be more focused than we were."
Still, it was hard to argue with the results. Fleming had four players in double figures and looked every bit the part of one of the state's top teams.
Jemare Crump led the way with 22 points and 15 rebounds; Carlos Rhodes scored 18 - 12 in the first half - to go with seven rebounds; Hines added 14 points; and Phillip Lacey chipped in 12.
Preston gave credit to Carlos Holland for keeping Rhodes, one of the league's most dangerous players, somewhat under control.
"Holland did a heck of a job," he said. "But Carlos Rhodes did a heck of a job playing intelligently. He didn't force a thing, he just looked for the open man."
Franklin County's Derek Bryant had 18 points - 12 from 3-point range - and Tremayne McHeimer and Holland put in 14 each. Franklin County kept things respectable by making 10 3-point goals, three of which were banked improbably off the glass.
"They made some awfully good 3-point shots," Fleming coach Burrall Paye said. "But you can't tell me they called all those shots [such as in a game of h-o-r-s-e]."
Fleming took control steadily in the first half, then broke loose like a torrent. Starting with 1:23 left in the first quarter, when David Hutchinson swept in for a layup, the Colonels blistered their stumbling hosts for a 25-4 run. The charge was boosted by four straight Franklin County turnovers in the first couple of minutes of the second quarter.
The most glaring statistic was the Colonels' 27-7 domination of the rebounding in the first 16 minutes.
"We all jump well," Crump said. "But we're all small, so the key is to box out." \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.