Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 14, 1993 TAG: 9310160131
SECTION: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS PAGE: S-44 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MONETA LENGTH: Medium
The 1975 baseball team won a Seminole District title, and the 1970 and 1971 girls' basketball teams came in as league champions. Now the 1993 girls' basketball team has a chance to end that streak if they can win this year's Seminole District title race.
Staunton River has a 9-2 record and trails Nelson County, which has one loss. However, the Golden Eagles will play host to Nelson County later this month in the second meeting between the teams.
Even if Staunton River fails to win the regular-season title, the Golden Eagles have a good chance of reaching the Region III tournament. That's because the Seminole District tournament will be held in Moneta (as well as the Region III tournament), and Staunton River has been unbeaten at home.
This is a team without a star, and a team that rebounds well but doesn't shoot straight.
Tanya Nelms is the leading scorer with a 16.4 average, but she missed the first two games with a badly sprained ankle. Not to worry, for Staunton River won at Altavista and beat Amherst County at home.
Nelms, 5 feet 8, is joined inside by 5-8 Kim English at center and 5-7 Courtney Hurd at the other forward. Outside, Dana Bowles plays guard and Deena Mitchell is the playmaker.
Nelms is a typical example of how this team has come together.
"Mr. [Coach Linwood] Roberts watched me play basketball in [physical education class] when I was in eighth grade," Nelms said. "I had never played organized basketball, but he asked me to come out. I liked it because it was competitive."
Now Roberts says Nelms is a college prospect. Roanoke College is looking at her, and Roberts was told that while Radford isn't interested "they felt other schools would be."
Roberts recalls Nelms scoring 31 points as an eighth-grader.
"We didn't know how good she could be until she did that," the Staunton River coach said.
By her sophomore year Nelms was starting for the varsity.
English is a short center by Group AA standards, but she's Timesland's fifth-leading rebounder with more than 11 per game.
"I just try to box out, and I have to use my quickness," English said.
Does Staunton River's success come as a surprise?
"Nope," English said. "When we were at camp, we lost only one game. That was to Floyd County [a strong team that is ranked fourth in Timesland]."
English became a varsity starter last year.
"She plays against someone bigger every game, but she outhustles everybody out there. I should have brought her up to the varsity before, but that's one of those dumb moves a coach makes sometimes," Roberts said.
Hurd, a junior, injured her left knee a year ago. However, she is Timesland's leading rebounder with 12.4 per game despite being short for a forward.
"In the off-season, she had knee surgery. Now she's doing well. She has an instinct for the ball," Roberts said. "The thing is she has never been healthy."
Hurd was the only starter who didn't attend summer camp. Over the summer, the Hurd family moved to Vinton near William Byrd, where the girls' basketball team was Group AA runner-up a year ago.Hurd, however, would rather travel a little and go to Staunton River.
"I didn't want to change schools. I'm not surprised we've done this well. I don't know if everyone thought we'd have a good team, but I did," Hurd said.
Bowles, a senior, didn't start a year ago. "I got a lot of playing time, and it was a goal of mine to start this year," she says.
Says Roberts, "She's a starter through hard work."
Bowles says there's no pressure on the team, but that the school has noticed the Golden Eagles' success.
"The whole school seems to be behind us. More people are coming to the games. They'll wish us good luck or tell us we played a good game. They didn't do that as much last year," she says.
Mitchell runs the team despite not becoming a playmaker until she was in eighth grade.
And the secret of the team, from its floor leader: "We just work it around until we get a good shot. I'm not surprised we're doing this well because most of played together last year and we played rec ball together."
If there's a weakness, it's shooting.
"We haven't shot well. We're shooting about 30 percent for the year [as a team]," Roberts said. "But we're very quick and we play good defense."
Staunton River was supposed to play host to the Seminole District and Region III tournaments three years ago, but Amherst County was awarded that role.
The Lancers went to the Group AA state tournament. Now Staunton River hopes being the host school for both of those tournaments means the same thing.
by CNB