Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 4, 1993 TAG: 9312040233
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Blacksburg did an instant replay of its earlier thrashing of Gate City by mauling the Blue Devils 66-34 on Friday night at the Salem Civic Center to earn a shot at its second consecutive Group AA girls' basketball title.
The Indians (25-2) will meet Charlottesville (22-6) at 2:45 p.m. today. The Black Knights whipped Loudoun Valley 54-38 in the other semifinal.
Blacksburg had beaten Gate City 67-41 on the Blue Devils' court to win the Region IV championship. The difference in the second game was that Blacksburg never was in trouble.
"I didn't think we had this game until the start of the fourth quarter," said Indians forward Lisa Price, who scored a game-high 21 points. In the earlier meeting, Price had a career-high 30.
Blacksburg led 32-12 at the half and Price might have been the only one in the building who didn't think the game was over.
"Well, down there they made a run on us in the third quarter and we had to fight them off," Price said.
This time, the run wasn't there. The Indians scored six of the first eight points in the second half and continued to pull away.
Gate City (20-6) was very patient to open the game. "That was our game plan and we stayed in it for about five minutes," said Pam Wilson, Gate City's coach.
The Blue Devils led 4-2 and had 10 field-goal attempts to three for the Indians. Then, Blacksburg scored the final 10 points of the quarter with Meredith Braine accounting for six.
"They went on that charge and it was just like the game at Gate City. I knew all along we'd have to keep it close to be respectable, but the game got away," Wilson said.
Mary Thorn, a senior point guard, was a maestro at guiding Blacksburg's offense and defense. She had eight assists and five steals while scoring 12 points.
"I figured they'd put a little more pressure on the ball out front. They brought two guards out higher," said Blacksburg's coach, Mickey McGuigan.
"As long as I've coached, our game is getting the ball to the person who is open. Lisa had two great games. She was the one player who had an advantage over their player guarding her.
"Then Meredith had a super game. I don't know how many points she had, but it was the little things she did."
Thorn, headed to East Carolina next season on a basketball scholarship, had to love Friday's game. The fast break was her instrument of destruction.
"That's just our game" she said. "We'll fast-break any team we're able to do it to. If you slow us down, that might hurt us."
Thorn watched as Charlotesville turned back Loudoun Valley. "They have a couple of key role players and the tall girl [Mandisa Turner]. We'll be OK if we stop their inside game," Thorn said.
Is there pressure to repeat as state champions?
"A lot of people didn't expect us to do it again this year, so we still feel like the underdog," Thorn said. "If we play defense, we'll do it again. And there's no pressure to playing defense."
Turner might put some pressure on the Indians. She scored 22 points and had 16 rebounds to lead Charlottesville's victory. It's likely that Blacksburg will use Abigail Murrman to offset Turner's height underneath.
Loudoun Valley (21-6), which lost to the Black Knights in the Region II final, was led by Cameron Ardt with 17.
Charlottesville led nearly the entire game, but a couple of players went down with injuries. The most serious was forward Jill Ashley, the Knights' second leading scorer, who sprained an ankle. \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.