Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993 TAG: 9312160060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Patriots were hemmed in for a while by Alleghany's jumpy zone defense and trailed by a point late in the second quarter. Then PH got some running room and went on a 15-0 run over a four-minute stretch of the second and third quarters en route to an 80-62 non-district boys' basketball victory at PH.
The Group AAA Patriots, 4-17 last year, are 4-1. The Group AA Mountaineers are 1-3.
"I thought we'd be better [than last year]," said PH coach Woody Deans, who next tests his team against Group AAA Heritage on Tuesday. "I'm pleased with the way the kids are progressing. They're really starting to listen to exactly what we want them to do."
Tuesday, that meant hit the boards and run.
PH didn't do much of either early in the game, although it did make nine of its first 10 field-goal attempts, finishing the first quarter 10-for-13 but leading only 24-20.
In the second quarter, Maurice Preston's 3-pointer gave PH a 31-26 lead.
But the Mountaineers got a follow shot from Jermaine Winston and back-to-back 3-pointers by Dusty Rowland over the Patriots' zone to take a 34-33 lead with 2:44 left.
Alleghany's scrappy rebounding and outside shooting pulled PH out of the zone.
That helped the Patriots.
"We got a little more aggressive with it," Deans said of his defense. "I don't think they got as many stickbacks."
Chris Combs fed Preston for a layup and a 35-34 PH lead with 1:59 left. A Preston steal led to Combs making a free throw; when Combs missed the second, sophomore center Phillip Taylor put it back for a 38-34 Patriots lead.
PH's Quinton Twine got a steal the next time down, and Combs hit a 3-pointer for a 41-34 edge that PH took into halftime.
Alleghany, which had overcome a 7-0 deficit, suddenly was disappearing.
"We were able to score when we got the ball in places we needed to get it," Mountaineers coach Jimmy Smith said. "We made turnovers without them putting a lot of pressure on us."
It didn't stop after halftime. Combs' 3-pointer opened the second-half scoring, and he followed that with a driving layup for a 46-34 Patriots lead with 6:22 left in the third quarter.
Twine's fast-break layup made it 48-34 PH with six minutes to go. PH led by 15 in the third quarter and by 21 in the fourth.
Combs' spree during PH's decisive run had its roots in the first quarter, when he made his first three shots as the Patriots took a 14-7 lead.
"They seemed to be sagging down on [Shannon Taylor and Vince McGhee] and leaving me open," Combs said.
Once the Patriots surged to a double-digit lead, an Alleghany run was unlikely.
"We always try to push the ball down the court," Combs said. "Maurice did a pretty good job of getting it downcourt to Quinton and me on the wings. We were able to feed the ball down low for some easy baskets.
"After we got the lead, they had to go man-to-man. That's what we want."
That's when PH's size kicked in, with 6-foot-5 Taylor and 6-4 McGhee bouncing bodies inside.
"We stopped them a few times," Smith said, "but when it got down to it, we couldn't stop them." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB