
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 16, 1994                   TAG: 9409160074
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JIMMY ROBERTSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SALEM HAS GROWING PAINS IN 69-61 LOSS

The young Salem Spartans, who do not have a senior on the team, fell behind, rallied to take the lead, fell way behind and then watched a furious rally come up short as they lost to Robert E. Lee-Staunton 69-61 Thursday in a non-district girls basketball game at Salem.

"We're young. There's no question about it," said Salem coach Dee Wright. "It's a matter of being consistent every game. If only we could be more consistent ..."

But despite the growing pains, the youngsters did show some character.

The Spartans were down by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter before coming back.

Trailing 64-52 with two minutes left, Salem's Sarah Palmer nailed a three-point shot to bring Salem to 10 points behind the Lee Ladies (4-0). Palmer, a freshman who scored 18 points, struck again 40 seconds later, hitting another three and pulling the Spartans to 64-58.

Salem (2-2) would get no closer.

R.E. Lee's Kelly Simmons, who led the team with 25 points on 8-of-9 shooting, hit two free throws on Lee's next possession. And after Salem's Shellie Johnson missed a 3-pointer, Simmons hit two more free throws with 37 seconds left to give Lee a 68-58 lead and put the game away.

"This was definitely a good game for us," said Lee coach Steve Walk. "It's a different style than what we are used to."

The turning point came with 2 minutes, 16 seconds left in the third quarter. Johnson, Salem's leading scorer, went to the bench with her fourth foul. Johnson tallied 12 of her team-high 20 points in the first half, but did not score in the second half until five minutes were left in the game.

"They played some weird defense on me in the second half," Johnson said. "They played man on me and Sarah [Palmer] and our zone offenses weren't working."

"It was actually a diamond and one," Walk said. "We kept changing it because when we guarded Johnson with a man, then [Palmer] would hit a few shots. If we switched to her, then [Tina Slate] would start hitting. We did not know who to guard."

The game looked like it would be a rout early. Lee jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter and led 14-4 before Simmons picked up her third foul with a minute left in the quarter. Salem clawed back and took the lead, 15-14, in the second quarter when Johnson hit a driving shot.

A 14-4 Salem run stretched the lead to 23-18 with three minutes left in the half. But then Lee went on a 13-3 run, anchored by two 3-pointers by Jennifer Nuckols, and led 31-26 at the half.

"They're a great team and you have to give them credit," Johnson said of Lee, considered one of the better Group AA teams in the state. "But we're improving and I think we'll get where we want to by the end of the season."

by CNB