Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 15, 1994 TAG: 9401150239
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Knights' latest exploits came Friday as sophomore Jeff Lang stepped up to put the hammer to visiting Patrick Henry in Cave Spring's 65-59 victory. The Knights (7-6, 3-0) are the only team in the district without a loss.
Lang scored 18 points, most of them in the fourth quarter when he connected on 12 of 15 free throws as the Patriots (6-2, 1-1) kept sending him to the line.
"I started off the season well and then missed eight [free throws]," Lang said. "I missed three tonight and knew I couldn't miss anymore."
Lang missed three of his first seven Friday, but he connected on eight in a row in the final one minute, 21 seconds to thwart a rally by the Patriots. PH cut a 10-point deficit to three on several occasions.
"He's right at 75 percent on the free-throw line, but last year he was a 90 percent shooter," said Cave Spring coach Rick Crotts, who used Lang as a point guard in 1992-93 to get him ready for this season. "He's like a junior now, a very mature junior.
"Heck, he doesn't have his driver's license, yet. He could have gotten it in December, but he stayed for basketball practice instead."
Lang said he felt PH was picking on him.
"After I hit the first couple in a row, I started to feel it," he said of his game-ending streak. "Then Patrick Henry started backing off me, trying to make me pass the ball."
Woody Deans, the Patriots' coach, said his team didn't single out Lang because he was a sophomore.
"He showed a lot of character. But all of them are good shooters," Deans said of the Knights.
Cave Spring took the lead for good when Grant Kittelson slipped in for a layup to make it 34-33 with 6:30 left in the third quarter. After that, the Knights' man-to-man defense controlled PH.
Only Shannon Taylor seemed to be able to solve Cave Spring's defense. He scored a game-high 25 points, including 12 of the Patriots' first 15. For the game, he made 12 of 21 field-goal attempts.
The Patriots' best chance to catch the Knights came with 45 seconds left, when Kittelson missed the front end of a one-and-one with Cave Spring leading 61-57. C.J. Walker and Vince McGhee had the rebound for PH, but in trying to grab the ball they lost it out of bounds.
A foul five seconds later sent Lang to the free-throw line and he hit two. After Taylor hit a layup with 26 seconds left to make it 63-59, Lang was fouled again and hit both shots to clinch the victory.
The Patriots dominated the rebounding 14-6 in the first quarter, but in the final three periods Cave Spring held a 26-20 edge against the taller PH team thanks to Matt Matheny's 11 boards.
"It's a lack of effort if you get outrebounded by people who aren't as tall as you are," Deans said.
James Irvin, Cave Spring's second-leading scorer and top 3-point shooter, was held to six points on two 3-pointers. He did put the clamps on PH's Chris Combs, holding the 6-foot-5 forward to five points and two rebounds.
"That's the kind of defense he'll play on people, and he's willing to do that [and not score as many points]," Crotts said.
Lang did more than just hit free throws. He hit three field goals in the opening quarter and had four assists.
The Knights were 4-of-13 from 3-point range and didn't dominate from the outside as they have so many times this winter. For the game, PH had a better percentage overall, making 25 of 50 shots to 23-of-54 shooting for Cave Spring.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB