Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 29, 1994 TAG: 9401290207
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JIMMY ROBERTSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That person turned out to be none other than Patrick Henry forward Shannon Taylor.
Better known for his football exploits, Taylor showed why he is one of the Timesland's best athletes by scoring 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Patriots came from behind to defeat the Eagles 72-67 in a Roanoke Valley District game at Patrick Henry.
"We knew going in that they had a lot of talent," Taylor said. "They played great defense on me, especially Carlos [Holland], but we were able to make the plays at the end."
With the score tied at 65 midway through the fourth quarter, Taylor went to work. First, he hit the second free throw of a two-shot foul to give the Patriots (9-3 overall, 3-1 district) a 66-65 lead - one which they would not relinquish.
After rebounding a Franklin County miss, Taylor drove the left baseline, pulled up and sank a short jumper to give the Patriots a 68-65 lead with less than a minute to go.
"We work hard on taking the ball to the basket," Taylor said. "The defender cut me off, so I just shot over him."
Holland, who scored a game-high 25 points, hit two free throws to pull the Eagles to one point down, 68-67.
The Eagles (7-6, 2-2) then fouled Patrick Henry's Chris Combs with less than 30 seconds to go. Franklin County called a timeout to make Combs think about the free throws. The tactic failed, though, and Combs sank both to give the Patriots a 70-67 lead.
Franklin County had one last chance to tie, but Jason Conklin's 3-point attempt was off the mark and the ball was knocked out of bounds off the Eagles with two seconds left.
"We had some players who really came up big tonight, especially Shannon and Chris," Patriots head coach Woody Deans said. "We did not play particularly well, but give Franklin County some credit. They are for real."
Franklin County twice came back from eight-point deficits to make it a close game. Patrick Henry jumped to an 8-0 lead to start the game and led 48-40 early in the third quarter before Holland brought the Eagles back by scoring 11 points in the quarter.
"I cannot say enough about the effort that our kids put forth tonight," Franklin County coach Calvin Preston said. "I thought we did a good job on their inside people, but they just wore us down in the fourth quarter."
The fatigue showed in the end as the Patriots shot 13 free throws in the fourth quarter, making 10 and showing a huge improvement from the first half when they made four of 13.
"We did not knock the free throws down in the first half," Deans said. "But we won and we are tied for first place in the district, and that is where we want to be."
by CNB