Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260172
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That came in the waning moments of Northside's 82-68 victory in a Blue Ridge District boys' semifinal against William Byrd. Winning to match Salem's earlier victory over Alleghany was more important to Northside. The victory put the Vikings into the Region III tournament next week opposite Liberty in the first-round.
Now comes a matchup that will have little effect other than a Blue Ridge District tournament championship as the Spartans and Vikings square off for the fourth time this season tonight at 8:30 at the Salem Civic Center. Salem has three wins, so maybe Northside figures it's due. Other than that, the game is for fun if that can accurately describe this rivalry.
"Let's define fun," said Northside coach Billy Pope. "If a regional berth was on the line, the game would have a different look."
"It'll be challenging for us to try and beat them," said Northside guard Justin Porterfield.
"We're 0-3 against them. They're in our district. It could be a good game," said Nathan Hungate, the other Viking guard.
Maybe William Byrd figured the same thing as the Terriers had lost three times to the Vikings before Friday.
Byrd had Northside (19-3) in a ticklish situation early in the fourth quarter. Jeremy Obenchain hit a free throw to push the Terriers on top 54-53. That capped a Byrd rally, led by John Bradberry, Michael McGuire and Donald Childress that had started late in the first half when the Terriers trailed 31-15.
Byrd (12-9) dominated the boards, but negated that accomplishmentwith too many turnovers in the final quarter. Byrd wound up with a 37-23 advantage on the boards, but made seven turnovers in the fourth quarter to only one for Northside.
Maurice Garrison, who had seven points in the final quarter, put the Vikings on top to stay with a short jumper from the side to make it 59-57.
Moments later, the Vikings went on a 10-2 run for a 70-62 lead with Sam Barrett, who scored nine points in the final quarter, getting two free throws and a follow shot to spark the surge.
"If we could have kept the lead or been tied, we could have stayed in our 1-3-1 zone," said Byrd coach Paul Barnard. "When we got four or five points down, we had to go back to man-to-man or they'd have held it. Then they went to a 3-2 zone defense, which was the same thing we'd have done."
Northside seemed to have everything going early. Nathan Hungate scored 15 points in the opening two quarters, but picked up a third foul. He got a fourth foul early in the second half and without their leader, the Vikings made miscues.
That's when Porterfield took over. He wound up with nine assists and many of them came during the stretch that Hungate was on the bench.
"There was pressure. I was just trying to step up and win a big game. I had to play as hard as I could," he said.
Garrison's turned his game around in the fourth quarter after a dismal first half.The junior forward made only 1-of-5 shots and missed a couple of layups before halftime.
"I tried not to think about it. I wanted to think about my next shot. I was a little nervous at first. I was throwing it too hard at the basket," said Garrison.
"Even though we got killed [rebounding], we kept pushing the ball up the floor," said Pope. "We got some tough rebounds down the stretch. I can't say enough about the poise of the guys. I thought Maurice as the key to the last quarter."
Northside never lost its shooting touch as the Vikings made 27-of-45 field goals. Hungate canned 8-of-14 including one 3-point shot that was from beyond NBA range. Byrd, for all its rebounding, cashed in on only 23-of-59 field goals. \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB