Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. Dougherty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A basketball team from Blacksburg won the gold medal in the open division at the recent Commonwealth Games in Roanoke.
``Basically, I just picked up some of the guys I played with at Blacksburg,'' said JON MAHER, the former Blacksburg High standout and organizer of the team. ``Then I picked up some guys I play pick-up games with at Virginia Tech. Then I picked up my dad - they changed it from a 20-24 age group to open - to have another good player.''
Maher and his high school teammates have kept up their basketball skills while playing at college. Maher was at Johns Hopkins before transferring to Roanoke College. DARREN MORTON will be a junior at Clinch Valley. THOMPSON LESTER is a rising senior at Virginia Intermount.
From Virginia Tech came rising sophomore ACE CUSTIS, redshirt sophomore DELWYN DILLARD and the recently graduated walk-on MIKE DAVIS.
And Maher's father, JACK MAHER, was a Little All-American at the University of Scranton (Pa.) in the 1970s.
The toughest part of winning the 10-team double-elimination tournament came Sunday after Blacksburg fell into the losers' bracket. And they had to win three straight games - and play four in a row - to claim the title.
``I think we did pretty well,'' Maher said. ``We're used to playing a lot. When you play pick-up, you stay on the court if you win. So we'd play back-to-back-to-back.''
Blacksburg beat the team it lost to - the Roanoke Jazz - two straight times to claim the title.
Custis averaged a team-high 32 points over the six tournament games. Meanwhile, Dillard, Davis, Thompson and the younger Maher had all at least one double-digit scoring performance.
The Christiansburg Girls 13-and-under basketball squad went 2-2 in the Games.
Christiansburg opened with a 40-17 loss to Albermarle. HEATHER MOORE led Christiansburg with five points.
Things went better for Christiansburg in its next game as it beat Alexandria 47-35. AMBER REED scored 21 points, TISH CAMPBELL 10 and SARAH PRICE nine.
Next, Christiansburg slipped past the Westside Richmond Warriors 41-40 in overtime as Reed (14) and Moore (8) combined for 22 points.
But that brought up Albermarle again. Christiansburg was eliminated 34-23.
RUNNERS AND JUMPERS: Pulaski had four state titlists at the state Hershey's Youth Track Meet in Charlottesville.
JOSELYN TRAVIS, a national champion last year, captured the Girls 12-and-under standing long jump with a leap of 7 feet, 8 inches. Also in that event, TERRANCE SMITH won the Boys 12-and-under by jumping 7 feet, 5 inches.
ISRAEL LONG won the 200 meters in Boys 11-12 in 27.6 seconds.
Meanwhile, the 400-meter relay team of GABERIEL PATTERSON, MAURICE CARTER, Long and Smith blazed to the state title in 57.87 seconds.
BALLS AND BATS: The A's clinched first place in the Pulaski 11-and-under Girls Softball League with a double-header sweep of the Cougars.
In the opener, the A's won 9-3 as AMY LAMBERT and SABRINA RADCLIFFE went 3-for-3.
In the second game, Radcliffe struck out a league-record nine batters and allowed just one hit as the A's won 12-0. KELLIE HODGES went 3-for-3 and scored three runs.
The White Sox continued to hold onto first place in the Pulaski 15-and-under Girls Softball League. They won their first seven games.
During their streak, TONI WRIGHT and JENNIFER EADS combined on the first no-hit, no-run game in league history as the White Sox beat the Raiders 11-0.
SULTANS OF SWAT: Offense continued to dominate the Pulaski Men's Softball League.
League co-leaders Athletes Choice and Golden Corral (both are 20-0) were main participants in the offensive carnage.
A.C. defeated Mr. Bills 41-29 in the highest-scoring league game ever. A record five players hit three or more home runs: CHARLES CRIGGER, DAVID ALDERMAN and DAVID BISHOP each hit three for Athletes Choice. For Mr. Bills, MATT SAUNDERS hit four round-trippers and EDDIE SLOSS three.
The game had a total of 27 home runs, tying a league record.
Meanwhile, Golden Corral hit a record-tying five consecutive homers in the third inning of its 23-5 win over Electroplate Rite.
BRAD GOLDEN, PERRY REESE, BRIAN GOLDEN, BOBBY EASTER and MARK MILLS all homered in a row.
Elsewhere in the league, JERRY TAYLOR picked up his 100th pitching victory as Heilig-Meyers edged Xaloy 22-20.
TENNIS TIME: The Pulaski Department of Parks and Recreation will sponsor the Southwest Times Tennis Tournament Aug. 6-12.
Competition will be held in Men's A and B Singles, Women's Singles, Men's and B Doubles, and Men's Doubles.
The entry fee is $5 for singles and $10 for doubles - plus one can of new tennis balls. The deadline is Aug. 4. For more information, call JOHN FREEMAN at 674-2940.
SIGN-UP TIME: Fall softball registration continues in Blacksburg through Aug. 12.
The will be five leagues: Men's A and B, Women's Open, Coed Open and Church. Each league is limited to eight teams. The entry fee is $175 per team plus a $20 forfeit fee.
For more information, call LARRY LAWRENCE, athletic supervisor for the recreation department, at 961-1135.
Sandlot football sign-ups run through Aug. 12 in Blacksburg.
Youths ages 9-13 are eligible to play. There are heavyweight and lightweight divisions.
For more information, call the Recreation Department at 961-1135.
ARCHING TARGETS: Triangle Bowhunters of Blacksburg will hold a 3-D Archery Tournament on Sunday.
Competitors will shoot at 25 McKinzie Targets with all new centers. The maximum distance of the targets will be 45 yards.
Competitors will be divided into divisions based upon age, skill and technique. Registration is from noon to 2 p.m. The cost is $8 per individual or $20 for a family of archers.
For more information, call JIM OVERFELT at 552-8023 (home) or 231-5817 (work).
SWIMMING ALONG: The Blacksburg Sunfish set three team records in their final league meet of the summer season.
The Sunfish were edged by Hidden Valley 1174-1064 in the meet. Montclair was third with 48 points.
TRACY NG retook the record in the 50-meter backstroke for Girls 9-10 at 39.65 seconds.
WHIT HUGHSTON broke the Boys 15-18 and Senior records in the 50 backstroke with a 30.45.
And ANDREW DORSEY set a new mark in the 50 butterfly for Boys 15-18 with a 28.72.
Eight swimmers won both the butterfly and backstroke. In the Gold Division (highest), the double-winners were WILL BRUNNER (Boys 9-10), ELLEN DORSEY (Girls 11-12) and ROBERT SUSIL (Men 19-24). In the Silver Division, they were BEN GRABOYES (Boys 9-10), KARIN SOLBERG (Women 19-24) and KAYE KRIZ (Women 40-and-over). And in the Bronze Division, they were DAVID DARVALICS (Boys 6-and-under) and JULIA KAUFMAN (Girls 13-14).
by CNB