Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Patrick Henry administered to the Pulaski County boys' basketball team Tuesday night certainly didn't taste very good going down, but it was good for the patient.
``We needed one of those,'' coach Pat Burns said, after his Cougars held on down the stretch to beat Patrick Henry 66-58 in a Roanoke Valley District game.
Nothing came with much ease against the tenacious-but-outmanned Patriots (3-5 overall, 0-2 in the district). PH trailed 61-58 after Chris Combs took a sweet pass from Brooks Berry and laid it in with 1 minute, 40 seconds left.
But Pulaski County responded in kind with an even more delectable delivery from Eric Webb to slashing Tyrone Hash to go back up by five with 1:03 left. Then, the Cougars padded the advantage to seven when Webb went deep on a fly pattern, following a held ball after a missed Berry free throw.
David Barker, who helped keep PH in the game by sinking two of his three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, missed another attempt from beyond the arc and Combs fouled Webb in the ensuing scramble. Webb buried the first shot and missed the bonus, but that was enough of a lead with 26 seconds left.
``We needed a close ballgame, a tough ballgame, kids fouling out,'' Burns said. ``The closest game we've had so far is 17 points.''
The Cougars have won their first six, including their district opener against the Patriots, and seem intent on establishing their credentials as league title contenders.
``We played hard, but we just came up short,'' said Woody Deans, Patrick Henry's coach.
The Patriots were way short when the Cougars scored the first six points of the second half to take a 36-26 lead. Deans immediately called a timeout to regroup, but Pulaski County went on to make 10 of 12 field-goal attempts in the third quarter and assumed a 52-39 advantage.
PH scrambled back behind Barker, Combs and Berry, who scored all of the Patriots' points in the final period.
Pulaski County ``started out fast and we didn't get out of the blocks well,'' Deans said. ``But we scrapped and clawed and got back into it.''
Nobody scrapped any harder than Combs, who drilled a pair of 3-pointers on the way to scoring 23 points - 14 of those coming in the second half and eight in the fourth quarter. Combs also had 12 rebounds to help the Patriots gain a 35-26 advantage on the backboards. Barker added 14 points.
Webb scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and Brian Ratcliff had 13, including a pair of 3-pointers, before fouling out with 2:55 left. Jon Lilly also was dismissed for the Cougars.
Hash added 11 and Jamar McNair 10 for the Cougars, but it was obvious Hash was troubled by the crowding tactics of PH's triangle-and-two defense in which three players were in a zone and the other two guarded Webb and Hash man-to-man.
``Hash didn't play as well as he has been,'' Burns said. ``I was glad Webb kept his cool. Every time he turned around, No.42 [Montrice Smith] was giving him a forearm shiver.''
That couldn't have been any worse than a dose of cod liver oil.
by CNB