Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If Lord Botetourt is to make the Group AA girls' basketball tournament, it will need more of the kind of help it got Tuesday night from starters Aimee Bird and Katrina Elliott.
Sarah Hicks and Sara Moore combined for 43 points, but the key to the Cavaliers' 79-69 victory over Brookville in the opening round of the Region III tournament at William Byrd might have been the double-figure productions of the other two players.
Bird scored a season-high 14 points and Elliott added 13 to push the Cavaliers (21-4) into a semifinal battle Thursday against Martinsville. The winner of that game goes on to the Group AA tournament.
``Coach [David] Wheat talked to us about getting more shots, take the pressure off Sarah and Sara,'' Bird said. ``Sometimes we look for them too much.''
Wheat agreed.
``This is what we've hoped for all year long,'' Lord Botetourt's coach said. ``We've talked to all the girls that we're confident in their ability to score. We have to have some balance to go very far in the playoffs.''
Brookville (19-4) used a triangle-and-two defense against Moore and Hicks. It didn't work very well. Moore hit a jumper 14 seconds into the game, and the Cavaliers led the rest of the way.
Despite building leads of six to 12 points, the Cavaliers couldn't put away Brookville. First, Moore, was in foul trouble, then Hicks tired, so Wheat had to rest them.
``They've got two big-time players in Moore and Hicks,'' said Tracie Robey, Brookville's coach. ``We'd be in their face and they'd still knock it down.
``But we weren't counting on those other girls doing what they did. They hadn't done that all along. But we had to make Botetourt go to other people. They knocked down their shots. It was a gamble we had to take.''
Moore and Hicks still hit 18 of 34 field-goal attempts and combined for 14 rebounds. Bird and Elliott added 9-of-19 shooting, making the Cavaliers much too strong for Brookville.
Moore was amazing. She hit jump shots early, then went inside to post up against the bigger, slower Bees. She also had seven assists and led both teams with five steals.
``I do whatever the other team will let me do,'' said the Botetourt junior. ``Whatever they let me do [shoot outside or inside] is my favorite move.''
Brookville hit only 21 of 60 shots and that was what took the Bees out of the game, though Wheat was not happy with his team's defense. He was happy, with Moore's defense.
``Sara played as well defensively as offensively. She was all over the court,'' Wheat said.
Leading 58-49 after Brookville's Kristie Fisher, who led all scorers with 25 points, hit a pair of free throws with 6:15 left, Botetourt put the Bees out of the game. The Cavaliers went on a 12-0 run with six players scoring just like Wheat drew it up when he asked the rest of the team to step up and score.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB