ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130071
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
Northside found out the hard way Tuesday about the realities of trying to win a basketball game with six-footers.
Patrick Henry went inside early and often to dispose of the Vikings 77-71 in a non-district matchup of two teams that should be contenders in their league races.
The Patriots of the Group AAA Roanoke Valley District also used their considerable depth, getting 40 points off the bench.
Boo Battle, a sophomore who promises to make for some exciting times in basketball for PH followers the next few years, led the charge of the substitutes. He scored 18 and joined 6-foot-5 starting forward Phillip Taylor, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds, as the main culprits for the shorter Vikings from the Group AA Blue Ridge District.
PH (3-2), with three players standing 6-4 or taller, outrebounded Northside 53-31. Despite all this, the Patriots couldn't shake the pesky Vikings (1-1), who had a chance to win until Adam Wimmer missed two free-throw attempts with 29.6 seconds left and his team down 73-68.
PH got clutch free throws from Rashad Myers and Ronnie Kasey to sew up the game and render meaningless a last-second 3-pointer by Northside guard Ben Peete, who led all scorers with 22.
The play of the game, though, came with a little less than two minutes left as Peete roared in for a layup to try and cut PH's lead to three. Taylor blocked the shot, raced to the other end, got a feed from Ronnie Kasey and hit a jumper for a 69-62 lead to make Northside's job a little harder.
``I probably could have had better position,'' Taylor said. ``I was in the right place at the right time. Then Ronnie penetrated [at the other end] and hit me for the open shot.''
Battle, despite his youth, hit four pressure free throws in the final two minutes to thwart Northside's comeback hopes.
``It doesn't bother me coming off the bench,'' said Battle, who is following what former PH great George Lynch did as a sophomore when he, too, started the season as a reserve. ``I also like the pressure free throws.''
PH also blocked seven Viking shots, four of them in the final quarter. The Patriots connected on 30 of 61 field-goal attempts; Northside was a cold 26-of-68.
The Vikings hit six 3-point shots to stay in the game, but that was offset by 20 misses from beyond the arc. Spence Peters was 3-of-10, but he hit two 3-point goals at the start of the third quarter as the Vikings grabbed a brief 42-41 lead.
``Our goal is to play well against bigger teams and we will,'' predicted Northside coach Billy Pope. ``Our guys played as hard as they could play. We didn't give this game away. There is losing when you give it away and there's losing when the other team is a little better than you - just a little better [in this case].
``The 3-point shots were there and we hit some in spurts. We'll shoot them better.''
PH coach Woody Deans said Northside's guards - Peete and Justin Porterfield - gave his defense trouble.
``They're excellent guards, and they were hard to keep in front of us,'' he said.
Myers had an excellent all-around game despite going scoreless from the field. The PH point guard had three steals and a game-high five assists.
``We play eight or nine people and don't feel we take anything away when we go to the bench,'' Deans said. ``We just have to keep everybody happy with playing time.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. Patrick Henry's Boo Battle (34)by CNBleads teammate Ronnie Kasey on the break as the Patriots push the
ball upcourt against Northside on Tuesday night at the Vikings'
gym.