ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
THE MINUTEMEN start slowly before finishing the Generals of William Campbell 95-68.
One quarter was about all it took for Liberty High School's basketball team to become annoyed.
William Campbell arrived for its Tuesday night visit with a new coach in Pat Paye and a new outlook on basketball. And it also might have come with a little bit of a chip on its shoulder.
But after letting the plucky Generals stay close for the first eight minutes or so, that was about it. The pressure increased, and so did the turnovers. Liberty led by 34 points before winning 95-68 in a Seminole District game.
The Minutemen pushed their overall and district record to 9-0. The Generals sank to 4-6. Paye, the son of longtime William Fleming coach Burrall Paye, wasn't around to see the foul-plagued finale, having been excused for some remarks to the officials.
``I said some things I probably shouldn't have,'' Paye said.
By then, the outcome had long since been decided. Everybody for Liberty scored, led by sophomore Raymond ``Peanut'' Arrington with 20 points, guard Gregg Reynolds with 14, guard J.J. Coles with 12 and point guard Robert Carson, another 10th-grader, with 12.
``Nice box score,'' said Mark Hanks, Liberty's coach. ``A coach's dream.''
Liberty sank 18 of 24 free-throw attempts to take advantage of 19 Generals fouls. It could have been worse, because Coles, a terrific, clutch free-throw shooter, went 0-for-3.
``The score wasn't close,'' Hanks said. ``If the score had been close, he would have made them.''
Arrington didn't have any trouble with his freebies, stroking all seven of them.
Neither team had played for 10 days and Liberty had only had four practices since then because of the difficult traveling conditions brought on by the snow.
The layoff couldn't have helped, and it might have hurt people such as Reynolds, Coles and Carson, who participated in the longest football season in school history.
``I've still got some football left in me,'' Coles said. ``I still feel like running over somebody or grabbing them every now and then.''
That might have been the only way the Generals could have dealt with some of Liberty's players.
``Excellent ballclub,'' Paye said. ``They put so much pressure on the ball and force you into turning the ball over, then they capitalize on it by scoring. You can shut down one facet, but there are so many more after that.''
Campbell's leading scorer was Chauncey Walker with 21. Cory Waller added 17 points. The second-leading scorer for the season, Virginia Tech football recruit Robert Adams, a 6-foot-5 center averaging 11 points per game, was held to eight.
``We just couldn't get him the ball where he could score,'' Paye said. ``It all goes back to that Liberty defense.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB