ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996             TAG: 9602090012
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                PAGE: E-10 EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER 


FOR CAVE SPRING, IT'S AN INSIDE STORY

What Cave Spring point guard Jeff Lang and coach Chris Carr needed was an inside force.

Last season, the Knights had a lot of veterans including Lang, but no inside game. So Cave Spring came up short when it set out to make the Group AAA Northwest Region tournament for the second time in the school's history.

This season, all the veterans but Lang are gone. He has 6-foot-5 junior Alex Phillips, who last summer was Carr's personal project. It's worked. Phillips is averaging 13.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. So the Knights have a better chance this winter of making the regional than they did a year ago.

``Having Alex has taken the pressure off,'' said Lang, who is averaging 5.1 assists while leading Cave Spring's scoring with a 17-point average. ``If I drop the ball off to him, my man will double down. So I get a better look at the basket.''

Phillips spent last season on the junior varsity. Without extra work, he wasn't ready to provide Cave Spring help in the middle despite the Knights' desperation for a big man.

It's helped that Phillips grew an inch and added 20 pounds in the past year. He's also been a hard worker, making frequent use of the weight room to add strength.

``He was a young man who with David Harms and Ricky Dierker didn't miss a conditioning program in preseason or this past summer,'' said Carr. ``Alex was here every single day. He was a kid who kept getting better and better.''

Phillips says he had a reason for all his hard work. ``I love basketball and want to be good. I figured if I worked hard in the open gym, it would pay off in the season. It's starting to do that.''

There was more than hard work needed for Phillips to be ready to play center in the Roanoke Valley District.

``Since I've been coach [five years as head coach or assistant] at Cave Spring, I've been the best post player in school. Unfortunately, I don't have any eligibility left,'' said Carr.

Phillips has blossomed under Carr. Over the summer, it was Carr who worked against Phillips, honing his player's skills as a post player. Now Phillips can give Carr a good run when the two go at each other, so the Cave Spring coach has searched anywhere he can to find even better big men to go against his center.

``Alex only averaged seven points and six rebounds on the junior varsity. He wasn't ready physically to play,'' said Carr.

Sometimes, the quiet Phillips has to be jump started. He'll get nine or 10 rebounds for a couple of games and then have an outing where he gets only one.

``Sometimes I have to literally kick him in the butt,'' Carr said. ``Against Patrick Henry, he had two points and four rebounds at halftime. I got right in his face and said I want to know why you're not dominating the game and why in the second half you're going to dominate the game. At the end, he had 14 points and nine rebounds and had a lot to do with us beating them.''

That game established the Knights as chief challenger to perennial power William Fleming, though there is a return engagement left at PH.

While Phillips' floor game is improving, he also has to adjust his mental outlook to the pressure of being in a tight contest.

``In tight game situations, I'll talk in the huddle. In my first few games, I was nervous. Jeff has helped me a lot. He tells me to get my head into it. He calmed me down if something went wrong,'' said Phillips.

That's why Lang is one of Timesland's top point guards. His weakness prior to this season was being a bit erratic, but observers point out that Lang has cut down on his errors that came from sometimes trying to make a play happen that might not be there.

``I feel I've improved. I'm playing more under control. I've taken more of a leadership role,'' said Lang.

Lang was quarterback of the football team that has enjoyed two good years under his leadership including a berth in the regional playoffs this season. As a sophomore and junior, Lang looked toward a college athletic career. Now he's not so sure he wants to continue playing sports in college, though basketball will be his future if he does. Most Division III programs would love to have Lang in either sport.

``I'm kind of burned out,'' he said. ``I've played football and basketball since I was 6 years old. Also, we expected a lot more out of last year [in basketball] and that's why I've thought about not playing in college. This season has sort of brought me back.''

Phillips, on the other hand, is gung-ho for playing college basketball.

``I'd love to to do that. I'm planning on working just as hard next summer,'' he said.


LENGTH: Medium:   90 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Hard work is paying off for Cave 

Spring High's 6-foot-5 center Alex Phillips (right), whose play has

helped make teammate Jeff Lang's job a lot easier. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL

by CNB