ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602190124
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
It took a little longer than expected, but William Fleming claimed the Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball title it had been favored to win.
The Colonels scored 21 consecutive points in the second half Friday and then held off Cave Spring for a 66-55 victory to lock up the championship and a spot in the Northwest Region tournament for the 17th straight year - or since Jimmy Carter was President.
The victory ended a rugged regular season for the Colonels (14-6 overall, 7-1 RVD) in which longtime coach Burrall Paye abruptly resigned. Fleming was upset Thursday at Patrick Henry to prevent the Colonels from clinching the title then.
The Fleming-Cave Spring game was hotly contested with four technical fouls. Both centers - Sterling Tate of Fleming and Cave Spring's Alex Phillips - were ejected for fighting when the two became entangled as they went to the floor in the second quarter. Both will sit out the next game.
The Colonels, who led 14-3 early, were fending off Cave Spring at the time, but the Knights (10-10, 4-3) got their first lead after halftime on a 3-point goal by Billy Frantz that made it 28-27.
With the score tied 34-all, Fleming started its spurt with a free throw by Richard Wilson. James Stokes, who led Fleming with 20 points, made a layup and was fouled by Cave Spring's Chris Johnston.
Johnston also drew a technical and Stokes sank two of three free throws. Then Charles Burnette completed six points on one possession with a layup.
Moments later, Cave Spring's Jeff Lang, who led all scorers with 27 points, missed a layup in heavy traffic and Knights coach Chris Carr was levied a technical after Brad Dunleavy drained a 3-point shot. Dunleavy made one free throw and R.J. Reynolds a 3-pointer to make it 48-34.
``The run during the technicals killed us,'' said Carr. ``I wish we could have made some intelligent decisions when the game was on the line.''
Dunleavy hit another trey and a layup, and Stokes scored from inside before Ryan Boitnott's 3-pointer for the Knights ended the run.
``The kids did it. They understood what had to be done,'' Fleming coach Marshall Ashford said. ``A coach can only do so much and then it falls on the shoulders of the kids, and they made it happen.''
With Tate gone, Stokes was most of Fleming's inside game. He needed help and got it from Dunleavy and Wilson, who each scored 13 points.
``Sometimes I'm a streak shooter,'' said Dunleavy. ``When I started hitting, I felt like I was in a groove.''
Wilson, who sank seven of 11 free throws in the second half, wasn't concerned when the Knights caught up. ``I knew we'd come through. I know Stokes will take over the game. I felt like it was time [for the guards] to step up and play our game to help him.''
The Knights had a chance to force a three-way tie for the RVD title with a victory.
They cut the deficit to eight points on two free throws by Lang, who made only one of his final 11 shots from the field. That's as close as they got.
``Fleming's a good team and it was a good basketball game,'' Carr said. ``We needed Alex Phillips to win. Things just went their way.''
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff James Stokes of William Fleming goesby CNBup for a shot against Cave Spring's Ryan Boitnott (44) at Cave
Spring.