ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Roanoke Valley Christian had to do some creative addition Tuesday night. Unfortunately, its math didn't add up to victory.
With six of Roanoke Valley Christian's seven seniors were on a class trip to New York, the Eagles had to call up four players from the junior varsity program before their Virginia Independent Schools tournament game against Fishburne Military Academy at North Cross.
Nonetheless, Roanoke Valley Christian ran its makeshift milk-a-minute offense so well in the first half that at one point one of the officials had to stop play and count jerseys to see if the Eagles had more than five players on the floor. Unfortunately for 14th-seeded RVC, it was playing the same five players the whole time, and limp legs and heavy lungs let third-seeded Fishburne pull away for a 78-62 first-round victory. The Caissons will face Norfolk Academy on Thursday in a quarterfinal.
``We tried to play the whole game with five kids and we got out of our game plan late in the third quarter,'' said Jim Farmer, the Eagles' coach. ``But it was one of the best efforts we had all year.''
RVC played Fishburne, usually a running team, close until then, but the Caissons finished the game with a 31-16 run to make the difference.
``In the second half, we did a much better job,'' said Rodney Cullen, Fishburne's coach. ``We were able to kick it out on the break and get good opportunities. Then they were getting behind and had to play up-tempo.''
The Eagles (16-7) don't mind running, but the plan for this one was the opposite. If the Caissons (17-5) made a basket, RVC's plan was to walk the ball up and work it around their web-like passing game. That strategy often resulted in some pretty back-door cuts and easy lay-ins. It worked so well the Eagles led 20-19 midway through the second quarter.
Fishburne went back ahead, however, with some uncanny 3-point shooting. It made seven of 10 in the first half and held a 39-34 lead at halftime. The Caissons would have gone into the break having made five in a row had Matt Williams' half-court prayer not fallen short with one second left.
``With us being patient, I thought [shooting the 3-pointers] was gutsy by them,'' Farmer said. ``If they hadn't hit them, it might have been a different ballgame.''
RVC made another small run at the end of the third quarter when Chris Huffman sank a 3-pointer as time expired, but the play was voided, then repeated when officials realized the timekeeper hadn't started the clock on time. ``That kills our momentum,'' Farmer said, ``but it was the right call.''
Fishburne's Ignacio Gimeno led all scorers with 25 points. Sophomore guard Eric Johnson scored 23 for RVC and Huffman had 18. Mark Arbogast, the Eagles' only senior present, had seven in his final game. Arbogast had passed on the New York trip in case his team made the tournament.
``I was worried on Sunday that we might not get a bid,'' Farmer said, ``so I'm happy for him.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB