ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RUSTBURG
Bob Locust quickly found out what Blue Ridge District opponents of the Lord Botetourt High School girls' basketball team go through.
Like those teams, the Gretna coach preached of attacking the defending Group AA champions' weaknesses. And like other coaches, Locust found that to be impossible.
The Cavaliers won their 10th consecutive postseason game by crushing the Hawks 70-50 in a Region III semifinal matchup Thursday night at Rustburg High School.
Lord Botetourt will face William Byrd on Saturday for the regional championship. Both teams qualified for the Group AA tournament.
``I'm not disappointed with this loss,'' said Locust, whose team reached the region's semifinal round for the first time in school history. Lord Botetourt ``doesn't have too many weaknesses. If we were the defending state champions and lost by 20 points, yeah, I would have been disappointed. But being realistic, I'm not a daydreamer. If they have an off night, we would have had a possibility. But they didn't have an off night.''
After receiving a first-half wakeup call, the Cavaliers (25-1) got on a roll, shooting 65 percent from the field and forcing 11 turnovers in the second half.
``We were a little rusty in the beginning,'' said coach David Wheat, whose team had a first-round bye Tuesday. ``And I was kind of concerned about that. But there are very few teams that we play that are bigger than us. This team wasn't necessarily big or tall, so we wanted to attack their defense. We wanted to stretch [our offense] out and go.''
And that's what happened as nine Cavaliers scored. Leading the way were Sara Moore, Sarah Hicks and Takisha Basham.
Moore, a senior guard, finished with a game-high 22 points and two steals. Hicks, the reigning Timesland Player of the Year, added 16 points. And Basham, having one of her best games, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds.
``Takisha has really improved,'' Wheat said. ``She really has. She helped us with her rebounds and with putting the ball back into the basket.''
Meanwhile, the Hawks (12-9) were led Tara Barbour and Twyla Irvin.
Barbour, a junior forward, scored 15 points, including a game-high three 3-pointers. Irvin added 12.
But they and their Gretna teammates couldn't buy a basket early.
The Cavaliers led 16-0 while the Hawks missed their first 11 shots and committed seven turnovers.
Gretna didn't score a basket until Amy Cook's layup with 2:21 left in the first quarter. Then, the Hawks fought back and ended the quarter with a 7-2 run.
After Irvin hit a short jumper, Gretna only trailed 27-24 with 3:42 left in the half. However, they couldn't get any closer. Botetourt went to a man-to-man defense to shut down the Hawks and qualify for a second consecutive state tournament.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY\Staff. Two Gretna players, Shannon Diggsby CNB(left) and Kristy Crews converge on Lord Botetourt forward Kim
Daugherty on Thursday night in Rustburg. The Cavaliers downed Gretna
70-50.