ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 18, 1996 TAG: 9612180047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: BILL RAY STAFF WRITER
The Salem boys' basketball team let one get away Tuesday night, falling to Blacksburg 74-71 in triple overtime in the Blue Ridge District.
With 10 seconds left in the third extra session and the Spartans leading 71-68, Blacksburg's Krishna Pacifici committed a turnover, seemingly handing Salem the victory. But the Spartans' Herschel Thomas exchanged words with Pacifici and was slapped with a technical foul.
The Indians' Philip Klaus converted the ensuing free throws and Stefano Karmis hit the winning basket for Blacksburg, a layup with 5.5 seconds left.
``We were going to our option one and got our option two,'' said Bob Trear, Blacksburg's coach. ``We wanted Philip on the inside, but they took a man off Stefano to double up [on Philip]. That opened up Stefano for the basket.''
Technical fouls plagued the Spartans (0-2 overall, 0-1 district). Center Eric Grinnell had committed a technical earlier for angrily batting a ball out of bounds. Kwam Lewis also received a technical for hanging on the rim after a dunk to start the second half.
``Both teams played really hard,'' Trear said. ``We knew what to expect from them because we have played the Blue Ridge District teams the past four of five years. This was just the first one that counted.''
Salem dominated for most of the first half, but never was able to pull away. Blacksburg rallied in the fourth quarter, with Klaus scoring 10 of his 30 points, including the tying basket with 1.2 seconds left.
``I just began to establish myself a little more late in the game,'' Klaus said. ``In the first half, I was worried about fouling.''
Klaus scored seven points in the overtime periods despite playing with four fouls.
Salem held a lead late in all three of the overtimes. In the first extra period, the Spartans' Sam Lazzaro hit a 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left to give Salem a two-point lead. But Blacksburg's Matt Maher made a driving shot with one second left to send the game into a second overtime.
In the second extra period, the Spartans again had a two-point advantage, but Klaus hit a basket late to tie it at 66.
The victory was the first in the Blue Ridge for the Indians, newcomers to the league this season. However, according to Klaus, there already is a rivalry between the two teams.
``We have played them over the past couple of years and they always play hard,'' Klaus said. ``The game has become a rivalry for us even before we got in the district.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB