...Advertisement...

...Advertisement...

Press Box

with our sports staff

Paging unhappy Orioles fans

Posted Mar28, 2007 at 07:08 PM

Are you a Baltimore Orioles fan in this area unhappy that you won't be able to watch your team on TV this season, now that the games have moved from CSN to the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network? Only Cox customers and DirecTV customers will be able to see MASN.
If you want to vent about your inability to see the O's for an article I'm doing for the paper, call Mark Berman at 540-981-3125, or email me at mark.berman@roanoke.com

Top Timesland Swim Times

Posted Mar26, 2007 at 01:24 PM


2006-2007 TOP TIMESLAND SWIM TIMES
(Final)

GIRLS 200 FREE

1:56.81 – Nancy Baar (Patrick Henry)
1:58.53 – Devin Henry (Hidden Valley)
1:59.89 – Lauryn Childress (Hidden Valley)
2:01.37 – Allison Martin (Patrick Henry)
2:02.33 – Victoria Mesner (Northside)
2:04.26 – Bunge Okeyo (Roanoke Catholic)
2:04.27 – Miriam McGeath (Patrick Henry)
2:04.55 – Brittany Clawson (Marion)
2:05.25 – Brittany Boxler (William Byrd)
2:05.38 – Dani VanKerckhove (Cave Spring)

GIRLS 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

2:12.05 – Miriam McGeath (Patrick Henry)
2:12.49 – Lauryn Childress (Hidden Valley)
2:13.44 – Nancy Baar (Patrick Henry)
2:15.58 – Devin Henry (Hidden Valley)
2:16.11 – Grace Aheron (Patrick Henry)
2:19.87 – Meggie Austin (North Cross)
2:20.08 – Allison Martin (Patrick Henry)
2:20.19 – Jessi Thangjitham (Blacksburg)
2:20.68 – Victoria Mesner (Northside)
2:24.69 – Michelle Woody (Patrick Henry)

Continue reading "Top Timesland Swim Times" »

Hokies lose to Salukis

Posted Mar18, 2007 at 08:57 PM

Mark Berman back here in Columbus, Ohio, where a great Virginia Tech basketball season came to an end with a 63-48 loss to Southern Illinois in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Tech's late-season shooting woes continued. The Hokies shot 41.3 percent from the field, including 2-of-13 from 3-point range. A.D. Vassallo was a woeful 0-of-6 from 3-point range.
SIU lived up to its billing as one of the nation's best defensive teams.Tech was the 8th team to score fewer than 50 points against SIU, ranked third in D-I in scoring defense.
"It's hard for you to get second-chance shots and they play great defense in transition," Jamon Gordon said. "Half court, it just seemed like we were just missing shots."
"One thing they do well is they play help defense," Zabian Dowedell said. "Anytime you drive you can expect to be cut off by another defender. I think we did a good job of kicking the ball and penetrating and kicking but we just didn't make enough shots."
Dowdell's last-season shooting woes continued; he was 3-of-9 for the field. The All-ACC guard had just seven points.
Coleman Collins picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the second half and went to the bench. Coach Seth Greenberg put him back in with less than 12 minutes left but he fouled out with 7:50 left.
Gordon was 7-of-9 from the field for 16 points but was 1-of-5 from the line. Deron Washington had 15 points but was just 6-of-12 from the field
Tech led 18-15 before SIU closed the first half on a 13-2 run, but Greenberg was more upset with his team's shooting woes before the run than during the run.
"We had good looks early in the game. We didn't make them," he said.
SIU was 12-of-21 from 3-point range. Jamaal Tatum had 21 points and was 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Tony Young, averaging 9.6 points, was 4-of-8 from 3-point range and had 17 points.
"They was hitting everything from the outside," Gordon said. "We was trying to double down. They would make a great pass out of the post. ... We kept moving around and sometimes we got caught looking at the ball when it was coming out .... They were taking shots at the end of the shot clock and anytime you do that, that kind of kills your momentum because you've played defense for 35 seconds and then they hit the shot, it's kind of hard."

Cavalier post mortems

Posted Mar18, 2007 at 06:54 PM

A few closing thoughts after writing two stories on Virginia's 77-74 loss to Tennessee for Monday's print edition of The Roanoke Times:

Tennessee's 39-29 rebounding margin marked only the third time in 32 games that Virginia had been outrebounded by 10 or more. The Cavaliers earlier had been outrebounded by 16 and 13, respectively, in losses to Utah and North Carolina.

"It was one of three or four different things that cost us," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "We didn't get as many offensive rebounds (six) as we're accustomed to, but that was balanced by the fact that they didn't get as many easy baskets."

In other words, UVa reduced some of its emphasis on the offensive glass in order to curtail UT's fast break.

**********

Adrian Joseph played 23 minutes, scoring 10 points in 14 minutes in the second half, but no other Virginia reserve played more than seven minutes.

Tennessee used nine players, compared to the 11 that Virginia played, but all four of the Volunteers' substitutes played 10 minutes or more.

"We also thought fatigue was a factor," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "We really work hard at balancing the minutes and it's hard sometimes."

Pearl said that Tony Jones is the assistant coach who monitors substitutions and Pearl told him at one point, "Who, exactly, is going to score for me out there, Tony?"

Pearl said it might sound "crazy" that star guard Chris Lofton played only 33 minutes and was never in foul trouble, but "go back and look at the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan and he never played the whole game. He always got his rest so he could make plays at the end."

**********

Pearl blamed reserve Jordan Howell for not fouling UVa's Sean Singletary before Singletary missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game.

Howell was covering Jason Cain, Pearl said, and should have switched on to Singletary when Jason Cain set a pick for Singletary's man.

Pearl said it always be his plan to foul "because they have to make four plays to beat you. They have to make the first shot, they have to miss the second, they have to get the rebound, then they need to make another offensive move. The other way, they only need to make one play."

**********
Virginia made five of its first eight 3-point shots, then missed 15 of its next 16 shots before Sean Singletary connected with 11.9 seconds left. The Cavaliers shot 37.9 percent from the field, the fifth time in the last 10 games that they failed to hit 40 percent, and shot 26.9 on 3-pointers.

In their last three losses, counting setbacks at Wake Forest and against N.C. State in the ACC Tournament, Virginia has gone 5-for-20, 6-for-21 and 7-for-26 from behind the 3-point line.

On the other hand, Virginia's 31 made free throws Sunday (out of 36) were its second highest total of the season. Virginia was 39-of-49 from the line in a 103-91 victory over Maryland.

Hokies down at halftime

Posted Mar18, 2007 at 03:59 PM

Mark Berman here from Columbus, Ohio, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team is down 28-20 at halftime to Southern Illinois in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Hokies have missed eight of their last 10 shots and are shooting just 37.5 percent from the field (9-of-24) in the half. Tech is 2-of-8 from 3-point range; A.D. Vassallo is 0-of-4 from 3-point range. Tech is 0-of-3 from the line.
SIU, ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, has held Tech to its fewest points in a half this season. Tech scored just 21 points in they first half Friday's first-round win over Illinois, only the second time it had scored just 21 in a half this season.
Tech led 18-15 on a Jamon Gordon 3-pointer with 5:49 to go, but the only other points it got in the half was a Gordon jumper with 2:27 left. The Salukis ended the half on a 13-2 run that included three 3-pointers by Missouri Valley Conference player of the year Jamaal Tatum.
SIU is shooting 41.7 percent from the field and is 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
Gordon is doing well offensively. He is 4-of-4 from the field - although 0-of-3 from the line - for nine points. Zabian Dowdell is 3-of-7 for six points. Deron Washington is 1-of-4 for three points. Coleman Coliins is 1-of-1.
Vassallo is 0-of-4 from the field. Lewis Witcher, who barely plays anymore, missed two shots in the final two minutes.
SIU's Randal Falker scored two if his three baskets after Collins went to the bench after picking up his second offensive foul with 7:59 to go in the half.
The Hokies have hurt themselves with seven turnovers after committing just nine in the entire Illinois win.Tatum has 11 points and Tony Young eight.
SIU is winning even though Matt Shaw, their third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder this year, hasn't played because of a sprained ankle he suffered Friday.

Cavs go down

Posted Mar18, 2007 at 02:39 PM

Fifth-seeded Tennessee was 12-of-22 from the free-throw line before going 9-for-9 in the final 1:20 to defeat fourth-seeded Virginia 77-74 in the second round of the NCAA South Regional at Nationwide Arena.

Chris Lofton did not have a field goal in the second half but finished with a team-high 20 points, going 8-for-8 from the line in the second half. UVa's J.R. Reynolds led all scorers with 26 points, only four in the final 25 minutes.

Hokies stun Illinois

Posted Mar17, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Mark Berman here from Columbus, Ohio, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team, to my utter amazement, scored the final 12 points of the game to beat Illinois 54-52 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
"We knew the game was going to be ugly because at times both of our teams were offensively challenged," coach Seth Greenberg said. "I didn't know it was going to be that ugly.
"It's just another example of the resiliency of our basketball team. We obviously were a little bit dysfunctional at times offensively. We squandered a number of scoring opportunities, but we continued to defend. Obviously we extended our defense [late] and turned them over some, got them on their heels a little bit in terms of not attacking us. The more passive they got, the more aggressive we got."
Tech will play Southern Illinois at 2:40 pm Sunday. It will be a rematch from last November, when SIU won 69-64 in the fifth-place game of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla.
Tech trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half Friday. Brian Randle made a layup to put the Illini up 52-42 with 4:27 left, but Illinois never scored again.
Illinois wanted to make Tech play a half-court game and got its wish. Tech's halfcourt offense was dreadful until the final 4:27, but then Deron Washington (14 pts) had two 3-pointers and the game-winning bank shot. He was 2-of-10 from the field prior to those three late buckets.
Greenberg put the ball in Gordon's hands late. He praised Gordon for doing a good job o fpenetrating and making plays for his teammates.
"Zabian [Dowdell] told me at one point in the game that I need to step up," said Jamon Gordon, who had 10 points and seven assists. "I told him, all right, I'm just going to try to get to the hole as best I can. I start driving, they start helping over."
Tech won despite shooting 35.7 percent from the field, its third-worst percentage of the season.
"We were horrible in terms of moving our offense and running our sets," Dowdell said. "[The half court offense] hasn't been real good lately. That's why we haven't been scoring as many points as we're usually accustomed to."
Tech switched to pressure defense for those final minutes, and it paid off.
"We were pressuring so much. They came down the court and they were throwing the ball all over the place," AD Vassallo said.
"If we wouldn't have pressed, we would've lost," Gordon said. "Pressure kind of won the game. They played not to lose, and when you do that, you always lose."
"We just tried to speed them up," Dowdell said "They really don't like to get into an uptempo type of game so the press kind of forces them to speed up."
"We had to get more possessions in the game," Greenberg said. "I'm not sure we sped them up but we did turn them over. ... That was a way to find a way to maybe get some extra possessions, turn them over, maybe get out in transition and score some easy baskets."
Tech won even though Vassallo was 3-of-11 from the field, Zabian Dowdell 3-of-9 and Gordon 2-of-6. Coleman Collins was 2-of-4 but was 9-of-12 from the line for 13 points. Jamon was 6-of-9 from the line.
A.D. and Deron had big defensive rebounds in the final minutes, and Collins played well defensively down the stretch.
Vassallo went to the line for the first time all night with Tech up 53-52 with 23.1 seconds left. He missed the first one but made the second for a 54-52 lead.
"I thought that first one was going in," he said. "That rim played with me right there. That ball hit the rim too many times and came out. I knew definitely I was going to hit one of the two."
Greenberg was whistled for a technical foul for a foot-stomping protest of a no-call with 16:24 left. He said he probably overreacted.
Illinois shot 35 percent from the field in the second half and finished with 21 turnovers.

Hokies trail at halftime

Posted Mar16, 2007 at 07:58 PM

Mark Berman here from Columbus, Ohio, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team has been lousy in the first half and trails 29-21 at halftime to 12th-seeded Illinois in the NCAA tournament.
Tech is getting the job done on the defensive end, forcing turnovers and keeping the Illini from getting second-chance points. Illinois has eight turnovers and just one offensive rebound. Tech even got Illini center Shaun Pruitt in foul trouble.
But Tech couldn't do anything on the other end. Tech is shooting 29.2 percent from the field to Illinois' 48 percent. Tech isn't getting any second shots. Tech has just two offensive rebounds.
Tech is also not getting the fast break going, despite getting stops and defensive rebounds. I think one basket off the fast break.
Zabian Dowdell didn't shoot enough. He is 3-of-6 from the field but went long spells without shooting.
AD Vassallo is just 1-of-5 from the field, as is Deron Washington. Jamon Gordon is shooting from too far out and is 1-of-3. Coleman Collins is 1-of-3, missing a breakaway dunk after stealing the ball in the final minute of the half.
Markus Sailes missed the front end of a one-and-one with 8.8 seconds left, no big surprise there.
With Tech down 25-19, Seth Greenberg calls a timeout. And what's the best Tech can do after the timeout? Cheick Diakite shooting from too far outside. Then Illinois forward Warren Carter, being guarded by Lewis Witcher, nails a 3-pointer and foul shot for a four-point play and a 29-19 lead with 1:21 left in the half.
Tech trails on the boards 18-14.
Not looking good for Tech - looks like one-and-done if they can't get the offense going.

Cavs advance

Posted Mar16, 2007 at 05:35 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- To see the ease with which Virginia won its first-round NCAA men's basketball game with Albany, it makes you wonder why it was such a rare occurrence.

An 84-57 victory over Albany put the Cavaliers in the second round of the NCAAs for the first time since they reached the final eight in 1995.

UVa's opponent Sunday at 12:10 p.m. is Tennessee, a 121-86 winner over Long Beach State in Friday's second game at Nationwide Arena.

The Vols (23-10) had a trio of 20-point scorers -- Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Ramar Smith -- with 25, 24 and 22 points, respectively.

J.R. Reynolds had 28 points and Sean Singletary added 23 for Virginia, which is 5-0 this season when its two starting guards each score 20 points or more.

Reynolds, a senior from Roanoke, Va., made his first seven shots from the field and finished 9-for-13, only the second time in 12 games that Reynolds had made more than 50 percent of his shots.

Reynolds had gone 9-for-44 in his previous three games, averaging 11.7 points over that span. He also had a team-high seven rebounds Friday.

Reynolds has a hip injury that he has been unsuccessful in keeping quiet.

"I'm not surprised because J.R.'s done a lot of this throughout the two years that I've been with him," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "What we've tried to do is manage his injury throughout the later stages of the season.

"I thought this week that his time on the court was good and it got him his rhythm back, which was lacking, but we still had time to rest him and make sure he was feeling comfortable that way."

Virginia, an 8 1/2-point favorites, never let Albany get inside 19 points during the second half and led 60-30 at one point.

"Guard play is really going to be to your advantage in the NCAA Tournament," Albany coach Will Brown said. "If you have more than one guy that can go off and they have Singletary and Reynolds, they go off on the same night, teams are going to be in trouble.

"If one of them goes off, they're good enough to carry a team. So, I think the big thing for them is, they probably need some other guys to step up and help them.

"And, I've said this over and over: You talk about the great teams in the ACC, right away everybody thinks of North Carolina and Duke. Virginia was the team that tied Carolina. They're good. They're doing something right."

Reynolds goes off

Posted Mar16, 2007 at 01:11 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Think Virginia fans would have taken a 23-point game from J.R. Reynolds in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

That's what Reynolds had at the half in leading Virginia to a 45-25 lead against Albany.

Reynolds, who entered the game in a 9-for-44 shooting slump, made his first seven shots from the field and finished the half 7-for-9.

On one of the shots he missed, Reynolds grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws.

In the process, Reynolds, a senior from Roanoke, Va., moved into 10th place on UVa's all-time scoring list ahead of John Crotty (1,646).

Reynolds also drew the early defensive assignment on two-time America East Jamar Wilson, who had 12 points at the half but didn't get his first bucket until UVa was ahead 21-6.

Hokies-Illini preview

Posted Mar15, 2007 at 08:33 PM

Mark Berman here from Columbus, Ohio, where I have been interviewing Virginia Tech and Illinois players and coaches about tomorrow's big NCAA tournament game.
Tech's big defensive challenge will be stopping 6-9 forward Warren Carter and 6-10 center Shaun Pruitt.
"Carter, this guy is a tough matchup because he can post you and shoot that little jump hook," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "He's tough to keep off the glass.They do a great job of having him pick and pop, whether it's off a screen or off a ball screen. So you've got to guard him on the interior, you have to find him in transition because he could be the trail spot, he could get to the block, he could be at that left wing where he likes to catch it. Pitch-aheads, you've got to keep him off the glass."
And then there's Pruitt.
"That guy is a mountain masquerading as a man," Greenberg said. "You've got to check him off. For a big guy, he does a great job of second-effort rebounding and getting either fouled or putting the ball in the basket.
"They've got a great scheme in trying to get the ball in places where they can score. They did a great job of stretching the court with [guard Rich] McBride, who you have to chase because his range is unlimited.
"I would suspect that we're going to have great defensive discipline because if they don't have any transition I would suspect they're going to try to make us guard for long periods of time."
Illinois allows an average of just 57.7 points.
"They put good pressure on the basketball. They can extend if they want," Greenberg said. "They're big people. They do a great job helping the helper. They do a very good job of defensive transition and limiting you to one shot. They're tough fighting through screens.
"It's real easy to sell your team on their ability to defend because when you're watching filom and it's a television game and they've got the score on the bottom and it's the second half and it's like 24-22, they're checking some people. They're hard to score on."
Pruitt is the backstop of the defense, said Illini coach Bruce Weber.
"We needed a backstop to our defense, somebody back there maybe not to block shots but to take charges and jam up things and fight people in the post," Weber said. "We take pride in being a good defensive team, but I guess we've made an overemphasis, just trying to give them something to do [so] that we had a chance to win."
Illinois is concerned about Tech's transition game.
"We have to take care of the ball," Weber said. "If you don't care of the basketball, they're good in passing lanes, they've got quick hands, they seem to swarm to the ball.
"It's going to be hard enough stopping them in the half court with so many different weapons ... so I think that's the big thing, taking care of the basketball, playing smart, not taking quick shots. I don't want them to be tentative and tight and not shoot open shots, but if we shoot quick 3s in transition, they're going to get it and go the other way and we're going to be in trouble.
"We've got to make sure we have touches for Pruitt inside. There's no doubt about that. When we have been successful, we've been able to get it into them. But ... if they swarm him, he's got to be patient and kick it out."
Weber likes the defensive talents of guards Rich McBride and Chester Frazier and small forward Brian Randle, so he hopes to contain Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon.
"We have people I can say can guard their guys, and I'm not saying we're going to stop hem, but I think they'll at least be in their way for a little bit, so it gives you a little bit of a glimmer of hope," Weber said.
Frazier hurt his knee in the Big Ten tournament last Friday but will play today.
"He's played with worse injuries, so I would think he'll be raring to go," Weber said.

WNIT

Posted Mar13, 2007 at 12:28 AM

Virginia and Virginia Tech both received bids to the WNIT on Monday, and both received first round byes.

The Cavaliers will host a second-round game on Monday at John Paul Jones Arena. They will host the winner of Thursday's Charlotte vs. High Point first-round game.

The Hokies will also host a second-round game, tentatively scheduled for Saturday at Cassell Coliseum. They will play the winner of Thursday's Western Carolina vs. East Tennessee State first-round game.

Postgame thoughts: N.C. State 72, Virginia Tech 64

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 08:59 PM

Aaron McFarling here from Tampa, where the third-seeded Hokies have been ousted from the ACC tournament after a 72-64 quarterfinal loss to the 10th-seeded Wolfpack.

Strange vibe in that Tech locker room, where there was a mix of bitter disappointment in losing a game these guys thought they had and the rare realization that hey, it's not over. So if my column makes little sense tomorrow, you'll know why. It's the company I've been keeping.

Free throws really killed the Hokies tonight. They shot 8-for-19 from the line and missed three straight front ends of one-and-ones in the second half. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack made 24 of 28 from the line. Coleman Collins, who missed two front ends, said it was brutal watching himself and teammates Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell struggle at the line.

“It’s a terrible feeling," he said. "Jamon missed the front end of a one-and-one, I missed two front ends of the one-and-one, Markus [Sailes] missed a bunch. Zabe, uncharicateristically, missed one or two. It’s tough, man. Because we definitely felt like we could win that game and we definitely felt like we could win the next game if we got there. We keep telling ourselves, usually this is where it stops. I guess I’m in that last year feel to it. I guess I haven’t really realized that tomorrow is a brand new day. It hurts, man, but I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow at 6 o’clock.”

That, of course, is when the NCAA tournaments will be unveiled, and Tech is a lock. Funny, though -- the players were still asked by one reporter if they were nervous about possibly being on the bubble. Gordon had the right response, albeit with his usual liberal use of "ain't."

“I ain’t really scared," he said. "If they put us in the NIT, that would be ridiculous. I ain’t really got no concern. I just wanted to get a great seed, man, stay close to Blacksburg, get our fans down there."

Coming into the day, the Hokies were probably looking at a No. 6 seed. You wouldn't think this loss would be very damaging, but we'll see.

Wherever they go, the Hokies need Dowdell to bring his usual game with him. The All-ACC first-teamer was off in this one, just as he was in the loss to Clemson that ended the regular season. He shot 1-for-7 and committed four turnovers in the first half. Perhaps he just needed to get some nerves out of his system, because he looked better in the second half, going 5-for-12 and committing no turnovers. Mark Berman (hi ho!) will have a sidebar story on Dowdell in tomorrow's paper and on roanoke.com.

Collins and Gordon were really good interviews after the game, as they normally are. Here are a few excerpts:

From Gordon
On the NCAA tournament:
“We kind of excited about that. But it’s something we’ve known for weeks; it’s not going to be a surprise like we’re a bubble team…It’s good for the program. It’s good for our younger players. They’ll get the feeling of going to the tournament. But we wanted to win tonight so bad.”

On what was the problem against N.C. State:
“We couldn’t make shots, man. That was the main thing. We couldn’t hit free throws. We tied it up, and every time we tied the game up we’d send them to the line, and they’re a great free throw shooting team. You just can’t make mental mistakes.”

On defending N.C. State:
“I think tonight this is the best time we’ve ever guarded them tonight. We played them kind of great tonight. But once again we like to double, and when you double against a team that can pass and shoot, they play like a European style, they just cut and slash and stuff like that, that’s all they’re waiting on. They’re waiting on you to double and if you can’t stop one of their post players man-to-man, they’re going to beat you, and that’s how they beat us every time.”

On watching State make so many free throws:
“That’s when you know you lost. You know they’re making shots and you’re trying so hard to get the ball in and it’s just rolling in and coming out. Sometimes it just don’t be your night. Last night was our night. Tonight it wasn’t our night.

On the slow pace of the game:
“That had a lot to do with it. They controlled the pace from the tip. And when you control the pace on us, we usually struggle, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Collins
On recovering from this:
“We’re a resilient team, man. We’ve had setbacks, and we usually bounce back...We still feel like we can be one of the elite teams in the nation if we come to play and play well and knock down shots, which we weren’t doing tonight.”

Well, turns out I used most of my good Collins stuff in the column tomorrow, and I don't want to spoil it. We'll have plenty of coverage on this one in Sunday's editions, and of course, we'll be all over Selection Sunday.

March 10: state basketball championship results

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 07:12 PM

GROUP A
Girls
Clarke County 69, Floyd County 64

Boys
Clarke County 60, Gate City 55

GROUP AA
Girls
Hidden Valley 63, Charlottesville 53

Boys
William Fleming 66, Brunswick 57

GROUP AAA
Girls
Hampton 46, Edison 45

Boys
Highland Springs 79, George Washington-Danville 52

ACC Tournament: Tech falls to N.C. State 72-64

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 06:17 PM

basketball

North Carolina State's Dennis Horner (31) drives to the basket over Virginia Tech's Deron Washington (13) during the first half of a semi-final game of the Men's ACC basketball tournament in Tampa, Fla., Saturday, March 10, 2007. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Aaron breaks down the game between Virginia Tech and N.C. State.

Audio: Click the play button to hear highlights of the game by Aaron McFarling

Hokies ousted from ACC tournament

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 06:11 PM

Virginia Tech fell 72-64 to 10th-seeded N.C. State. The Wolfpack moves on to face North Carolina at 1 p.m. Sunday. Plenty more on this later.

Tech trails at halftime

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 04:47 PM

Mark Berman here from Tampa, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team trals 10th-seeded NC State 31-25 at halftime.
The Hokies seem on their way to a third loss to State this year.
Tech is generating plenty of turnovers with its defense but is playing poorly on offense. And on defense, Tech once again can't stop State, so it can't fuel a fast break.
State, which shot great in the first two meetings, is shooting 66.7 percent from the field to Tech's 39.3 percent. State is 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Ben McCauley isn't killing VT like in the first two meetings, but Gavin Grant has eight points and Courtney Fells seven. Plus backups like Dennis Horner (6 pts) and Trevor Ferguson and Bryan Nieman are scoring.
Zabian Dowdell is 1-of-7 from the field and JamoN Gordon is 3-of-8. Dowdell has four of Tech's seven turnovers. Tech had just two turnovers in last night's win over Wake.
Coleman Collins is 0-of-1 from the field with one turnover and two rebounds; basically giving Tech nothing on offense.
Deron Washington went to the bench with his 2nd foul with 9:52 to go in the half.
Tech has seven steals; State has 13 turnovers. But Tech has just 12 points off those turnovers.
Tech has just two fast-break points

Clarke County girls defeat Floyd for state championship

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 04:30 PM

Clarke County defeated Floyd County 69-64 to capture the group A girls state championship today in Richmond.

ACC Tournament: Tar Heels roll into ACC finals

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 03:48 PM

basketball

Boston College's Jared Dudley, right, passes around North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough during the second half of a semi-final game of the Men's Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament in Tampa, Fla

Aaron breaks down the game between North Carolina and Boston College. Boston College lost to North Carolina 71-56.

Audio: Click the play button to hear highlights of the game by Aaron McFarling

Pregame thoughts: Hokies vs. Wolfpack

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 02:22 PM

Aaron McFarling here, sitting on a fat wallet after a good night at the poker tables of the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa last night. Here's a poker tip for you: If you see people wearing colors of a team that just got eliminated from the ACC tournament, try to sit there. Odds are they'll be drinking heavily and more than willing to lose the money they just made scalping semifinal tickets.

There were no downtrodden Virginia Tech or N.C. State fans there last night, because both teams have a shot to get the finals in a little more than an hour. The other semifinal just reached the half, with top-seeded North Carolina leading No. 4 seed Boston College 38-23. Brandan Wright has 10 points for the Tar Heels, and BC's Jared Dudley is having his second straight rough performance. I'll provide some audio analysis of that one shortly after the game ends.

The focus for Tech today is all on defense. Normally when you play the Wolfpack, you probably want to defend from the inside-out, stopping the bulk inside. But the Hokies grew so tired of seeing those State perimeter shots go in that they're going to have to extend their guards and trust that they won't get beaten off the dribble.

"We can't let them have any open looks," senior Markus Sailes said. "All their guys can shoot."

I really think fatigue is going to be a huge factor today. The Wolfpack doesn't play up-tempo, but neither of its games was easy. If the Hokies aren't trying to hit the fast break on every possession, Seth Greenberg should be fired. OK, that's a tad extreme. But did you see that Greenberg's successor at South Florida, Robert McCullum, was fired yesterday?Of course you didn't, because nobody cares. But the local interest came when columnist John Romano wrote in today's St. Petersburg Times that "McCullum's most notable accomplishment in four years at USF was making the program even less relevant than it had been before he arrived. Which is akin to taking over Dennis Kucinich's presidential campaign and losing ground." That would make Greenberg Dennis Kucinich. Nice. Aw, I'm sure he's been called worse.

Back to the Hokies. Zabian Dowdell said last night that the most important factor in playing good perimeter defense is communication, so look for Tech's guards to be yapping like crazy out there any time there's a screen.

And expect all the commentators on ESPN to be yapping about a UNC-Virginia Tech final. That's the prediction here, anyway. Close at the half, then Hokies by 12. Check back later today for more on poker...um, I mean the tournament.

Hokies advance with blowout win

Posted Mar10, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Hi ho, Aaron McFarling here from Tampa, saying "Hi ho" because Mark Berman usually opens every blog entry sounding like Kermit the Frog. I'm subbing for him tonight on the blog as he feverishly types away to bring you a story in tomorrow's paper on Virginia Tech's impressive 71-52 victory over Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.

What do you need him for? You can have this solid gold right now! I know you were sittin' on a folding chair in the dark clicking "Refresh" and waiting for it to pop up.

I was in the locker room, and it was obviously an entirely different atmosphere than after the recent losses against Clemson and Virginia. What we saw tonight was a group of guys who couldn't wait to play another basketball game. After sitting out Thursday's action with a bye, they were sufficiently rested to run away from the Demon Deacons in the second half, turning a 36-34 halftime lead into a laugher.

The big story was A.D. Vassallo, who's been in a little bit of a funk lately but thrived Friday with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting. When the Hokies get him going, they're tough to stop. Tech had 13 steals -- the major factor in Wake's 18 turnovers -- and only turned the ball over twice themselves.

Deron Washington got back to his high-flying ways, scoring 13 points and throwing down two dunks on the fast break. It's been an interesting couple of days for Washington, who told me after the game that he'd been recognized by dozens of fans around town -- who were wearing a variety of school colors -- as "the guy who dunked on Greg Paulus." His teammates are super jealous. On a similar note, Zabian Dowdell said the feedback they've been getting from fans of other ACC teams has been very positive at the team hotel, with many thinking they have an excellent shot at winning the tournament.

"That's nice to hear, but in the end, it doesn't really matter," he said. "What matters is whether we have confidence in ourselves."

They do now, after Dowdell scored 13 points and six assists, with Jamon Gordon adding 10 points, five assists and seven steals.

The Hokies set up a semifinal matchup with N.C. State at 4 p.m. Saturday. We all know how those two meetings went this season -- both blowouts in favor of the Wolfpack. Backup Markus Sailes rolled his eyes and smiled when I brought up State to him, but he said the team feels good about its chances. Much like Friday, Sailes said the Hokies believe they'll have an edge in freshness -- which they will -- and if they can play at a decent pace, they should find their way into Sunday's final against top-seeded North Carolina or No. 4 seed Boston College. You can bet Tech will be challenging every 3-pointer, considering State hit 10 of them in the 81-56 win in Raleigh on Feb. 18.

Tech coach Seth Greenberg was in a festive mood at his postgame press conference, playfully sparring with Berman, who's always the bulldog. Seth's a brilliant, brilliant man. At least until 4 p.m. Saturday. Then, who knows?

That's all for tonight. Berman says hi. Be sure to read all his stuff tomorrow, and check back to roanoke.com throughout the day as we provide audio analysis, written analysis and maybe even a few links to nudie pictures.

OK, just kidding. About the written analysis.

Cavs blow another one

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 10:36 PM

After a promising first half, Virginia was bounced from the ACC Tournament in its opening game Friday, blowing a 14-point halftime lead in falling to North Carolina State 79-71.

The Wolfpack shot 73.9 percent in the second half against a Cavaliers team that had held its first 29 opponents to 40.5-percent shooting.

Virginia is now 4-9 away from John Paul Jones Arena, where it was 16-1.

"They continued to shoot the ball well," said UVa coach Dave Leitao, referring to State's 60.8-percent shooting Thursday night in an 85-80 overtime victory over Duke, "but the reason they shot the ball well was because we stopped defending."

Before Friday, teams had gone 45-1 in the ACC Tournament history when leading by 14 or more points at halftime, but, just two weeks ago, UVa blew a 12-point second-half lead at Miami.

UVa's three most recent losses have come to the teams seeded 10th, 11th and 12th in the 12-team ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers were seeded second, their highest seed since 1983, as regular-season co-champions.

Virginia (20-10) is expected to receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 but the Cavaliers now have lost two games in a row for the first time since Jan. 13.


Hokies lead at halftime

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 10:25 PM

Mark Berman here from Tampa, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team leads 11th-seeded Wake Forest 36-34 at halftime in an ACC semifinal.
Deron Washington and Coleman Collins got into early foul trouble, so Seth Greenberg had to make liberal use of his bench. Washingon played three minutes and Collins went to the bench soon after, with 16:28 letft in the half.
Lewis Witcher, Robert Krabbendam and Nigel Munson all played in the first half; none played in the regular-season finale against Clemson. Witcher hadn't played at UVa last week, either; Krabbendam barely played at UVa.
Greenberg was not happy with Krabbendam's lack of defense and rebounding in this game, yelling at him several times.
Usual subs Markus Sailes and Cheick Diakite each had two buckets off the bench.
Tech jumped to a 9-2 lead and led 16-6 with 14:01 left in the half. Down 18-8, Wake scored six straight points to get back in the game.
Wake cut the lead to 25-23 with 6:01 to go in the half, but A.D. Vassallo and Sailes scored back-to-back buckets to pad the lead.
Wake scored six straight points to grab a 32-31 lead, but Vassallo sank a 3-pointer and Jamon Gordon hit two free throws.
Tech shot 44.1 percent from the field to Wake's 48.1 percent.
All-ACC third-team center Kyle Visser, who had 18 points and nine rebounds in Wake's December loss at Tech, has 12 points and five rebounds.
Vassallo has 11 points and three 3-pointers for Tech.
Should Tech win, it will have to face 10th-seeded NC State in the semifinals tomorrow. That's horrible news for the Hokies because State swept the regular-season series in decisive fashion.

Colonels advance

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 10:19 PM

William Fleming defeated Waynesboro 57-48 in its semifinal game in Richmond. The Colonels will play for the AA state championship on Saturday against Brunswick. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m.

UVa falls to N.C. State 79-71

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 09:19 PM

10th-seeded N.C. State rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat second-seeded Virginia 79-71 Friday night, eliminating the Cavaliers from the ACC basketball tournament. More to come...

Cavs up early

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 08:04 PM

"Energy" has been a big word for Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Letiao in recent weeks and you could see in the first half Friday what he was talking about.

The Cavaliers raced out to an 8-0 lead, watched N.C. State rally to go ahead 19-16, and then Virginia pulled away for a 40-26 halftime lead.

Leitao used 10 players in the first half, mostly because of foul problems, but you had to think he was trying to take advantage of any lingering N.C. State fatigue after an 85-80 overtime victory Thursday against Duke.

UVa point guard Singletary was one of the Cavaliers with two fouls but came back in on UVa's offensive possession and hit a fallaway with 0.5 seconds left to make it a 14-point spread. Singletary had 16 points in the first half, including a four-point play.

Backcourt mate J.R. Reynolds missed his first five shots before finally connecting. He was 1-for-8 at the half after going 6-for-29 in the previous two games.

Hidden Valley boys fall in state semis

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 05:41 PM

Brunswick defeated Hidden Valley 51-42 Friday in the Group AA state boys' semifinals in Richmond.

William Fleming plays Waynesboro in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.

ACC Tournament: BC holds off Miami in OT

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 04:50 PM

basketball

Boston College's Daye Kaba (13) dunks during a second round game of the Men's Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament against Miami in Tampa, Fla., Friday, March 9, 2007. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Aaron breaks down the game between Boston College and Miami. Boston College beat Miami.

Audio: Click the play button to hear highlights of the game by Aaron McFarling

Hidden Valley girls advance

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 03:35 PM

The Hidden Valley girls' team defeated Turner Ashby 59-45 today in Richmond. They'll play for the state AA championship tomorrow at 7 p.m.

ACC Tournament: North Carolina rolls into semifinals

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 02:25 PM

basketball

North Carolina's Brandan Wright, right, reaches for a loose ball between the legs of Florida State's Al Thornton (12) during the second round game of the Men's ACC basketball tournament. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Aaron breaks down the game between North Carolina and Florida State. North Carolina beat Florida State 73-58.

Audio: Click the play button to hear highlights of the game by Aaron McFarling

Wake beats GT in double overtime

Posted Mar09, 2007 at 01:58 AM

Mark Berman here from Tampa, where the Wake Forest men’s basketball team could be plenty tired when it takes the court against Virginia Tech tonight.
In a thrilling ACC Tournament game that lasted three hours and ended just before 1 a.m. Friday morning, 11th-seeded Wake beat sixth-seeded Georgia Tech 114-112 in double overtime in the first round at the St. Pete Times Forum.
“It was a great game,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “But it’s tough when you come out on this end of it.”
“Perhaps neither team deserved to lose,” Wake coach Skip Prosser said. “Both teams were dead a few times and both teams made huge shots to get back in the game.”
It was the highest-scoring game in ACC Tournament history, with the 226 points topping the 217 that Maryland and N.C. State combined for in a triple OT game in the 1978 quarterfinals. The 114 points by Wake was a tournament record for one team, with the 112 by Georgia Tech ranking second on the list.
“The just kept fighting and we just kept fighting,” said Wake sophomore Harvey Hale, who had 22 points and made the winning 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the second OT. “Guys were tired. Guys didn’t let down.”
All four lower seeds won their first-round games Thursday, the first time in the tournament’s history that the first four games were won by lower seeds. This was also just the second time there were two OT games in the same round of the tournament; it also happened in the 1987 semifinals.
Wake (15-15) will play third-seeded Virginia Tech at 9:30 tonight in a quarterfinal. Will the Demon Deacons have their legs?
“I think so,” Hale said. “I think we can do it. We’ve got young legs.”
“We’ll be fine,” Prosser said. “I know one thing. Playing, if you will, tired tomorrow beats the heck out of not playing tomorrow.”
Last year, Wake was seeded 12th but won two games to make the semifinals.
Virginia Tech (20-10) is 2-1 against Wake since joining the ACC, including a 63-60 win in Blacksburg on Dec. 17. Wake freshman forward Jamie Skeen missed a 30-footer at the buzzer. Virginia Tech won despite shooting 39.2 percent from the field and going just 20-of-32 from the free-throw line.
“I hope we’re better [now],” Prosser said. “But I think we’ll have to be a lot better than the team that played down at Cassell.”
Virginia Tech’s Zabian Dowdell had 14 points in that game, going 2-of-13 from the field but 10-of-13 from the free-throw line. A.D. Vassallo had 14 points. Jamon Gordon had 13 points before suffering a sprained knee midway through the second half. Coleman Collins and Wake freshman point guard Ishmael Smith each played only 16 minutes because of foul trouble.
Wake’s Kyle Visser, an All-ACC third-team center, had 18 points and nine rebounds in that meeting. Skeen had 13 points.
“We had a hard time keeping the ball out of the post [in that December meeting],” Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said Thursday. “You’ve got to deal with their low-post game.”
The Demon Deacons have now won four of their last six games.
“They’re much better defensively [than they were in December],” Greenberg said.
Of course, Greenberg said that at halftime of the Wake-GT game. There was plenty of offense still to come on this night.
Wake was 16-of-23 from 3-point range (69.6 percent) Thursday, which could be a bad sign for the Hokies. Virginia Tech has allowed at least 10 3-pointers in three of its last five games; it lost all three.
Wake shot 64.2 percent from the field to Georgia Tech’s 55.6 percent.
Hale, who didn’t attempt any shots in regulation Thursday, finished 5-of-6 from 3-point range. He finished 7-of-10 from the free-throw line after going 1-of-2 in regulation. Hale, a backup, entered the game averaging 8 points.
“His performance tonight was Herculean,” Prosser said.
Visser was 7-of-7 from the field and had 20 points. L.D. Williams and Michael Drum combined for 35 points and seven 3-pointers.
Freshman forward Thaddeous Young had 30 points for Georgia Tech. Teammate Anthony Morrow added 20 points and four 3-pointers, including a tying 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left in the first OT.
The loss might hurt the NCAA tournament hopes of the Yellow Jackets (21-11), who went 8-8 in ACC regular-season play and were No. 34 in the NCAA tournament committee’s Rating Percentage Index on Monday.
Smith hit a 3-pointer to put Wake up 77-74 with 2:17 to go in regulation. He sank a jumper to extend the lead to 79-74 with 1:37 to go.
Georgia Tech freshman Javaris Crittenton scored to cut the lead to 81-80 with 22.8 seconds left in regulation. Skeen made one of two free throws for an 82-80 lead with 21.8 seconds left in regulation.
Crittenton made a layup to tie the score at 82 with 13.2 seconds left in regulation but missed the ensuing free throw. Smith turned the ball over as he drove to the basket, but Georgia Tech’s Mario West missed a shot a the buzzer.
In the first overtime, Crittenton made a layup to give Georgia Tech a 92-90 lead with 2:28 left. Hale answered with a 3-pointer. Hale sank two free throws to extend the lead to 95-92 with 1:16 remaining in the first OT.
Morrow buried a 3-pointer to tie the score with 59 seconds to go in the first OT. David Weaver scored to give Wake a 97-95 lead with 29.9 seconds to go in the first OT.
Georgia Tech’s Ra’Sean Dickey made one of two free throws with 13.4 seconds left. Hale made two free throws to extend the lead to 99-96 with 12.9 seconds to go.
Morrow made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 99 with 1.3 seconds left in the first overtime.
“He missed a big shot against Virginia, and he ... said, ‘Coach, you put me in that spot again, I’m going to make it for you,” Hewitt said. “When he made that shot .... to send it to the second overtime, he reminded me.”
In the second OT, Morrow hit a 3-pointer to give the Yellow Jackets a 107-106 lead with 2:28 left. Visser sank two free throws to give Wake the lead.
Morrow made three free throws to put the Yellow Jackets up 110-108 with 1:52 left in the second OT. He made one of two free throws to extend the lead.
Hale buried a 3-pointer from the right corner to tie the score at 111 with 1:04 left in the second OT. Hale drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Wake a 114-111 lead with 26 seconds left, then pounded his chest with his fist.
“Hale stepped up and made some big shots,” Hewitt said.
Zach Peacock of Georgia Tech missed a jumper with 10 seconds left in the second OT, but the Yellow Jackets got the rebound.
Prosser decided to have his team put Georgia Tech on the line. Young was fouled and made the first free throw to cut the lead to 114-112 with four seconds left. He intentionally missed the second free throw and Crittenton got the rebound, but Morrow missed a jumper at the buzzer.
Morrow fell to the floor and lay face-first on the court.

ACC Tournament: Wake Forest completes upset Thursday with double OT thriller

Posted Mar08, 2007 at 11:53 PM

basketball

Wake Forest's L.D. Williams (42) drives for the basket over Georgia Tech's Mario West (5) in the first-round game of the Men's Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Aaron breaks down the game between Duke and N.C. State

Audio: Click the play button to hear highlights of the game by Aaron McFarling