varsity.roanoke.com

Once regarded as a prestigious tournament, the college version of the NIT has fallen victim to the NCAA's expanded field of 65 teams and now is considered second-rate.

That tournament's organizers may want to visit Northside High School this afternoon and evening and learn from its namesake how it's supposed to be done.

All four of the Northside Invitational Tournament's second-round games featured spirited play throughout and were close in the fourth quarter. Three of the contests were decided in the final minute.

Liberty (7-2) and Lord Botetourt (8-3) will play at 7:45 p.m. tonight for the tournament championship. The teams they derailed Monday, Franklin County and Northside, respectively, will play at 6 p.m. tonight for third place, following the consolation games.

The Minutemen held off Franklin County (8-2) 70-69, running off impressive scoring spurts in the first and third quarters and then weathering a furious Eagle rally in the fourth period.

"This is probably the biggest victory we've had since I've been at Liberty," said Minutemen coach Jeff Monroe, in his fourth season at the Bedford County school. "Franklin County has a long tradition [of winning] and I didn't want us to get defeated before we got on the floor."

Monroe needn't have worried. His senior leaders, Chris Harmon and Carlton Payne, combined for 27 first-half points, neither missing a shot from the field, to give the Minutemen a 43-38 halftime lead.

Franklin County shifted to a box-and-one defense that contained Harmon in the second half. "We also stopped getting the ball inside to [Payne]," Monroe said.

The Eagles had an opportunity to win the game but Chris Tyree's 17-foot jumper from the corner missed at the buzzer. "We had [the shot] we wanted," Franklin County coach Doug Conklin said. "I'd take it 99 out of 100 times make that 100 out of 100 times."

Tyree finished with 14 points, one of three double-figure scorers for the Eagles.

FRANKLIN COUNTY (8-2)

Gill 3 0-0 6, Royal 2 0-0 5, D. Reynolds 10 2-2 23, Edwards 5 1-1 14, Tyree 5 4-6 14, Gilbert 2 0-0 5, O'Neal 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 7-9 69.

LIBERTY (7-2)

Gilchrist 2 0-0 4, Blake 4 3-6 11, Payne 5 0-0 11, C. Harmon 8 2-4 19, Nichols 4 1-2 9, Hayden 0 0-0 0, Sparrow 0 0-0 0, Martin 2 1-2 6, Harper 0 0-0 0, A. Reynolds 4 2-2 10, Stith 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 9-16 70.

Franklin County 13 25 8 23--69

Liberty 21 22 14 13--70

3-point goals Franklin County 6 (Edwards 3, Royal, D. Reynolds, Gilbert), Liberty 3 (Harmon, Payne, Martin). Fouls Franklin County 13, Liberty 11. Technical fouls none. Fouled out none.

Lord Botetourt 56, Northside 52

In Monday's nightcap, the host team took Lord Botetourt to the wire, but the Cavaliers prevailed behind strong games from their big three (Rick Adelman 19, Hunter Foley 17 and Matt Moats 14).

Four members of Botetourt's coaching staff (head coach Jon Cook, and assistants John Baker, Jim Porter and Brian Burke) played for Northside coach Bill Pope during various periods over the past 23 years, but that didn't lessen the competition of Monday night's match-up.

The Vikings were playing without Neil Brown, who missed Monday's game due to a family obligation. They also got only two points from Blake Thornburg, who had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night.

"No excuses," Pope said.

Northside turned to other weapons Adam Burroughs matched Adelman's game high of 19 points, hitting 8-of-15 shots from the floor including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

LORD BOTETOURT (8-3)

Mathias 1 0-0 3, Adelman 8 3-6 19, Hunsberger 0 1-2 1, Foley 6 3-5 17, Moats 5 3-3 14, Arnold 0 0-2 0, Bane 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 10-18 56.

NORTHSIDE (6-3)

Burroughs 8 0-0 19, Thornburg 1 0-0 2, Smith 6 2-2 14, Gilliard 1 0-1 2, Richie 4 3-4 11, Palmieri 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Phelps 2 0-0 4, Pound 0 0-0 0, Curry 0 0-0 0, Duckett 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 5-7 52.

Lord Botetourt 16 13 13 14--56

Northside 6 17 13 16--52

3-point goals Lord Botetourt 4 (Foley 2, Mathias, Moats), Northside 3 (Burroughs 3). Fouls Lord Botetourt 9, Northside 18. Technical fouls none. Fouled out none.

W. Byrd 54, Blacksburg 48

Josh Mattox scored seven of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, propelling William Byrd to a win over Blacksburg in Monday afternoon's first game.

Ricky Sowers pulled the Bruins within a field goal in the game's waning seconds, but Mattox and Jon Michael Zimmerman made their free throws at the end.

BLACKSBURG (3-6)

Carr 3 0-0 6, Jackson 1 0-0 2, Cooper 5 1-4 12, Whitsett 3 0-1 6, Jones 3 0-2 6, Maxey 0 1-2 1, Walker 1 0-0 3, Price 1 0-0 2, Sowers 2 0-0 4, Travis 2 2-3 6. Totals 21 4-12 48.

WILLIAM BYRD (2-7)

Mattox 6 6-7 20, Palmer 1 2-3 4, Brugh 0 2-2 2, Zimmerman 2 3-4 7, Mankin 6 4-5 16, Vest 1 0-0 2, Miller 1 1-2 3, Conner 0 0-0 0, Sloan 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 18-23 54.

Blacksburg 15 11 11 11--48

William Byrd 18 12 11 13--54

3-point goals Blacksburg 2 (Walker, Cooper), William Byrd 2 (Mattox 2). Fouls Blacksburg 20, William Byrd 15. Technical fouls none. Fouled out none.

Martinsville 66, S. River 53

Howard Scales connected on four 3-pointers, three of them in the third quarter, to lead Martinsville to a win over Staunton River. Scales finished with 16 points, while Jarez Turner added 13. Wesley Gates paced the Eagles with 15 points.

The game started out as a track meet, with both teams racing up and down the court at breakneck speed. Martinsville opened early double-digit leads of 22-9 and 37-22 before Staunton River rallied in the second half to close within four (52-48).

MARTINSVILLE (5-4)

Green 3 0-0 6, Jones 3 0-1 6, Turner 5 3-4 13, Pritchett 4 1-6 9, Tyler 2 0-2 4, Martin 0 0-0 0, Scales 6 0-0 16, Scott 4 0-0 8, Belcher 1 0-0 2, Arrington 1 0-0 2, Tarpley 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 4-13 66.

STAUNTON RIVER (1-7)

Gates 6 3-7 15, A. Dillon 4 0-1 9, Coles 3 0-2 6, B. Dillon 0 0-0 0, See 2 2-2 6, Adkins 1 0-0 2, Eggleston 4 1-4 9, Cunningham 2 0-0 6, Nichols 0 1-3 1. Totals 22 7-19 53.

Martinsville 22 15 13 16--66

Staunton River 11 16 17 9--53

3-point goals Martinsville 4 (Scales 4), Staunton River 2 (Cunningham 2). Fouls Martinsville 16, Staunton River 9. Technical fouls none. Fouled out See.