Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Salem cruises over Titan speed bump
varsity.roanoke.com
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The pace was often as plodding as motor oil pouring on a bitter cold night, but the Salem boys basketball team stayed mostly on task to stop deliberate Hidden Valley 52-25 in a River Ridge victory that leaves open the possibility of an end-of-the-week playoff match with Cave Spring for the regular season title.
The Spartans (14-5 overall, 8-1 River Ridge) must win their regular season finale with guest Pulaski County, scheduled for Wednesday weather permitting, to hold up their end of the bargain with the Knights (16-3, 8-1). Cave Spring has to beat host Hidden Valley Wednesday. Should a playoff be required, the tentative plan is to play Friday at neutral Hidden Valley, Spartans coach Kevin Garst said.
Not that he was trying to get ahead of himself. Every game in this district seems to be played as if somebody's life's at stake. Even the lower-ranked teams can give somebody a fit, as the Titans certainly proved Monday.
A VHSL Group AA Division 4 final four team a year ago, Hidden Valley was hit hard by graduation.
The Titans (8-10, 3-5) have had matchup problems with just about everybody this year and to counter the superior speed and quickness of last year's Division 4 state runner-up, coach Troy Wells called for a deliberate offense.
"Patience, patience," he instructed his team from the bench throughout.
Those tactics were ultimately undone by spotty execution.
"We didn't rebound, we didn't play defense, we shot free throws poorly, and we had 20 turnovers," Wells said.
Garst wasn't taking anything for granted.
"Hey, Hidden Valley has been playing well," he said.
The Titans came in after winning three of four, the blemish being a one-point loss at Blacksburg Jan. 27.
Salem was ready for the slowdown.
"Coach told us that's what they probably were going to do," Spartan Stephen Barnette said. "We stayed disciplined on the defensive end. I was really proud of that."
Salem held the Titans to 11-for-43 field goal shooting (25.5 percent) and owned the backboards 37-20.
Barnette led a balanced offense with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Isaac Belton and Stephen's brother Reggie Barnette each had 11 points with the second Barnette twin claiming six rebounds. Belton and Tyler Mann each contributed a pair of treys to the Spartans total of six.
Carter Wright and Taylor Walker had five points each for the Titans.
"I think we were fortunate early and our kids did a good job of not getting impatient," Garst said. "They kind of rode through it. We were able to get a few easy ones in transition off turnovers. That was important, because if Hidden Valley were to get a little bit of a lead and hold it and we started to get impatient, then you don't know."
HIDDEN VALLEY (8-10, 3-5)
Reynolds 1 0-0 3, Wright 2 1-2 5, Draudt 1 0-0 2, Walker 2 0-0 5, Lucas 2 0-1 4, Tirico 2 0-1 4, Beecher 1 0-0 2, Trampe 0 0-0 0, Myers 0 0-0 0, Brand 0 0-2 0, Worrell 0 0-0 0, Fletcher 0 0-0 0, Dermott 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 1-6 25
SALEM (14-5, 8-1)
S. Barnette 5 2-4 12, Belton 4 1-2 11, R. Barnette 4 2-4 11, Tolliver 0 0-0 0, Carroll 1 0-0 2, Mann 2 3-4 9, Tiedemann 1 0-0 3, Wade 1 0-0 2, Haskins 1 0-0 2, Bradley 0 0-0 0, Dyer 0 0-0 0, McNair 0 0-0 0, Murphy 0 0-0 0, Willis 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 8-14 52.
Hidden Valley 2 8 11 4--25
Salem 13 10 21 8--52
3-point goals -- Hidden Valley 2 (Reynolds, Walker), Salem 6 (Belton 2, Mann 2, R. Barnette, Tiedemann). Total fouls -- Hidden Valley 8, Salem 6. JV -- Salem 33-28.
