Friday, March 12, 2010
James River Knights hope to break through
James River has lost in the semifinals twice in the past three seasons. It tries again today.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Honaker's Josh Vandyke tries to block James River player Ethan Humphries in the quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center.
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BUCHANAN -- It's hard to envision the James River boys basketball team needing any more motivation than they already have heading into today's Group A Division 2 semifinal game against Dan River.
No, they got plenty of that in last year's semifinal, when Radford's Dontae Carter stole a pass and scored the go-ahead basket as time expired to cap a Bobcats comeback and end the Knights' season.
It might have been right about then that James River started looking ahead to today's matchup.
"The key thing that was said was after the game in the locker room when Andrew [Tucker] said, 'Just remember how this feels next year when we practice,' " senior Patrick Bennett said. "That's kind of been our motive for this year's practices."
Head coach Mike Goad can recall that feeling exactly.
"I don't know how bad you can feel but I certainly felt that bad," he said. "In my memory, you know, when you go to sleep, you just couldn't get it out of you.
"[We were] that close."
This is the third time in four years the Knights have made it this far, but were denied a spot in the title game the previous two attempts.
Bennett and fellow senior Ethan Humphries were on that first team too, and would love nothing more than to end their outstanding high school careers by breaking through the semifinal wall.
"We feel like it's ours for the taking," Bennett said. "Our first year, we ran into somebody that was just way better than us and last year we kind of let it slip through our hands but this year we feel like it's ours and we're more prepared than ever to win the game."
Four starters return from last year's squad, the team has used more zone to limit fouls and Goad said last season's ending has made the Knights more mentally tough.
All of that bodes well for the Knights but it doesn't hurt to have a little extra incentive.
With two more wins, James River will have compiled 100 over the past four years, but more importantly, it can wash away some of the sour taste that remains from 2009.
"We've [done] about everything we possibly could as a team other than being in the championship game," Goad said. "We felt like last year, we had a 10-point lead with three-something minutes left to go and just certain things, we didn't finish it.
"And that was a very painful feeling and I've had that feeling for over a year now."
Bennett knows, for seniors like himself, Humphries and Tucker, they only have one more shot to end their high school careers the way they want to.
"We've worked hard this week and we know that it doesn't matter how much it hurts or how sore we get or whatever," Bennett said. "We just know that it's all gonna be over Saturday for us so we just have to work harder."
