Saturday, February 24, 2007
Buffaloes stampede Bobcats in 2nd half
Floyd County outscores Radford 43-14 in the second half to repeat as region champ.
varsity.roanoke.com
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DUBLIN -- Radford girls' basketball coach Deb Reedy probably wouldn't mind forgetting her team's 65-31 drubbing at the hands of Floyd County in Friday night's Region C title game.
But after the Bobcats yielded their fourth double-digit loss of the season to the Buffaloes, the Radford coach had no trouble remembering the last time her team was so obliterated in the second half.
"The last time we played Floyd," said Reedy, smiling. The best news for the Group A tournament-bound Bobcats is Friday night may be the last time they have to play Floyd this year.
Clinging to a five-point lead at halftime, the Buffaloes (25-0) outscored Radford 43-14 over the final 16 minutes to win their second consecutive region championship.
The Buffaloes, who held a seven-point halftime lead over Radford in last weekend's Three Rivers District tournament final, went on to win that one 66-39.
In Wednesday night's region semifinal, Floyd County led by only three at the break against Parry McCluer before eventually annihilating the Fighting Blues by 38 points.
Buffaloes coach Alan Cantrell didn't feel the need to hit any panic buttons in his latest halftime speech.
"It wasn't a get out there and fire and brimstone type thing," the coach said. "It was just 'do a little better at this. Do a little better at that'."
Floyd County, which has now won 53 of its last 54 games, did just about everything better after halftime. After hitting 7-of-25 shots in the opening two quarters, the Buffaloes' marksmanship from the field improved to 16-of-32 shooting in the second half.
After turning the ball over eight times before the break, Floyd County committed just three second-half turnovers.
The Bobcats (16-9) turned the ball over 33 times -- 17 in the second half -- largely because of Floyd County's familiar pressure defense, which held Radford to just five third quarter field goal attempts and one basket. The Bobcats, who got eight points apiece from Emily Troxel and Krista Pattison, had no double figure scorers.
"We had moments where we looked pretty good, but against a team like Floyd, you've got to take care of it every possession," Reedy said. "Every possession is important."
No players were more important to Floyd County than junior point guard Lindsey Thompson and senior shooting guard Ashley Tanner. Tanner nailed a trio of 3-pointers in the first half on the way to 11 points for the game. Thompson scored nine of her game-high 12 points during the pivotal third-quarter onslaught.
"We knew we needed to be up by more," said Thompson, who also hit a pair of 3-pointers. "We always have a better second half than a first."
That's a point that Cantrell found solace in at halftime.
"You'd rather I guess start off a little slow and then go fast than start off fast and end slow," Cantrell said.
Reedy also wasn't surprised at the timing of Floyd County's rally.
"The third quarter is when they come alive," she said. "They can do nothing the first half and the third quarter they'll just make up the deficit of the whole first half. We just kind of hung our heads after they got on a roll."
FLOYD COUNTY (25-0)
Avancini 4 0-0 8, Thompson 4 2-3 12, Hollandsworth 1 0-0 2, Epperly 4 1-2 9, Tanner 4 0-2 11, Phillips 1 0-0 2, Rodgers 0 4-4 4, Womack 3 2-5 8, Brown 0 2-2 2, Bourne 1 2-2 4, Gray 1 1-2 3, Totals 23 14-22 65.
RADFORD (16-9)
Pattison 3 2-2 8, Rollins 1 0-0 2, Shull 0 1-2 1, Wiley 2 0-1 4, Donnelly 1 0-0 2, Faulkner 0 2-2 2, Frye 1 0-0 2, Troxel 4 0-1 8, Hale 1 0-1 2 Totals 13 5-9 31.
Floyd County 13 9 21 22 -- 65
Radford 8 9 2 12 -- 31
3-point goals -- FC (Tanner 3, Thompson 2). Total Fouls -- FC 17, R 14.
