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Show r Sun Times, February 1 r Page 0 3, 1 980, ComioDDy's By Keith Duncan With only three games remaining in the regular season, Coach Conollys Weber Warriors have charged into a two-wa- y tie for first place and may be the only team living up to the preseason billing given them by their critics. Last Friday in Pleasant Ben Lomond Beacon, February 1 the View, Warriors bounced off Gearfield, for their first victory over the Clearfieldites in four games. The Warriors never trailed in the game and looked like they may be the team to beat down the stretch of the region 70-6- 8 race. This Friday the Warriors travel to Roy where the Royals have improved much over the First part of the season. Meanwhile, Clearfield travels to Layton and Bonneville and Sky View, both 4 in the league chase, battle each other in Sky View. Its been a season where anyone can beat anyone else so the Warriors and Lancers should both have their work cut out for themselves. Had to Stay Ahead Coach Conolly remarked after his teams victory over the Falcons, we knew that we had to stay ahead which is sometimes easier said than done against Clearfield. They are a terrific four corners offensive team and any time they go into that offense they have a way of getting you in foul trouble and protecting a lead if they have it. But Clearfield didnt have much of a chance last Friday to play their four corner offense with Conollys crew shooting the lights out the way they 3-- Warriors 1 4, 1 980, Page 1 0 rtroeami did. The Warriors shot well over 50 per cent all evening. As the coach put it, weve tried hard all season, thats all weve done." Ralph Anderson, a senior guard, who was seldom used other than in a reserve role for the first part of the season, has blistered the nets the past two games. In the first quarter last Friday, he connected for nine points and helped his team to a 4 lead. In the second stanza, Webers rugged 4 forward took over and played perhaps his best quarter of the season by scoring 16 points. He ended the day with 31 points, his high for the season. Even though Clearfield made a switch from their zone defense to man to man, it was ineffective as Skeen and Anderson teamed to give Weber a lead at the half. Junior Gets Hot It was Kelly Johnsons turn in the second quarter as the powerful red head banged in 10 crucial points as the Falcons were making a bid for a comeback. Johnson, a junior, had 29 points the I dont dictate who week before. should shoot, Johnson and Skeen have equal opportunity and their doing a good job of things, said Conolly. Despite Troy Nyes hot hand in the Clearfiel Courier, February 13, 1980, Page 10 baasiimess, beat, just ask any of the Warriors. They dont lose by much when they do lose and the scare they gave Weber in the closing minutes of last Fridays contest was enough to add a few gray hairs to any Weber fan. 7 With Weber ahead, with 32 seconds remaining and the Warriors breaking away for a fast bucket, the ball was fed to Skeen who went high 70-6- into the air and got stuck on the rim. I had to hang on it because the Gearfield player was going to undercut me, said Skeen after the incident. It made me sick when he did it, said Conolly, who knew Skeens story. The reason it made Conolly sick was it gave the Clearfield team a chance to shoot a freethrow and have Mark Lee is the forward of the Layton Lancers who has been one of the main stitches in the Lancers drive for a league title in basketball. super-smoot- h 6-- 3 Last Friday night he netted 29 points to keep his league leading scoring campaign in the drivers seat. The high point total was a heavy burden to the Bonneville Lakers who felt everyone of his points in a 9 loss. Layton continues to lead the league, tied with Weber, with a 2 81-6- 5-- 6-- First Victory Over Hansen The victory was the first for Coach Conolly over his counterpart, Coach Craig Hansen of Gearfield. Saturday, Feb. 16 Weber State in Brigham Young Invitational, 1 p.m. at Provo, Utah (INDOOR TRACK). Oime But what weve always said is that we have to go through a whole league and when we go through the whole' league, then were to the tournament. So it really doesnt matter. Sky View beat us for 8 years but we always seem to do just as well as them in the state turnament, concluded Conolly. RoyaDs tirippedl mip By Bliss Fullmer time Sky View Prior to tip-oCoach Kenny Thompson commented on how tough Roy would be on its own home court, and after the game he praised Ted Smith for his coaching ability. ff third stanza, Johnson kept the Warriors out in front with his inside play. For the evening he shot 70 per cent and that is another reason why the Warriors maintained a slim five-poi- nt margin after three quarters, Ted Smith almost pulled off another big upset in Region One, but not quite. His Royals had Sky View down by eight at halftime, but lost the ball game in the last six minutes of the third quarter. Thats when the Bobcats the Royals 18-- 7 to 2 take a lead into the fourth quarter. Roy didnt give up in the final quarter, but they fell behind by four with four minutes to be played, and Sky View played the clock to a Five point victory. 57-5- 2. Clearfield is not an easy team to 67-6- 2 out-scor- 43-4- record. Mark is a senior at Layton High School. Brad Story became a Region One bracket champion in the last Thursday night by defeating Kyle Anderson of Sky View 10-It was a big bright plus for the Weber team who have been beset by continual frustrations throughout the season. Story is a senior at Weber High The Bobcats actually won the ball game at the foul line, which is something new to them. Of their four losses in Region One action, Sky View has scored more field goals, than did the opposition, only to lose the game from the foul line. Each team scored 26 field goals, Friday night, but Sky View converted 15 of 19 from the charity stripe, where the Royals could only hit 10 of 20. Roy School. Jennifer Beene, only a sophomore, poured in a game high 18 points to help . pace , Clearfields girls basketball team to a victory over the Weber Warriors. Her efforts have earned her the top award for women athletes in Region One this week. , the Bobcats while turnovers balanced out at 20 each, and n each team made a steals. half-doze- Saturday, Feb. 16 Weber State vs. Northern Arizona University, 7:30 p.m. (MST at Flagstaff, Arizona (BASKETBALL). Monday, Feb. 18 Weber State Junior Varsity vs. Colorado Northwestern, 7:30 p.m. at Rangeley, Colorado (BASKETBALL). Rylan Weidemeir was high-poiman on the floor, with 19 points on eight field goals and three for four from the stripe. None of his shots were taken from more than four feet away from the basket. He was unstoppable, once he got the ball down deep. Robb Thomas was the only other Royal in double figures. Robb collected four field goals and four for seven from the line and 12 points. His scoring range to jumpers from varied from tip-in- s the key. The Bobcats had three shooters in doubles. Eddie Benson made five field goals and had a perfect seven for nt JUNIOR FORWARD Kelly Johnson soars for two points over Lancer opponent in first meeting between these two Region One clubs. Johnson leads the Warriors in their scoring attack. leads the short-serie- s between the two schools, Webers encounters with Northern 2-- Arizona in Flagstaff have always been close. Last year, NAU knocked off the Cats, 6664 in overtime ir. the SkyDome and two seasons ago, it took a Bruce Collins jumper with three seconds left to win it 73-7- Both NAU and WSC have one thing in common this season, both teams have played in FOUR overtime contests this season, NAU is 2 in overtime games, while Weber is 2-- 3-- Before its win over Reno last Saturday, NAU had lost six of its last seven conference games, and like must win all four of its Reno, remaining games to make it into the playoffs. Northern Arizona is 13-- 9 overall and 46 in conference play with two games remaining at home and two on the road. by Tatis seven from the line to get 17 points. Rand Hendricks and Jay Bair each tossed in 14 points for Sky View. Al- lstater John McKenna, scored only six points against Roy, before fouling out in the third quarter. Ted Smith has done a lot of juggling, seeking to find a winning combination among his seven seniors, four juniors and seven sophomores, playing varsity or J.V. ball. He has been working three and four sophomores into varsity games, and junior Robert Kirkwood seems to have found a home on the starting five. Some of his seniors played better last year, than they have been showing in 1980. The Royals entertain, leagueleading Weber High School in their next ball game. The Warriors appear to be in the Drivers Seat in Region One basketball. They are presently tied with Layton for the lead, and have two big wins over Sky View, as well as victories over Bonneville, Gearfield and Roy (at North Ogden). Roy J.V. 67 Sky View 53 Brad McCaulley led his team to a Royal stomping of the Kittens of Sky View, in the preliminary ga fjriday night. McCaulley got six f)CJwe field . and four of eight from the line for 16 points. Mike Reske hit seven of eight from the foul line to go along with three field goals and 13 points, while Jed Porter came up with eleven points. As a team, Roy made 25 field goals, and converted 17 of 29 from the stripe. Sky View made 22 field goals, and hit nine of 23 from the line. The big gunner for the Bobcats was Johnson, with 15 points. Coach Van Hadley played all ten men, and seven of them scored points. Sky View has been the only team all season, to score 50 points or more against the Roy J.V. The young Royals lost only to Bonneville, in a close game, this season, and have won all other games by a comfortable margin. Sim Ogdenn Mark Stevens, a 66 forward, has been the Lumberjacks workhorse. Stevens had 31 points against Reno, raising his seasonal average per game to 18.2 and is hauling in 10.8 rebounds to lead the conference in both categories. Stevens had 14 points and six rebounds against Weber in Ogden, a game the Wildcats won, 73-5- 8. Three Utah bids might be automatic Three of four of Utahs major colleges could get bids to the 1980 NCAA playoffs automatically if they wrap-u- p league titles. This week sets the stage for a three-wee- k one-poi- one-poi- Why my teams could beat Coach Roger Reid 5 out of 6 times and why weve beaten Craig only once is not really difficult to explain. What means a lot to me and to our approach here at Weber High is that you just dont play well against some schools for some reason. Some teams like the Roy girls just cant seem to play well against our girls but do fine against everyone else. ToMgto-Diuic- lk moire won smd Wildcatis tio host 198 pDayoffis OGDEN The Weber State Wildcats, needing a win in its next three games or an Idaho loss to win the Big Sky regular season championship, takes to the road for the final time in regular season play, traveling to the University of Nevada-Ren- o in Thursday (Feb. 14) and Northern Arizona on Saturday (Feb. 16). The Reno game has an 8 p.m. starting time (Pacific Standard Time), while the NAU encounter begins at 7 : 30 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time). The Wolfpack have had a rough going in their first season in the Big Sky, having lost THREE contests including a 100-9- 9 setback in double overtime last Saturday at Northern Arizona. Other losses were to Montana ) and at home against Boise State Reno is 6 overall and in the Big Sky. In order for UNR to have any chance at making the playoffs, they would have to win all four of their remaining games (two at home, two at Boise and Idaho). In the last encounter in Ogden, the Wildcats scored 57 second half points in defeating Reno, 9165 before a sellout crowd of 11,715. That crowd was duplicated last Saturday night in the Deie Center against Montana State, atwhich is a Big Sky single-gam- e tendance record. Bruce Collins led the Wildcats with 24 points and 11 rebounds with four other Wildcats scoring in double figures. Gene Ransom, the diminuative 9 guard fireplug, continues to lead Reno in scoring with a 16.9 average. Ransom scored 37 points in the loss to NAU on Saturday which is a singlegame high in Big Sky action this season. Ransom hit for 20 points against WSC in the first game, before fouling out with 4:37 left in the ballgame. Thaxter Arterberry was the only other Wolfpack player in double figures with 12. Weber State charge 43-3- 4 Plenty off action In Wildcat sportsland Thursday, Feb. 14 Weber State vs. University of Nevada-Ren- o 8 u.m. (PST at Reno, Nevada (BASKETBALL). the ball out of bounds as a result of the technical called on Skeen. Brook Hicks, the cool controlled guard of Gearfield, stepped to the line under great pressure and sank the freethrow to bring his team to within 2 points. After a time out was called, Gearfield got the ball again only to Johnson have Hicks miss a of Weber was fouled on the rebound. Johnson missed his freethrow allowing Gearfield one more chance, but Hicks missed again, this time from 10 feet. 22-1- Top players noted Mark Lee, Brad Story and Jennifer Beene have been tabbed as the players of the week by Sportstacular for the week of February 4th to 9th. vaOoanft mmaCriirDgj nt (56-55- homestretch (60-59- ). before the NCAA playoffs begin. Weber State is in. Coach Neil McCarthys Wildcats have clinched at least a tie for the schools 11th Big Sky Conference crown. The clincher could come either Thursday (at Nevada-Reno- ) or Saturday (at Northern Arizona) and if it comes down to it, Weber Could win it at home against Idaho State F6b. 23. In any event, Weber (10-- 1 in the league, 21-- 2 overall) needs just one win, or an Idaho loss, to earn the hosts role for the Big Skys four-teatournament Feb. 29 and March 1. BYU is close to its second straight Western Athletic Conference crown and seventh in the schools history. 4-- 6 After Saturdays pulsating at Utah, the Cougars put themselves in a position of having 83-8- 5-- 2 victory only to win their two home WAC games to capture at least a tie for the 0 title. The Cougars, winning their sixth WAC game in a row and moving their conference mark to 1 and overall mark to 18-- 4 against Utah, could clinch the tie, or the outright crown, on the road with a foray into Colorado 79-8- COACH NEIL MCCARTHY, with his trusty towel In hand, shows a moment of disgust in recent contest at Dee Events Center. His Wildcats have claimed at least a tie for the right to host the Big Sky Conference playoffs in March. 9-- State and Wyoming territory in two weeks (Feb. ), but the assurance that the Marriott Center will be there if needed (vs. Hawaii and San Diego State on Feb. 28 and March 1, respectively) must be comforting to Coach Frank Arnold and his troops. Utah State is in an enviable position in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference. Coach Rod Tueller saw his charges pull out a pair of victories in California e (over and over Fullerton Thursday, State Saturday, 6967) to leave the tie with Long Aggies in a first-plac- e Beach State. USU and the 49ers will break that knot Thursday in Logan when the two 2 records come together at The Spectrum. The Ags could very well assure themselves of no worse than a tie for the conferences regular season title with a victory since only one road game remains for the Ags at Pacific on Feb. 21, while Barbara visits Aggieville Feb. 16. Meanwhile, Coach Tex Winters 49ers must play both Irvine and Fullerton on the road while drawing San Jose at home. What the Ags (now 16-- 5 overall) earn with the regular season crown is a top seeding in the PCAA tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center Feb. 1. Webers wins over the Montana schools this past week left McCarthy 21-23- Cal-Irvin- 87-8- 8-- UC-San- praising his club as better than la Were bett years team because weve matured," the veterj (25-9- ). Wildcat mentor explained. And David Johnson, who McCartl said gave a career best effort" in tl 4 win over Montana Sta Saturday night, had some words caution for future Wildcat foes. I fe we let down last year after winnir the conference title. We wont let th happen again, the Wildcat senii forward said following a ii 94-8- effort. BYUs second win over Utah this season, and fourth in a row over tv years, was achieved before the fifl largest crowd in the history of tl Special Events Center, 15,126 fan and the conquest prompted Arnold say "it will be hard for anyone catch us now. Senior Cougar guard Scott Runl scored the last seven BYU points o clutch free throws as the Cougai recovered from a deficit afU lead during the fin owning a half. I dont feel we lost it as much a we just ran out of time," a dejecte Ute coach Jerry Pimm said. W made a valiant effort, but we Jus couldnt guard (Steve) Craig In thel I 58-5- 39-2- four-corn- 5 2 attack, continued on pay Pimm 11' adde , |