OCR Text |
Show UTS SECTION E 2mUjHcratft THURSDAY. JUNE 1. Darnell Dickson SPORTS EDITOR 2006 ddicksonhefaldextta.com 344 2555 PREP SOFTBALL 2006 NBA PLAYOFFS I EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 5 Mil ROBB COSTEUO Daily Herald ' Lehi's Alexis Stadel hits during an All-St- Softball game between DUANE Associated Press BURLESON Miami's Shaquille O'Neal (32) walks'back to the bench Region 4 and Region 7 on Wednesday at Timpunogos.' during a timeout in the third quurter on Wednesday. More inn Missed free than games tor rs throws doom Heat all-sta- in Game 5 Jared Lloyd Last week at this time. Softball players from Timpanogos and Spanish Fork were gearing up for the final exciting day of the 5A state playoffs. Players "from other Utah Valley might 've mmmmm , squads been thinking of REGION 7 ' 8 what might 've REGION 4 2 been, Tim Reynolds .' ;ty.v.w!-- 6-- 3-- 2 I Associated Press PAUL SANCYA Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace (3) blocks a shot by Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal during the third quarter of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference basketball finals in Detroit on Wednesday. Pistons take care of business in Detroit, force Game 6 wrong and we know we can't play like that on F'riday. And we won't play like that on Friday. We'll be ready." Miami came into this game talking about making history, as in securing the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals. Instead, the Heat wound up setting a dubious team record shootthe worst ing effort in Miami postseason history, way worse than the effort against the Pistons in Game 1 of last year's free-thro- said. "Don't ask dumb questions." Larry Lage THE ASSOC IATEC WS5V "Ain't no pressure on us AUBURN HILLS. Mich. Shaquille O'Neal was about ., .. to throw down another backboard-shakindunk. g Ben Wallace wasn't having ' it. Wal- The lace leaped and I Delyse Downey V "JV B5 and love playing with them. You don't get to know them during the .season when you just want . to beat them so bad." 91-7- 8 g . "It's so much fun.-- got to know so many of these girls or-2- 0 free-thro- 8-- ALL-STA- ' : ar See chip's d AUBURN HILLS, Mich. How close were the Miami . Heat from possibly getting to the NBA Finals? About 15 feet. That's the distance separating the basket from the foul line the spot where Shaquille O'Neal.. Dwyane Wade and Miami misfired from with' alarming regularity in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Heat were f on attempts Wednesday. a debacle that played a huge role in the Detroit Pistons' season-savinwin, It trimmed Miami's series lead and ensured Game 6 to will be played in South Florida, on Friday night. ' "We don't really want to make excuses," O'Neal said. "We know what we did On Wednes- day, however, many of the best players from the area traded the intensity for the opportunity to go out and just have a good time. Athletes gathered on the Timpanogos softball diamond for one last chance this season to show their 7 All-Ststuff in the Region game. The 4A team got some big hits early and never allowed its 5A opponent to get back in the contest, pulling away for the 2 win and bragging rights. "I just think it's funny that we beat them like that," Lehi senior pitcher McKensy Hillstead said. "1 guess 4A just dominates." ' While neither team played perfect softball, the Region 7 players made some big plays to keep the Region 4 team from starting a rally. But both teams understood players were trying out new roles and moving around every inning. "It's hard to play with players you've never played with and play all over the place," said Spanish Fork senior Whitney Robinson said. "But playing here is just fun." Each of the agreed with Robinson, saying that they :a;-:- stuffed Shaq's slam forcing a jump ball, putting the 1 O'Neal on his back and sparking, Detroit's defense that refused to let the Pistons' season end. "It was a big play a momentum- - we have a golden opportunity to win Game 6 on our home floor, they're the defending conference champions, there's no pressure on us." Dwyane Wade guard 91 78 DETROIT MIAMI at all, Miami ,. All-St- 7-- changer," Wallace said of the quarter block. "You know it was a foul," O'Neal Whatever, the Pistons got back to their swarming ways when the Miami Heat had the ball, and Tayshaun Prince scored a career playoff-hig29 points to lift Detroit to a win Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Heat did not score in the final 3 a minutes while Detroit pulled away with the las.t nine points of the game. Miami also hurt itself by going from the free throw line. . "We just came out aggressive like we talked about and played Pistons basketball," Chauncey Billups said. "There's pressure on them now, now h 91-7- 8 See East finals. Miami lost that game, and wound up falling to Detroit in seven games a year ago.. Now. the Pistons who on their tries 'were still have from the stripe hope. "There's pressure on them now," said Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, who was from the line. out The Heat were 29th -- See PISTONS, B5 FREE THROWS, B5 Orem junior shortstop NCAA GOLF CYCLING Doping agency scoffs at probe clearing Armstrong BYU stumbles on back 5AN JOSE MERCURY NEWS ' "I An investigator's report clearing Lance Armstrong of taking drugs during the 1999 Tour de France was challenged g Wednesday by World Agency officials, indicating the case against Ameri- ca's greatest cyclist might not, be over. e The report, written by the former chief of the Netherlands' agency, called the accusations against Armstrong completely irreAnti-Dopin- 132-pag- anti-dopi- ', were positive for the drug EPO when retested in 2004. There was no valid test for EPO until 2001. French testers froze specimens from the 1999 Tour to check when they hud developed one. But the were not meant to be used to punish anyone. While Armstrong hailed the report's conclusion, officials from the World Agency said in a statement they were concerned that the investigation had focused on how the retired cyclist's urine tests were leaked to a newspaper and not whether the results were valid. 1999 niottjMmond , sponsible." The investigator, Emile Vrii-maexamined test results taken from the year Armstrong won his first of seven consecu- n, don't know how a Dutch lawyer with no expertise came to a conclusion that one of the leading laboratories in the world messed up on the analysis. To say Armstrong is totally exonerated seems strange." , , Dick Pound World g tive Tour de France titles. The cyclist won all those races after surviving testicular cancer. The investigation was initi nine to fall out of top 10 blood-boostin- g Agency President ated after the French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported last August that six of Armstrong's urine samples from ' Ellison's strong start keeps Cougs in contention s Anti-Dopin- g See ARMSTRONG, B4 DAILY HERAID SUNR1VER, Ore. -J- ake Ellison's 69 paced d the Cougars into a tie for 16th place after the first round of the 2006 NCAA Championship in Sunriver on lOth-seede- Wednesday. after eleven At holes, BYU was in contention and looking like the top-1- 0 team, but a couple of uncharacteristic errors on the back nine cost the Cougars several strokes pushing them to a first round. "I thought we did a great job for most of the day, but we had a couple of mistakes on holes where you can't make mistakes," said BYU assistant c6ach Todd Miller., Through 11 holes we were in great shape, but 12 just killed " . us." No. 12 is a par five lined by water. Two Cougars drove into the water and Daniel Summer-hay- s quickly went from to Wednesday saw the Cougars post two double bogies. See ... 'I,- BYU, B2 JLCJ |