OCR Text |
Show D2 Page THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Utah Valley Community Thursday, February Col- lege freshman Cameron Johnson has picked a good time to get hot. Johnson, a former Orem High has had a bit of an off-yeshooting for UVCC, but he has started to find his shooting touch over the last few games. In the last four games, he has shot at ' a .630 clip from the field, and has hit three of four from beyond the All-Stat- , . three-poi- nt 20, 1992 By DAVE McCANN Herald Correspondent - John SPANISH FORK figured a tough preseason would pay off in the long run for his Payson Lions. He figured right and Wednesday was payday only the Lions can't cash their checks just yet. Payson ripped Spanish Fork 9 and needs only to beat Pine View at home Friday night to win the Region Eight boys' basketball championship. The Lions were cool, calm and ready for anything the Dons threw at them. And in such a big game, those qualities become priceless. "I think a lot of that comes from our preseason," Wardenburg said. "We've been there, we've experienced those emotions and because of it, our kids were able to keep their composure the entire game. ' ' Riley Marshall certainly kept his composure. The junior put together the best game of his life steals, assists, free throws, rebounds and bank shots, you name it, he did it. "I came out ready to play," Marshall said with a big smile. "We weren't gonna let them (SF) beat us inside this time . ' ' Marshall scored 22 points, including six free throws in the fourth quarter. "He was much more aggressive tonight," Wardenburg said. "As a junior, I can't really ask for more from him." Teamed with Mark Bailey and Zac Simpson, Marshall helped Payson dominate inside. "It was just concentration," Marshall added. "We concentrated on playing good team defense. ' ' The Lions jumped ahead 0 and never trailed. Spanish Fork managed a 1 tie early in the second quarter, but two Phil DeGraffen-rie- d foul pitches put Payson ahead for good. Three-poishooting has been this Spanish Fork's Dons but the Wednesday year, ar ' Iff In UVCC's 6 win over . North Idaho in Coeur d'Alene last Saturday, Cameron was a from the perfect floor, and he led the club in rebounds with eight. Earlier in the season, John,. son's field goal percentage was down in the low thirties. But it has steadily climbed, and Camer-o- n has it up to 42 percent now. "I went through a dry spell, , Jprsure," said Johnson. "I think it was largely a matter of getting the game experience I needed. I was having a little trouble making the transition to college ball. But ., the season's three quarters of the .way through now, and I'm feel- -' ihg more comfortable with it. It feels good. The shots are going 90-8- . ve . v in." Early in the season, Johnson was getting his minutes, but as he continued to struggle with his shooting, coach Duke Reid began using him less and less. "It was a tough situation," said Reid. "We knew he could shoot; that's why we recruited him. And in practice he would light it up. But the shots just weren't going down in the games. " Johnson found himself in a catch-2- 2 situation. He needed playing time to work through his ' .shooting slump, but wasn't likely . to get it unless he started connecting"I put in some extra shooting .time over at the church, and maybe that helped some, but the biggest thing was that Doug (Chapman) and Chris (Koford) helped "me get some playing time. They kept getting into foul trouble." Koford and Chapman have been the big inside forces for the "Wolverines this year, but they've found themselves on the bench more than normal lately because . they've picked up some quick fouls early. Enter Cameron John-- . son. And bingo. The shots started f(p "'" Herald PhotoJason Olson Utah Valley's Cameron Johnson looks inside for open teammate against North Idaho earlier this year. . Saturday against Salt Lake Com- going in. "That's the kind of thing munity College, and games next week at home against Snow and Dixie. They've all but clinched the hosting rights for the Region 18 Tournament, which would give them up to three more home games, and a shot at their first ever trip to the NJCAA nationals. If Johnson continues his hot shooting down the stretch, it could go a long way toward making that possibility a reality. Cameron, the son of Rand and Evelyn Johnson of Orem, averaged 14 points a game and eight rebounds for Orem High last year. He played center for the we've needed from Cam," said Reid. "Someone who could come off the bench and give us some scoring punch, and take up the slack when the big men are out. At North Idaho, he had a heck of a game, folks. " Johnson's game is coming around just at the right time, as the Wolverines make a run at the conference title. With two key road wins last week, the Wolverines find themselves atop the heap in the Scenic West standings. They'll finish the regular season at home, with a game this Tigers, but has switched to for- 9-- ward for UVCC. "It really wasn't that big a switch," said Johnson. "In our offense, I shot about 75 percent of my shots from 15 feet and out. 21-2- nt So I was more like a shooting forward there, rather than a tradi- tional bread-n-butt- cen- back-to-the-bas- Johnson is averaging four for UVCC on die season, Eoints averaging 10 per game in the last three contests. That figure production makes Johnson a key cog in UVCC's title run. (Continued from Page D-Coberger celebrated a milestone medal her country's first ever in the Winter Olympics and the first for a Southern Hemisphere nation the favorite, unleashed its L stars and even shedded its soft image by trading blows with the United States. ex-NH- 1 2-- fifth place," Czechoslovakia coach Ivan Hlinka said. "That's hockey." And that's all for Sweden's medal hopes. 1 won Czechoslovakia Wednesday, joining the Unified Team of former Soviet republics, the United States and Canada in Friday's semifinals. In today's consolation round, Poland beat Italy 1 for 1 1th place in the tournament. Italy finished last. Today's consolation schedule also included France vs. Germany and Sweden vs. Finland. On Friday, Czechoslovakia (5-The United meets Canada ). States hopes to recreate the Miracle on Ice scenario against the which beat Unified Team ), Finland 1 Wednesday. The last time the U.S. team took on the Soviets in the medal round was 1980, when America stunned the sports world with a 3 victory that led to the gold medal. The rematch Friday comes almost 12 years to the day later. Unified Team assistant coach Igor Dimitriev said he and coach Viktor Tikhonov do not discourage thiir players from recalling 1980, f en though none of them were on mat Soviet team. "There's some talking going on about the Winter Olympics that took place in Lake Placid," Dimitriev said. "We tell the players that the American team that took the gold medal in 1980 was a very good team. It serves as an example for our players." As usual, few give the Americans any chance. With Sweden out, the Unified Team is easily the tournament favorite, even though its players are relatively inexperienced. "The Soviets ... keep the puck 60 to 70 percent of the game, said Sakari Pietila, Finland's assistant coach. 3-- J 4-- if 12-tea- m 1) (5-1- -- (5-0-- 1) (5-1- 6-- 4-- AP Laserphoto Kristi Yamaguchi performs her original program during the opening night of women's figure skating Wednesday. She grabbed the lead in the event at the Winter Olympics. 181-stro- el i "They were world champions last year. They now must play for " The U.S. Olympic Committee jrefers to point to American men's lighest-evplacings in luge and bobsled in Albertville, and notes that its revamped, multimillion-dolla- r training program didn't envision direct results until 1994 or er 1998. "The most important thing is that in most every area the level of competitiveness is increasing, the momentum is building," USOC executive director Harvey Schiller said this week. "We look to 1994 and beyond." Harding was a rare exception among the top women when she disappointed in the original program, missing a triple axel and plummeting from a role all the way to sixth place. i She had company when Japan's tiny Midori Ito fell after substituting a triple lutz for the more difficult triple axel. "I am sorry," the Ito, most celebrated athlete, Japan's told Japanese reporters after placing fourth and before making a quick exit a la Harding. "I did not think I would fail the it for safety. I I lutz. chose triple was under the pressure of having not done the triple axel well in practice," Ito said. There was no such stumble from Yamaguchi, who drew seven 5.9 scores for presentation of a program she said was designed to be "flowing and nice to watch." It was. I t-- - 14-- 4 S--l 11-- T 44 124 4 10- -t 1- -i Piyon SMnlsh Fork SprlnavMI 0 4 10-- 9 4 11- 4 Ml 1 12-- 7 MOION UVEN LM Emtry t 4 t-- M CadwCtty Dill M 5 04 MttlON HOHT 14-- 4 134 2 Union 2- - Ulnuh WaMtch Cartoon 6 7 FrWy( t 7:30 p.m. Anwlcan Fork plwunt Qrov i Orom Mountain Vlow l 11 UVCC Provo . Tlmpvlow Pirn Vww M Payoon Dlxw l Sprlnovllw Ctdar City at Spanlah Fork Lthl at Carbon Uintah at Waaatch North Sanpeta at Mantl All bejln went to bed hungry. A cold spell just before halftime allowed the Lions to construct a 6 edge. Marshall and DeGraffenried keyed a 10-- 1 run. Spanish Fork's Robbie Reid was held scoreless in the second quarter and most of the : third. Smooth operating by Kyle Kimball and DeGraffenried helped Payson to a 1 lead late in the third quarter. "The whole game we were the aggressors," Wardenburg said. "It was just a great, great team victory." ' The Lions kept their distance in the final period by nailing 13 of 15 free throws. In addition, DeGraffenried showed his by slipping under Spanish Fork's trap for easy baskets. Payson improved to 3 in Region Eight. DeGraffenreid scored 28 points to compliment Marshall's handful. Kimball chipped in 1 1 and Bailey added 9 . Reid led Spanish Fork with 10. Mark Johnson had 15. The Dons, who dropped to host Cedar City Friday. 35-2- 48-3- court-smar- ts half-cou- rt 6-- 5-- 4, - MERIBEL, France (AP) -Sweden came into the Olympics as - Own Aimrtun Folk PitMint Grow maioN four cage progra remains in furmoi double-- l) 'in skiing. Mm UNLV hockey, Czechs bounce OLYMPICS: er ovr umiuu WounMn ter." In Parisien's letdown couldn't erase the fact that women are carrying the U.S. team in Albertville. And with two American women now poised to claim gold and silver night in figure skating, it continue that way. to h figures Go figure. Women have won five of the seven U.S. medals in Albertville, Bonnie and all three golds Blair's two in speedskating and " Donna Weinbrecht's in women's freestyle moguls skiing. Skiers Hilary Lindh and Diann Roffe contributed silvers. Two of America's terrific trio in 5 figure skating, Kristi Yamaguchi and Nancy Kerrigan, have good chances to join them after graceful and error-fre- e performances in Wednesday night's original program put them 2 in the standings. "I knew the U.S. had a strong team coming in," said Yamaguchi, who along with Tonya Harding and Kerrigan swept the world championship medals last year in Munich. ; But oh, those men. American men have captured only one gold medal in the last two Winter Olympics, Brian Boitano's in men's figure skating in 1988. Despite outnumbering the women 1 on this year's the men have captured only a , team, ; silver by Paul Wylie in figure skating and a bronze by Nelson Carmi-chain moguls. And they have more reasonable chance one 'only if goalie Ray LeBIanc this year can uphold his "Le Blank" reputation against the Unified Team's - hockey squad and one more team "after that. I Male favorites such as Dan Jan- sen, Lhristopner Bowman ana J Todd Eldredge have bombed. women Most of the highest-profil- e Blair, Yamaguchi and Kerrigan Z" have performed like champions "as expected. Coincidence? Perhaps. But it , ' raises questions about the depth of uiiUS. amateur talent in winter - sports. rg 78-5- line. five-for-fi- War-denbu- LAS VEGAS (AP) Turmoil continues to grip the UNLV basketball program, with coach Jerry Tarkanian mulling a possible fight to stay at the university and players voting to sue in an attempt to get in the NCAA postseason tournament. Attorneys for Tarkanian confirmed Wednesday they have sent UNLV administrators a letter charging them with breaching resignation agreement, a scenario that could open the door for Tarkanain to fight to keep the job he is scheduled to leave when the season ends March 3. Tarkanian, however, said he hasn't decided whether to try and rescind his resignation, which he offered last summer after a newspaper published photos showing former UNLV players in a hot tub with convicted sports fixer Richard Perry. "I've been approached by people for about a month, but I haven't decided what to do," Tarkanian said. "I haven't made any decision yet on that." UNLV's players, meanwhile, voted 2 Wednesday to sue the NCAA in an effort to get into the postseason tournament that the Runnin' Rebels were banned from as a resolution of a dispute The latest developments cap a bizarre week that saw allegations raised of a federal investigation! into by last year's; team and another published report questioning whether last year's star forward, Larry Johnson, vio-- ! lated NCAA regulations in the use of a $32,000 sports car. Tarkanian attorney Alan Jones' sent UNLV legal counsel Brad Booke a letter claiming that the university had breached terms of a confidential agreement reached last summer that paved the way for; Tarkanian to coach this final sea-- ; t son before leaving UNLV . Jones said the letter, first report-ed by KVBC-Twas part of arj effort to keep Tarkanian's legal options open should he decide he wants to fight UNLV administra-tors and stay on as the basketball coach. "Jerry has not made up his mind to my knowledge," Jones said; "But his attorneys clearly feel the university has breached his resig-- I nation agreement." UNLV president Robert Max-- ; son, who Tarkanian supporters claim has been on a vendetta to ge rid of the coach, said the university expects Tarkanian to abide by the; ' resignation agreement. between Tarkanian and the Tarkanian announced his resign NCAA. nation last June, 10 days after pic-- ! Tarkanian said the vote, taken tures were published in a Las Ve-- ! by Las Vegas attorney Steve Stein, gas newspaper showing three; was not final and that a decision former UNLV players in a hot tub; would be made by Friday. Tarkanwith Perry. ian said even if the Rebels made the tournament, he would not coach. "I've already said I'd stay out if they did go," said Tarkanian, whose team is 23-- 2 and riding a winning 9 streak. point-shavi- ng Tar-kania- ! V, 1 ! ! 8-- 13-ye- ar (MM . 12th-rank- ed 20-ga- I 1 xpansion Capital Available TO PROVO CITY BASED SMALL BUSINESSES The Business Development Corporation of Provo administers a special Federal Loan Capital Fund that is available to you from $10,000 to $100,000. For more information call the Provo City Department of Economic Development Km 379-616- 0. |