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Show The Salt LakeTribune “ Section C SPORTS @ JUCO FOOTBALL/C.2 @ COLLEGE BASKETBALL/C3 PREP NOTEBOOK/C-4 @ NHL HOCKEY/C-5 ii SKELETON PREVIEW/C-6 B500NSZESs ERA Capitals SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1998 5 Li Penguins 3 Islanders 1 Hurricanes Avalanche 2 Blues 0 Oilers Lightning SED = Sabres 3 3 Flyers Canadiens 0 Devils Canucks 4 Red Wings Stars 1 Sharks ne WAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Be. Can High-Flying Cougs Ground the Wounded Falcons? Rodeo Spurs Las Vegas’ Interest, Saddling WAC Championship With Second Place I cameto Las Vegas early to measure and report on the fevered run-up to the WAC and / Jacksonian atmosphere so uniqueto college football, to feel the emotion of the schoolboy athletes and their fans, to exult with them herein their hostcity, all awash in the pageantry of a WACfoot- ball game, probably the last WAC game that will ever mean anything, and ... BYU-Air Force could be defensive battle GORDON MONSON BY MICHAEL C. LEWIS T LAKETRIBUNE LAS VEGAS — Championship game? What championship game? With so much else going on around tight as to defy the very laws of physics, a hundred-thousandof them, wandering from the Vegas Hilton to TreasureIsland to the In-N-Out Burger stand. Cowboys and cowgirls have invaded the place. Plum takenit over, The discharged remains of chewed Skoal are everywhere. here — from the National Finals Rodeo to the hiring of John Robinson as UNLV’s football coach to the Billboard Music Awards — local interest in today's Well, youget the point. WAC title Morepeople gathered here recognize the name Ty Murray than LaVell Ed- see? black cowboyhats andbelt bucklesthe size of trash-can lids and behindsof all dimensions and propor- If you haven't committed thelittle ditties on Tim McGraw’s latest CD to memory, you are out of sync here. If you lege football this weekend,it’s gone ga- tions, poured into Wrangler jeans so vates off a rank bull . . what's this? . what in tarnation do I haven't busted a kicking bronc, you do notbelong.If you've neverbit the pri- wards. Las Vegasisn’t enraptured with col- See MONSON, Page C-2 game between Brigham Young University and 17th-ranked Air Force at Sam Boyd Stadiumseemsto be dwindling, even with a near sellout and heightening intrigue Coach Fisher DeBerrysaid Fridaythat junior backup Cale Bondswill start at quarterback for Air Forcein placeof se- pletelyrecoveredfrom a sprainedankle And in spite of testimony from both teamsthat the Falcons(10-1) do notsuffer when Bonds plays, the news probably gives the Cougars(9-3) an advantageas theyaimfortheir 20th league champion ship. We just have to stay within our selves,” said BYU quarterback Kevin Feterik. “Don’t do anything stupid or crazy Yetit figures that the WAC, which for so long has had to scramblefor even the slightest respect and attention, is doingit all over again for its final game before splintering in two. Even the national nior Blane Morgan, who has not com- See BYU, Page C-2 U. Makes Big First Impression — Stays ‘Perfect’ in NCAA Play Tonga, Shakula give Utah a sweep Vs.Illinois State. Host Nebraskais up next LINCOLN, Neb. —The outcome of Friday night’s match really should comeasnosurprise. Afterall, the University of Utah never loses in the NCAA women’svolleyball tournament. ‘Thenagain,the Utes had neverplayedin the event, until meeting 11-timeparticipantIllinois State. Utah blitzed the Redbirds 15-11, 15-12, 15-5 at Nebraska Coliseum. TheUtes will meet Nebraska, a 15-1, 15-2, 15- 0 winner over MorganState, in tonight's second round. Kalani Tonga led Utah (21-9) with 15 kills and 10 digs and Sara Shakula had 10 kills. With 40 assists, Graciela Torres topped Denise Rathbun’s school career record, with 3,656. Kendra Hasselhorst paced ISU(22-10) with 14 kills. The Utes are 19-0 this season when winning the first gameof a match, and they held steady ‘Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune BYUdefenders Melissa Layton (12) and Helen Hjorth goup for the block on Friday against Coastal Carolina. Dominating BYU Rompsin Opener BY STEVE LUHM THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PROVO — Officially, BYU opened the NCAA volleyball tournament Friday night against Coastal Caroli- the tournament, and it did. The Cougars barely broke a sweat in defeating the young, undersized Chanticleers, 15-1, 15-7, 15-3. “Notto disrespect Coastal Caroli- na na,” said BYU’s Anna-Lena Smith, “but we kind of expected to win.”” begins tonight (7 p.m.) at Smith “Weknew coming in here we were a huge underdog,” said Chanticleer In reality, the seventh-ranked Cougars’ run at a national championship end’s WAC tournament final, Cougar Coach Elaine Michaelis enjoyed a she said. “We've been recoveringall week from that other one.” Michaelis praised Coastal Carolina’s effort, calling the Chanticleers “a fun group to have here. We en- the match to ISU’s .148 mark, its fourth lowest of the season. The winnerof tonight's Utah-Nebraska match advances to the NCAA’s Sweet 16. The No. 3ranked Cornhuskers area traditional power and own a 29-1 record, Coach Beth Launiere has made a breakthrough in her ninth season at Utah. “Tt was nice to have a breather,” joyed them lot, and it was a nice In the wake of BYU's five-game, See COUGARS,Page C-6 MURRAY — Boys basketball teams joints. Baker added 15 to Bingham’s total, and his second-half defense got the Miners rolling. He had foursteals in the third quarter alone as Murray 3-ranked Bingham should look at the tape of the Miners’ first half against Murray on Friday night. Coaches wanting a clinic on offensive basket- the ball better, we defended better and we changed defenses better. That's all.” The Miners didn’t look anything like a 5-A power in the first half, while gritty Murray hung close despite a big height disadvantage. The Spartans led through much of the first half as Bingham’s 6-8 junior cen- ter, Mike Higgins, got a pair of quick fouls and was next to Sluga most of ering parts of the third and fourth the half. a non-region game. At halftime, coach said they had back, though,” said Sluga. quarters and buried Murray 62-46 in more will to win than us,” said Bing- hamsenior Jake Schroeder, who led all scorers with 17 points. “We came out in the secondhalf fired up with morewill, moretogetherness.” ‘Theresult wasn't pretty. Murray turned the ball over on seven of its first nine possessions of the second half, while Bingham started finding the basket after a horrible 4 Girls: Triple-Double for Donaldson C-5 “Wedid three things better in the second half,” said Sluga. “We moved ball should studythe secondhalf. C-4 C4 C-4 points off the bench, but 6-9 center wanting any hope of beating the No. Tied at halftime with undefeated but untested Murray, Bingham played almost flawlessly in the second half after coach George Sluga questioned his team’s will. The Miners made nine straight shots during one stretch cov- HE Boys: Cottonwood Nips Hunter reen River Favoredin 4-A unners Aim for National Finals shootingfirst half. Junior guard Ja- son Baker's two-handed slamstarted an 18-2 run. “There was no game when he came Higgins had 13 points and eight rebounds and showeda nice shooting touch, burying a couple of 16-foot jumpers. Bingham got 18 offensive rebounds in the first half, but got just four points off of them. The Miners were6- for-20 in the paint, and were only in the game because Murray had only- half as manyshots. Nate Lever led Murray with 12 ‘The Utes opened thethird gamewith Stilson’s five straight service points. Utah closed the game with a 9-1 run, and posted a .273 hitting percentage for the game. The Uteshit .259 for Coach Tammi Lee.“... We knew the odds werenot in our favor.” BY JAY DREW THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE t 34-hourloss to Hawaii in last weekmatch that producedlittle drama, tal Carolina in the first round of Bingham’s Flawless Second Half Gets Miners a Win Over Murray points, includingservice aces by Tonga and Jen Snow, along witha triple block by McKelle Stilson, Snow and Brooke Barton that seemed to ignite the team. The Redbirds came back to within 13-12, before a kill by Barton and Tonga’s slam of an overhead pass endedthe game. BYU was supposed to bury little Mieldhouse against KansasState. Ce Sodid everyoneelse. Friday, even after the Redbirds cameback from a 6-0 deficit to earn an 11-11 tie. Shakula served thelast four points of the game. “Utah served us deep and aggressive,” said ISU Coach Julie Morgan, whowas Utah's coach from 1984-87 ISU held a 10-3lead in the second game, but the Utes stormed back with 10 consecutive Regardless of what happens tonight, however, Scott MeClurg/TheAssociated Press Utah’s Kalani Tonga reaches high for a kill attempt againstIllinois State’s Nikki McCleary onFriday in Lincoln, Neb. The Utes’ 21victories this season are exceed- ed only by the 25 they wonin 1993, which count. ed an appearancein the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Utahalso proved the WAC’s strength Friday, winning an NCAA matchafter having lost to UNLVin the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Goring Is Finally Losing Patience As Grizz Drop Their 4th Straight Jared Sanford was held to seven BY BRETT PRETTYMAN ‘Thursday, Goring acquired Don Biggs THE SALT LAKETRIBUNE cheer, hopingthe veteran center would help from the Cincinnati Cyclones for Fred Knips- WEST VALLEY CITY — Sixteen losses in the team break a scoring slump during& Sev- struggledto get evencloseto the baset.t. row as the Michigan K-Wingsbeatthe Grizz- en-game homestand Perhaps he was expecting too much as the Grizzlies were facing Marty Turco, the best three-point play after Baker's dunk, but Bingham’s Russ Block answered lies 3-2 in a sudden-death shootout Friday. Goring’s postgame analysis required the elimination of the repeated use of a certain Sanford righted Murray with a with his own three-pointer. Bingham does not have player on its roster shorter than 6-1. Higgins asserted himself at the start of the third quarter, making back-to-back hoops. “We know we have a pretty good team,” said Schroeder. “But we have alongwayto go. The first half showed us that.” And the second half showed just how good Bingham can become. 4) weveieae Marray 2) 8 er 1, Schroeder 1, Ha3, Wik2, Naren! 2 Thoeron ‘Bimal 2, Coapbel HagaBe 3 To2913 iurray — Larsen 5, Viardingerbroek 3, Chappell 8, Kicby 4, Thomas 1 Ma Le ngSanford 7, Totals 13 1424 $6, ‘Three-Point Goals — Bingham 3 (Schroeder); Murray 2 (Thomas, Briggs, 23 gamesfinally got to Utah Grizzlies Coach Butch Goring. Utahlost its fourth game in a word, for the readers’sake. “It isn’t good enough,” Goring said of the one point his team earned for forcing the shootout. ‘We just can’t get it done. We are running out of reasons. We haveto have two points. We don’t understand the urgency. We have to get back in the hunt or there will be some summervacations starting in January.” Utah (7-12-4) is 18 points behind Western Conference-leading Long Beach. More frighteningis the fact that last-place Las Ve- gas is only two points behind the Grizzlies — and the Thunder have played two fewer games. Goring hinted that personnel changes could be coming. ‘I made one change, and if it wasn’t enough I will make some more,” he said. ‘Wehaveto find a way to win when we are at home.” goalie in the International Hockey League. “We had somechances,” said Biggs after his Grizzlies debut. “We werejusta little off. It will take sometime, but we should be able to score in buncheseventually.” Biggs hopes to elevate the play of those around him rather than being suckedinto the black hole of the Grizzlies’ offense. Utah’s game of musicalgoalies continued Friday as a fifth goalie took a turn. Steve Vezina stopped 28 K-Wings shots, but gave up five goals in the shootout — the one-onone, game-deciding display — as the Grizzlies lost their second straight shootout Backing him up was Jeff Trigg. Vezina came from San Diego of the West=Goast HockeyLeague and Trigg from Idahowokithe sameleague. Gone are Frederik Beaubien and Martin See GRIZZ,P: secs cS 1 1 |
