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Show t Friday, March Sun Chronicle 12, 1976 Q SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS Page 9 13y0s fall to lucky Weiinriiotrs ora IhesurffstopDinig) by Keith Duncan How come it has to happen to such a nice guy like Coach Ted Smith time after time. The Roy High head mentor suffered through more last minute defeats this season, than he would have ever dreamed even in a bad dream. fliiini age It happened at Utah State University last Tuesday night in a playoff to see who would represent Region One in the state tournament against lucky Weber High. One would not think the Warriors were lucky though, after losing a 5 point lead in 23 seconds and losing to Skyview last week, then letting go a 16 point lead and almost losing to Roy High last Tuesday. Roy, down 16 points in the third quarter, came roaring back when the Warriors threw away a ton of passes and committed errors in dozens. It seemed as though the Weber team was handing the Royals a chance for victory. If Roy would have captialized on just a few more miscues by the Warriors, they could have very well been riding a lead in the final quarter. The Royals were down by seven at the half and just about made a replica of their loss lo the Warriors earlier in the season at Weber. With two minutes in the game, the teams traded baskets before the score was tied. Weber gained possession of the ball with less than a minute remaining. Rulon Jones, the tall and talented center of the Weber squad put a shot up that derailed off the rim, but a second effort by Jones had the ball falling through the nr s and all the Roy fans falling g in their seats with discontent. But Conrad Hafen put Roy back on top with a that touched nothing but net. A Weber player sank one end of a one and one situation to knot the score. As far as the Royals were concerned, there were 23 seconds left to get the ball in the hoop and earn a ticket to the tournament Coach Smith planned to use John Garner on a and go to the glass against Kenny of Weber, but the four-fojumper fell short with Rulon Jones pulling down the rebound and someone on his back. That was curtains for the Royals. On Thursday, the Royals were scheduled to meet the Box Elder Bees at Weber State to decide the third place entry to the state tournament. So far this season, the Royals have defeated the Bees twice, once at home and once again on the road. The Bees found out just how tough it was to defeat the Skyview Bobcats three times in one season and Weber could very well find the same out with the Box Elder Bees. Weber and Sky View are in ... Box Elder and Roy are still floating around in the twilight zone. 1 Weber High edged Roy, and Sky View at the Utah State slipped past Box University Spectrum here Tuesday night, in a to determine pair of old fashioned State Tournament. three berths in next weeks The four Region One teams all tied at the end of the regulation season with 5 records to force a playoff. By virtue of their victories here Tuesday, Weber and Sky View both claimed berths in the classic. The other remaining spot will be determined at 8:15 p.m. Thursday in Weber States Wildcat Gymnasium when Box Elder and Roy lock horns to decide the third and final berth. Weber and Sky View will collide at 6:30 p.m. to decide seedings classic. in the ten-poi- Sports pages change There was a time when reading the sports pages of Americas daily journals was almost as relaxing as a warm bath. Nothing but a lot of reassurance pap that, except for the descripton of some narrow loss by the home team, was safe for infants and heart patients alike. I can remember one politician, a president I believe, but Im not sure which, insisted the sporting section was the one part of the newspaper worth reading. Only there could you find description of human achievement, not failure, of positive views, not negative. As anyone with vision correctable to 0 knows all too well, the situation has changed. The sports pages are as full of human failure as the rest of the newspaper - maybe even more so. There is no escape from the chaos and the pressures of occupation, no vicarious glory to sustain you through another dreary evening. Maybe, though, the high school sports are a difference at this point. Of course, we hear about the after-gam- e fights and the talk of where is all the money going to come from for boys and girls sports. But overall, the prep scene is a valid set-u- p and just about anyone will agree with you, at least in the intermountain area. But sometimes instead, the headlines and stories are as depressing as those on the front page: High schools drop sports, college accused of recruiting scandal, ballplayers swap wives, pitcher calls fans jerks, basketball star wants $2 billion, football league goes broke, outfielder enters arbitration, blacks claim athletic department prejudiced, pro footballers implicated in drug ring, super stadium cost jumps millions, and another strike by the baseballers. You might conclude there is more heartening news in the financial section. If you are shrewd enough to stay away from reports about the stock market. And the possibility exists that once in a while you can study the front page without learning about political malfeasance, murder, or the breakdown of the public transportation system. In my opinion though, there are some great encouraging items on the sports pages these days, maybe more than ever. You might have to search occassionally, to run down-and-opatterns through the salary disputes and claims of racism, but achievements still are acknowledged, the positive accentuated. Heroes and heroines keep entering the stadiums and the courses and their names keep entering the record books Every day some high school running would break a record set by Red Grange or Jim Brown or Glenn Davis. Prep basketball players now are better than the pros of 20 years ago. And the games of golf and tennis and bowling seem to be dominated by people who barely have reached their majority. Or, in the case of Chris Evert, by people who pure-shootin- one-on-o- 63-6- 50-4- 9, barn-burne- 4-- 7-- 4-- A Weber-Ro- 46-3- 46-4- havent. Dont decry Americas athletic future until you drop by some tennis courts, or a driving range, or a gym, or a football field. Tomorrows champions are running and jumping and swinging with a desire and intensity that belies their image of laziness and belligerency. Todays young work as hard at being successful as those of any generation, probably harder. And the performances, as well as the personalities, still are appearing in the sports pages, creating the stories of achievement that some people claim dont exist anymore. They exist all right. Or more properly, in todays world they with what the viewers would call unpleasant news. Maybe its better that way. Alongside the failures, the stories of human frailty, the achievements are that much 53-5- 60-5- 61-a- ll st more significant. Quotes to puddle your pilnd Jerry Pimm, Utah basketball coach, on all the timeouts during a game with Brigham Young: Im not smart enough to talk to my players that many times. After the fourth time-ou- t in the first half, I told em to stay out there. I didnt have anything to say. Derek Sanderson, following the New York Rangers third straight loss to the Philadelphia Flyers: Theyre the Stanley Cup champions, you know. They arent some pickup team that rented the ice for an hour. Pro golf ace Johnny Miller: Serenity is knowing that your worst shot is still going to be pretty good. Pittsburg Steelers Owner Art Rosney, also a race track owner, on how he happened to select Chuck Noll as head coach: His pedigree was super. He was by Paul Brown out of Sid Gillman, by Don Shula. Sportwriter Jennifer Quale, on her reaction to being the first of her sex admitted to the New Orleans Jazz dressing room: I was petrified. Ive seen naked men before, but never ones I didnt know. Johnney Dee, former basketball coach at Notre Dame and Alabama and now a Denver city auditor: After 25 years of coaching high school, college and pro ball, I got too old for it. At age 48, 1 had lost my tolerance for younger people. Maybe I could have continued if I had coached in a prison or an orphanage. A prison doesnt have organized alumni and an orphanage doesnt have meddling parents." Denver Broncos runningback Floyd Little: The players who worry about pensions bug me. Im going to be 33 years old when I retire from this game and Ive got 32 years of work ahead of me. 165-lCalvin Murphy, after Houston Rockets guard, 235 lb. taking a charge from the Philadelphia 76ers George McGinnis: The tjody is still numb, but the lips are alive. 5-- 6-- Girl's need double round Region One and Two girls sports need to imply the double round of basketball and volleyball play. In other words, all schools must play each other at least on two different I feel the true occasions over the season. Without this set-uregion champion is not found. It may have very well meant the state championship in baksetball for Clearfield or a higher ranking in the region for the Roy team. There is no reason they should not have this schedule made up, for all the Salt Lake and Utah County schools have. They have proven in the south that it works more to an advantage. If the program wants to be strenghened, and girls sports are here to stay, then small things such as this had better be taken care of. The past woens basketball tournament was a success. Dean Oborn, the athletic director at Roy High claimed the girls made well over $500 in the state tournament this season. All the Host high schools donated their facilties to the tournament and they included Roy, Bountiful, East and Highland. y Weber High looked like it had the game all locked 0 up as it was sailing along with a commanding lead with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter. Then suddenly, the momentum switched completely to the other side as Roy went into a full court press that completely threw the Warriors off balance. Roy reeled off 12 straight points to narrow the gap to then the two teams traded baskets to make it Weber 48, Roy 44, going into the final hectic eight minutes of the game. Roy finally caught the Warriors and passed them when Dan Smith hit a pair of free throws to make it 2 with 3:21 showing on the clock. Weber came fighting back and took a three-poibulge at 7 with just 1:20 remaining. But the Royals again came battling back with a basket by John Garner, and following a free throw by Webers Martin Denney, Garners steal and a bucket by Conrad Hafen tied the game at with just 23 seconds remaining. Webers Rulon Jones was fouled hauling down a missed Roy shot with only five seconds remaining and the big Warrior center iced the victory by h hitting both shots at the line. Roy had a desperation shot fall harmlessly off the rim as its gallant rally fell two points short. Jones finished the night with 15 points and was a dominating force on the backboards. Denney also had 15 points, whiie Frank Shaw tanked 11 and Dee Schumers 10. Smith led the Royals with 14 points, while Rick Stonehocker had 11 and Doug Porter 10. GREG NICHOLS puts up shot against Logan in the Royals final season game. Roy was easily 4 in a second half pull away. last-ditc- 78-6- Region One basketball Victory over Logan means playoff by Keith Duncan Winning at Logan High last week was an essential step for the Roy Royals to get to the spot they are perching at now. The Royals not only beat Logan at score. Logan, but won very handily by a It was the first time in the history of Roy High basketball, that a Roy basketball squad had visited the dreaded domains of Logans creepy gymnasium and come out a victor. It was also the first occasion in which the Royals had ever swept victories over Logan in the same season, being that way because it was only the third time in the history of basketball at Roy that a team had defeated Logan. So it was a first in many things, but most important, the victory kept Roys hopes alive for a hopeful tournament berth. Despite the loss that the team suffered against Weber last Tuesday in the Spectrum at Utah State, Roys victory over the Grizzlies supplied extra momentum in what could be the difference in their contest with the Box Elder Bees on Thursday at Weber State College. Logan held Roy down in the first half of the prep action, with both teams tied with scores at thet end of the opening period. The Royals jumped out to a slim halftime advantage before putting on some dazzling performances in the second half. Jim McMahon, Doug Porter, John Garner, and Dan Smith all were heroes in the second half, scoring almost at will sometimes. One Royal starter, Greg Nichols, was hampered with the flu. He was held scoreless in the game, a rarity with Nichols Porter hit several shots in the third period to help pull the Royals out in front of the stubborn Logan team. Doug was the games top scorer with 16 points, having two particular good games this season against the Grizzlies. Conch Ted Smith was an elated coach deep down inside, even though he didnt show it on the outside. Roys successful head cage mentor was bouyant, but cautious as the team practiced for the upcoming Weber and Box Elder games. Coach Smith not only showed happy reactions after the win over Logan, but it was the entire school that was radiant over the . 50-4- 7 50-4- 78-5- 4 back-to-bac- k head-to-hea- h Prep top ten 14-1- 4 now-a-day- long-rang- victc-v- Elder SkyView-Bo- x The Sky View-Bo- x Elder battle was one of those classic struggles that you knew was going to go down to the wire ... and it did. Sky Views Bruce Godderidge hit a pair of free throws with 38 seconds pressure-packe- d remaining in the game to give the Bobcats a to put the lead. Box Elders Wade Hall hit a then Godderidge was Bees down by one at fouled again with only 11 seconds remaining. This time the little guard missed the front end of a situation and the Bees stopped the clock with three seconds remaining to set up a last shot. Box Elders Alan Asay managed to push up a at the buzzer, but the ball fell desperation harmlessly off the rim to give Sky View the win. d The two teams struggled throughout the entire game, with neither club able to gain much of an advantage. Box Elders super-smootguard Scott Corry led all scorers with 22 points. Todd Johnson led the Bobcats with 16 points. After two straight league defeats for Highland High, the mighty Rams have been knocked from the State Top 10 poll. Provo High, with the highest scoring gaurdone in the state, assumes the No. 1 position. The Bulldogs have won the state championship for the past two of three years. Last year Provo finished fourth in the final rankings. n The Rams, suffering from blues, have been edged by both South and Cottonwood in what Coach Larry Maxwell deserbied, "We were just plainly beaten. South and Cottonwood will enter the state tournament as the fourth and fifth place teams from Region Three, most likely. t. Taking over third place on the poll is the West High, the defending state champions. The Panthers were big winners last week and usually are when it comes around being the state tournament time. A young Skyling team is taking over the fourth post with Layton, Clearfield, Orem, Hillcrest, South, and Cottonwood rounding out the remainder of the ten teams in the state of Utah. late-seaso- e ever-presen- JIMMY McMAHON drives for two points. |