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Show Tpin nnr, ruMD pat. . A .akers to Open 4--A Meet griic mlt fali fEtfbtnt By Scott L. Malan Tribune Sports Writer The luck of the draw and the flip of a coin have sent two of the top teams in the state into an opening-roun- d meeting in the Class 4 A state basketball tournament Monday. Bonneville and Highland, two teams which spent most of the season floating near the top of the state rankings, tip off tournament at 2:30 p.m. the Monday. Although both teams were expected to vie for the state championship, after Monday one will be forced to lower its sights to the consolation championship. In Mondays other opening-roun- d games, Brighton meets Cottonwood at 4:10 p.m.; Woods Cross has a rematch with Clearfield at 6:30 p.m.; and Skyline plays Bingham at 8:10 p.m. First round action continues Tuesday s port$ 4-- A Monday Morning, March 1, 1982 Section C Page One .. with Olympus facing Alta at 2 30 p.m. ; Roy meeting Davis at 4:10 p.m.; Hillcrest challenging Granger at 6:30 p.in., and Bountiful colliding with Layton at 8:10 p.m. But perhaps. the best game of all is the very first. The Lakers bring a Ree winning streak, an gion One record and an overall mark of 3 into their meeting with Highland. The Rams are 15-- overall and finished the tough Region Four schedule with a 4 showing. "I think its an advantage to open the tournament and play on Monday. If I had my choice I would certainly choose to play Monday, although 1 wouldnt choose to play Highland," Bonneville Coach Gary Alverson said. There are a lot of good teams in the tournament this year, Highland Coach Larry Maxwell said, so somewhere 8-- 2 four-gam- 17-- 5 6-- along the line someone was going to run into another top team. The Lakers have one of the tallest overall teams in the tournament, but that shouldn't bother the Rams, who have played with teams such as Woods Cross and Viewmont in Region Four. The real test will be the Lakers ability to handle the vaunted Highland press. "We dont think their press will cause us problems because all the other teams in our region pressed us at one time or another, Alverson said. "But it wasn't the Highland press. They have a great tradition of using that press, so well just have to wait and see. "Its always tougher for a team to press the whole time on a larger court. But the open spaces of the University of Utahs Special Events Center wont detour the Rams from their game plan "Sure, were going to have to go out and run and press against them. Its what weve been doing all year. It (.the SEC court) doesn't really make any difference, Maxwell said. The Lakers, who feature Robb Hunt and Derek George, Bryan Moore, have rebounded e from their losing streak in the middle of the season (to Layton and Roy) to wan four straight by an average of 21 points. "Weve been playing our best basketball since Roy beat us, and I dont think we played that poorly against Roy (a loss). I think we are peaking at the right time, Alverson said. For the Rams, three of their last six losses. games have ended in But the Rams finished the season with a 71-drilling of Viewmont. You need momentum going into the toumment and that was a good game 9 for us. They were amiss the front, so that was the kind of game we needed, Maxwell said. two-gam- 64-5- 9 one-poi- 6-- 8, Sports Mirror by nl John i Tribune Sports Editor If Right Totals $263 Million, That Makes a Difference Its a known fact that All that glitters is not gold, but the more I listen to some of the local experts on the wireless and boob tube talk shows, the more Im convinced that All who talk are not informed. A caller on one of the talk shows the other evening wondered why the NCAA could forbid the h football game and televising of the allow the television of any basketball game which had been sold out. This was a sensible question and could have been answered quite easily had the sports expert been as informed as he appears authoritative. But because he did not have any facts, this expert launched into a tirade about the NCAA and its dictatorial powers, etc., etc. The facts are quite simple. The members of the NCAA voted to give the NCAA powers to negotiate and control television of college football. There is no national TV policy for basketball except for the NCAA tournament games. This expert, had he been informed, or even read the national sports publications or the newspapers, could have answered that the new NCAA-Tpackage for college football will spread $263.5 million among the NCAA members, mostly V half-doze- Its Bush Anywhere A reader from Provo sent a newspaper clipping of a photo showing Utah fans attempting to harass announcers Paul James and Paul Ruffner during or after the Utah-BYgame a week or so ago, In the interest of fair with the notation, journalism, I trust you will give this incident the same publicity you gave a much less obscene football game. occurrence at the last I dont seem to get my point across I have a great distaste for bad sportsmanship, obscenity and boorishness, no matter which side is guilty. But I believe I am enough to see these violations of common decency wherever they may happen. As I wrote some time ago, there is a great tendency in Utah, along with other areas, for people to show great concern in plucking the mote from the eye of a neighbor while ignoring the beam in their eye. I can sympathize with the radio and TV broadcasters under fire from a segment of the fans. I know I didnt appreciate being razzed in the George Albert Smith fieldhouse, the Einar Nielsen fieldhouse or the old Womens Gym or the Springville gym years ago especially on a deadline. A reporter, whether newspaper, radio or TV, is trying to do his best job, which is not helped by obscenities hurled by a few fans., Such school no no show team spirit loyalty, vulgarities and do nothing to improve the friendly rivalry existing among the schools. It is mere boorishness. U BYU-Uta- h broad-minde- d no-cla- ss Answer to Dees Trivia In Sundays Mirror, Dee Anne Menzies of the trivia question; In 1963, the Most Valuable Players in both major leagues and both football leagues each wore the same number on his uniform. Who were the players and what WAC office posed a was the number? In case you arent a trivia buff, the answer is Jim Brown in the NFL, Cookie Gilchrist in the AFL, Elston Howard in the American League and Sandy Koufax in the National League and the uniform number was 32. Observation Ward Its useless to tell your kid her hair looks like a mop because then you'll have to explain what a mop is. The top two finishers from Region One, Roy and Bonneville, were also the leading scorers during the regular season. The Royals finished on top with a 72.7 average, while the Lakers were right behind with a 71.5 average. Highland was third with a 69-- 7 av. erage. . Skyline had the stingiest defense during the regular season. The Eagles I- Basketball -A Here are Mondays opening round games in the 1982 Utah State basketball tournament at University of Utah's Special Events Center: 4--A vs. Bonneville 2:30 p.m. Highland 4:10 p.m. Brighton vs. 6:30 p.m. Woods Cross vs. 8:10 p.m. Skyline vs. Bingham Tuesdays Schedule 2:30 p.m. 4:10 p.m. Olympus vs. Alta Roy vs. Davis Hillcrest vs. Granger Bountiful vs. Layton 6:30 p.m. 8:10 p.m. surrendered points per game to Brighton, which gave up 51.9 per game. Hillcrest was third with a 52.2 average. . 44.4 easily outdistance . Five of the 16 teams hit the tournament trail with better road records than home records during the regular season. Bingham had the most dramatic difference, going 1 on the road and 4 at home. The others are Granger (4--1 road, home), Skyline 0 road, 1 and Hillcrest home), Alta (51 and (5-. . and ). 2-- 5-- 2-- 3 4-- (5-- 4--2) Tournament Tidbits Dont be surprised if Skyline winds up with 54 points Monday night. The Eagles bring a 56.3 scoring average into their game with Bingham, which gave up the magic number five times in its 12 regular season games (the Miners won three of the five). . . Roy, last years runnerup to champion East, brings in the longest winning streak of any of the 16 tournament teams with nine. Skyline has won five games in a row, while Bonneville, Woods Cross, Olympus and e Hillcrest are all riding winning streaks . . . 4--A V in Division I. There is a college TV basketball package in operation now, but is is not exclusive and allows teams to TV games. The big money in basketball is from the NCAA tournament, which will spread $48 million in TV dollars over the next three years, but only to the 48 competing teams. The football TV package was approved by the convention membership in January, at which time the convention reaffirmed the NCAAs right to control and legislate television at all levels. No one is forcing the NCAA-Tpackage on any school. The membership is voluntary. The WAC schools could withdraw from the NCAA and form their own TV network, except that one regional television game in the NCAA package provides some $400,000 to be divided among the two participating schools and their conferences. That $400,000 a game, and the WAC normally gets at least one a year, would be more than local n or more television could offer in a And school is going to toss think you any games. this away on the supposition a local TV station might wish to air a game if two local teams happened to be having good seasons? 6-- Skyline has been cruising along at an even keel all season with few highs or lows. But for the Miners, the season has had devastating lows and tremendous highs. If Coach George Sluga can get his Miners to forget about their last two two losses by a combined four games the Eagles could have trouble points keeping up with them. BYU-Uta- . nt The Rams look to senior standouts Robert Maxwell and Jon Judkins for their leadership ar.d the majority of their point production. Brighton and Skyline enter their Monday contests as region champions finishers. But both facing fourth-plac- e could have more difficult times than might be expected. The Bengals will be attempting to avenge a preseason loss to the Colts by moving the ball quickly up and down the floor, led by Eric Jacobs. Meanwhile, the Colts should be trying to control the tempo, forcing the Bengals away from their running game. Mooney WN Layton comes to the tournament with little or no momentum. The Lancers have lost their last four games by a Cottonwood and Davis total of 99 poii are feeling the effects of losing three of their last four games. . . Associated Press Laserphoto The Mike and Artis comedy special? Mike Mitchell of San Antonio becomes entangled with Chicagos Artis Gilmore and both get 4 win. good laugh during Bulls 118-10- NBA: Lakers Tribune Wire Services by points in the first half and were The lowly Cleveland Cavaliers were eight points behind midway through the on the verge of gaining perhaps their fourth quarter until Johnson sparked a three-poiplay most impressive victory of the NBA Phoenix comeback. A 4:30 Johnson with gave by remaining season Sunday when the sky fell in, the Suns their first lead of the second compliments of Kareem Abdul-Jabba- r. half, Just when it appeared the Cavaliers 7 Phoenix trailed with eight were ready to upset the Los Angeles in minutes left the first half when Lakers in the Forum, Jabbar comWalter Davis, who finished with 20 pleted a performance with a came off the bench to hit 11 sky hook from the right baseline points, straight points and bring the Suns to with three seconds left to elevate the within at halftime. Davis finished 1 Lakers to a triumph. with 20 points, and Truck Robinson The victory was the seventh in a row added 19 and a game-hig- h 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who overcame a for Phoenix. The Supersonics were led deficit late in the second by Jack Sikmas game-hig- h 33 points. quarter to earn the win. Phil Smith added 17. A jump shot by James EdBullets 113, Knicks 109 (OT), at wards with 11 seconds to go had given Landover Kevin Grevey scored the the Cavaliers a 0 advantage. games last seven points in overtime, The Lakers jumped in front 15-giving Washington its win over New making their first seven field gual attempts, but they were outscored 18-- 2 over the next 4:23. That spurt gave the 7 Cavaliers a advantage. It was 5 after the first quarter and 4 with just over four minutes left in the first half. But Los Angeles narrowed the gap to 5 at halftime and outscored the 9 in the third period to Cavaliers take an 6 advantage into the fourth quarter. The contest was close throughout the final 12 minutes. Abdul-Jabb32 points s game-hig- h gives him 104 points in his last three games. Jamaal Wilkes added 26 points for the Lakers. Edwards finished with 25 points to lead the Cavaliers, while Cliff Robinson added 22. The Lakers played without Earvin Magic Johnson, who left the team Saturday due to the death of his grandmother. Los Angeles also was without reserve forward Bob McAdoo, who is sidelined indefinitely because of a pulled calf muscle. Celtics 106, Bucks 102, at Boston Larry Bird shook off a blow to the head that kept him out of the third quarter and scored 11 fourth-quartpoints to lift Boston to its third straight victory, while Milwaukee dropped only its second game in its last 15. Warriors 105, Hawks 77, at Atlanta Bernard King scored 28 points and World Free added 23, leading Golden State to a rout of Atlanta. Atlantas two leading scorers, John Drew and Dan Roundfield, were held to two points apiece. Pacers 112, Pistons 101, at Indianapolis Johnny Davis scored 25 points, including 14 in the final period to pace Indiana to its fourth straight victory. Billy Knight added 19 points, 17 in just nine minutes of play in the first half for the Pacers. . X S? &. K Indiana took the lead for good at 4 on a jumper by Knight with 8:34 left in the second quarter. The advantage was i built to 6 later in the period, but the Prcpr.-rTtr' mm. & V halftime diffeience was cut to f Kelly Tripucka had 17 points for Detroit. Kenny Carr, Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas had 16 points each for the Pistons. 93-9- 44-2- 15-fo-ot 56-5- 0 102-10- 1 with 3:12 Yrok. New York led remaining in the extra period, but Spencer Haywood scored four straight Washington points, cutting the gap to After the Knicks built the lead Grevey took over. up to After sinking two free throws with 47 seconds left, Grevey gave Washington the lead for good with a breakaway layup with 16 seconds remaining. After a New York miss with eight seconds to play, play, Grevey made a three-poin- t accounting for the final score. Nets 110, Clippers 95, at East Rutherford Ray Williams scored 11 of his 23 points in the first quarter and Mike Gminski added seven of his 14 in the 106-10- 107-10- 5. 109-10- 26-1- ar er "I I l. i , j 57-4- 59-5- Associated Lakers' ul i Prs Laserphoto Jabbar is busy hooking Cleveland with a in NBA victory Sunday. sky-hoo- k (15.7). 3-- A Girls Tribune Special DefendOGDEN ing girls basketball champion Box Elder heads a 3-- m field in the 1982 championship beginning Monday afternoon in the Weber Dee Events Center. Box Elder will have to wait until Tuesday before hitting the hardwoods to defend its crown. For complete opening seeround page schedule, C-- 22-3- Tribune Sports Writer 35-1- 80-7- Kareem-Abd- Roy led the 16 teams with the largest average margin of victory. In the Royals nine regular season triumphs, they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.1 points. The Royals were followed by Alta (19.2), Bonneville (19.0), Cottonwood (18.2) and Brighton second period, enabling New Jersey to reach the .500 mark with its triumph over San Diego. Bulls 118, San Antonio 104, at Chicago Ricky Sobers came off the bench to 28 points in score 18 of his game-hig- h the fourth quarter to lead Chicago to victory over the Midwest Divisionleading San Antonio Spurs. Sobers, who eclipsed his season high by six points, was joined by former Spur Larry Kenon, who scored 22 points to deal the visitors their 20th loss against 36 victories. The Bulls won their third straight for acting coach Rod Thom, while improving their record to By Roger Graves 57-4- Suns 103, Sonics 98, at Seattle Dennis Johnson scored 28 points, including 12 in the final period, to lead Phoenix past Seattle. The Suns trailed 2-- 3 8th-Rat- ed 53-3- ' 4, Weber Foils Forecast, Idaho Next 101-10- 46-4- Layton is the worst road team, losing all five Region One games away from home. Davis had the second worst while regular season road record at Highland, Clearfield and Cottonwood were all away from home. . . Jabbar Silences Cavs 17 34-2- four-gam- 1 When members of the media covering the Big Sky Conference convened in Salt Lake City late last August to trade stories with the conference coaches basketball season, some and analyze the 1981-8- 2 intriguing predictions were made. Now, six months later, it is even more intriguing to compare Augusts forecasts with Februarys final Big Sky standings. Back in August, the media and coaches agreed on at least one item in separate polls predicting how the 2 season would transpire. Both predicted the University of Idaho would win the conference and Montana championship, with Nevada-Ren- o fighting for second and third place. Their clairvoyance was exceptional. Idaho cruised through its Big Sky schedule with a 13-- 1 record, while Montana defeated Nevada-Renlast Saturday in Missoula to secure second place with a 10-- mark. The Wolf Pack placed third in the final league standings at But media men and coaches alike were guilty of one glaring blunder. Both factions picked Weber State to finish seventh in the eight-teaconference, one notch ahead of Northern Arizona. But. surprise, the Wildcats fooled everyone by finishing with a 8 record, tying for fourth place, and gaining an n invitation to the Big Sky tournament Friday and Saturday. Honestly, I would be disappointed if we did finish maintained Weber State Coach Neil seventh, McCarthy throughout the 1982 season. But I can see why we were picked seventh. We have three starters coming back, but not much after that. Were going to be forced to use several transfers who arent proven players in this league. Thats why we were picked seventh. Now, those transfers most notably center Tom Heywood, forward Doug Eilertson and guard Dave Weber are proven players. And Weber State, which has only one senior on its roster, is tournament bound. However, everyone wasnt surprised when the Wildcats won three of their final four games and qualified for the fourth and final tournament berth. Please meet Don Monson, coach of the University of Idaho Vandals, who happen to be ranked eighth in the UPI poll and ninth in the AP ratings. Hes the man behind the team which has won the Big Sky championship twice in succession, and hes the guy who will guide the Vandals against Weber State Friday at 8:10 p.m. (MST) in the first round of the 81-8- o 4 9-- 5. 6-- post-seaso- post-seaso- n conference tournament in Moscow, Idaho (Idahos home). Frankly, I never thought Weber State would finish worse than fourth or fifth in this league, said I even thought they might surprise some Monson. people and finish second or third. Weber State has a great tradition and solid program. Tradition means a lot in this conference. Heck, we had never beaten them at their place until this year. That tells you they have something going there. Monson, who is rumored to be heading for the University of Arizona following Idahos participation in the NCAA tournament (for which the Vandals are virtually assured of qualifying even if they fail to rule the Big Sky tournament), doesnt cherish the thought of taking on Weber State or anyone else to again prove Idahos super, ority in the conference. Weve proved once were the best team in the conference, and now we have to prove it again, n moaned Monson. "Im in favor of a tournament unless we win the regular-seaso- n championship. Then, Id just as soon they give the NCAA berth to the team that proves itself over an entire season. The rich Weber State tradition of which Idahos Monson speaks includes exceptional success in the tournament. The Wildcats have n Big Sky now qualified for the tournament six of the seven years it has been staged to determine the confern ences NCAA entry. Weber has won the tournament on three occasions and finished second twice. Last season when several players quit the team prior to the conference season marked the first year the Wildcats have failed to qualify for the four-teatournament. Now, Weber State has gone from an 9 record to a 2 mark, nearly doubling its victory output in a single season. n tournaIdaho will enter the Big Sky ment with a glossy 24-- 2 overall record, a winning streak in the winning streak, and a 2 Kibbie Dome. Thats what Weber State overall) will be up against plus a team that is ranked in the top 10 of every national college basketball poll in America. (18-7- ) will Montana (17-- overall) and Nevada-Ren- o n in the finale regular-seasoof a rematch their stage second first round game of the tournament Friday at 10:10 p.m. (MST). Friday's semifinal winners will meet Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (MST) in the final. And if the prediction of the Big Sky media and coaches last August proves correct, it will be Idaho facing Nevada-Renfor the tournament championship. But coaches and media men have been wrong before. post-seaso- post-seaso- post-seaso- 15-1- post-seaso- (15-1- 9 o t I |
