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Show February 27, 1987 DIXIE SUN Page 7 Lady Rebels get set for crucial region contests this weekend With a possible Region 18 playoff spot on the line, the Dixie Lady Rebels find themselves in a must win situation this weekend. The Lady Rebels, after splitting their games a week ago, find themsleves deadlocked in fourth place with Ricks College with an 6 conference record. Dixie will play host to Colorado Northwest Community College tonight at 5:15 in the Dixie Center arena, and then will battle the College of Eastern Utah Saturday night. Two victories would guarantee the ladies of a fourth place finish, while one loss would all but eliminate them from the picture. This weekend is critical, said coach Sherry Titus with no hesitation. Were going to have to be mentally post-seaso- n tough. The girls know it, they feel it. Last weekend was an ride for the Lady Rebels, as they dropped a crucial game to the College of and then turnSouthern Idaho 65-5ed around and stomped on Treasure Valley C.C. 74-5- Against the Lady Golden Eagles, Dixie began the game shooting the ball terribly, and never recovered offensively. The Lady Rebs shot a horrid 24 of 73 from the field, and only made 7 of 16 from the free throw line, two statistics that befuddled Titps. We didnt play very well, Titus admitted. When we get off to a poor shooting start, we just cant get going. It was dissapointing, and its pushed our backs to the wall. We never shoot that poorly. Normally Dixie shoots better than fifty percent from the field, and were leading the conference in free throw percentage before the CS1 game. In addition, the Lady Rebs also turned the ball over 33 times. The Lady Rebels were able to turn things around against the Lady Chukars, and buried T.V. behind 36 JoAnne McDonalds season-higpoints. The game against CNCC tonight will definitely be the biggest game of the season for Dixie, as they cannot h Dixie opens baseball season against BYUs junior varsity Brad Fullmer SUN The Dixie College baseball team kicks off the 1987 as they host the B.Y.U. JV team in a four-gam- e series that starts today at 2:00 p.m. Following todays double-heade- r, will battle the Cougars Saturday in another twinbill :00 a.m. starting at The Rebels will be trying to improve 8 overall record, on last seasons and 9 league mark. Last sear Dixie had a tough time with their pitching staff, an area head coach Gordon Jolley thinks is the key to a successful season. We definitely had to improve our pitching from last year, and I think weve improved that quite a bit, Jolley said. Last season Dixie basically had two effective pitchers, while this season the Rebels have a total of six, including the Rebels last years ace Mike Johnson. Johnson, who will start the first game against B.Y.U. this afternoon, is joined by the likes of Kurt Jenson, Brent Cude, and Cory Daw. In addition, Jolley will be able to turn to Tim Kenny and Mark Richison for help on the mound. record for Jenson, who had a Dixie in 1983 before going on an LDS mission, and Cude, a graduate from 1 Weber High in Ogden, are expected to be in the starting rotation with Johnson. Cude is considered the hardest thrower of the six, while Johnson and Jenson are more finesse type pitchers. Another plus for the Rebels is the return of four starters from last year. Jeff Lund, possibly the top catcher in the region, will be relied on heavily for both his hitting and behind-the-plat- e duties. Other returners include Mar- - tie Haynie at shortstop, Kyle Delange in leftfield, and Kirk Woodruff in centerfield. Alan Tygesen is another member back from last year who should see considerable action as a backup catcher and designated hitter. The remaining starting lineup includes freshmen Shawn Whitehead from Hillcrest at first bast, Chad Tanner from Springville at second, Wendell Zink from Timpview at third, e and sophomore transfer Mike in right field . The Rebels have been busy practicing for the season opener since early in the Winter Quarter, and have also played several practice games with Southern Utah States varsity team. Although the games didnt count, Jolley said he was pleased with his afford another loss at this juncture in the season. Last time the two teams deciplayed, CNCC claimed a sion, and once again should prove to be a tough test. As for CEU, despite the fact Dixie breezed to an win, the Lady Eagles have since added a steady point guard, and the Lady Rebels have a 79-7- 3 i 82-6- 0 tendency to play a little flat against the weaker teams. Its interesting how well Dixie plays against the top teams in the region like Snow and Utah Tech, and then will turn around and lose to a much weaker school, as evidenced by the CSI loss. Its hard when you can beat all the first, second and third place teams in the league, and then lose to the second to last place team, Titus said. Mentally we know were good enough, and yet, if something goes wrong, we get so uptight trying to win the ballgame. Theyve got to shake off their mistakes, and go out, relax, and have some fun. Things will go well if we play the way we can play. Earlier Titus had said her team had been in somewhat of a mental slump, and although she thinks they will be ready this weekend, the one thing she is worried about is playing in the Dix- - ST. GEORGE JoAnne McDonald works inside for a layup during Lady Rebel practice session at the new Dixie Center arena. The ladies worked hard all week long getting ready for this weekends Region 18 action against CNCC and CEU. (SUN phto Kelly Moulton) ie Center. PLAYERS OF THE WI y,vu , .1 I 'Ji 9 " v Mj ' .tf The players of the week receive dinner for two, and a player of the week from the . DARREL T-sh- WHITE Darrel, a Freshman all-sta- te forward from South High helped lead Dixie to victory over Treasure Valley last Saturday, as he hauled 9 redown a team-hig- h also 6.2 points and averages 4.8 rebounds per game. bounds. 4 A He PIZZA FACTORY fl-vDs--s Ancestor Square i ROB ROSS irt Rob, a Sophomore guard from Timpview High averages 6.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. In addition, Rob also leads the team in assists and steals, with per game averages of 4.4 and 2.5 respectively. He also has an assist turnover ration of almost 4 to I. talented. Jolley continued, I would put us right up there with those two, I think were going to have a good year. If the Lady Rebels do win both games, and if Ricks loses one of their two matchups, then Dixie will be able to look forward to the Region 18 playoffs, which begin March 6th and 7th in Twin Falls, Idaho. The scary thing is well be down at the Dixie Center. Im excited to be down there, but at ti e same time were losing that total home court advantage. Its defintely not the court were used to. THE PIZZA FACTORY team's performance. From what he has seen so far in practice, Jolley feels there are several areas the team is strong in, including overall team speed and pitching, experience. Weve got a veteren team coming back. Our major strength is that weve said Jolley. Youve got experience, got to have good pitching depth or youre in trouble. Jolley also feels that the Rebels, once they get into somewhat of a rhythm, should be in contention for the league crown, but will have to beat out some pretty good teams. I would say the team to beat would Jolley said. probably be CEU, Theyve got a lot of experience, and we did not beat them last year. Utah Tech had a real good recruiting year, theyll be young, but they are i - 628-123- 4 St. George Blvd. & Main |