Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday March 9 2003 — ps oxElder for 4A title '' By Hvkl Cordtro staff writer ”V : 1 teams 13-- ran at the start of the fourth put away 2 the Bees "Our kids itaDy wanted to get this done like it did against Sky View die day before vvj t tiDEN !7 Before the 4A Boys State Cham- ipjbnlp bgan tihpe wore Abut four tesmas conridaed to frcfCstonttikten for fee title But die squad Aat actually did win it all left no question about its superiority Eldra from the gel-ijlimpyieiif dominated go equating its lead rneach quarter of faded- rive vkttxy The Tbunrkxbirds marched to their second awe basketball tide i° four seasons by a 4 rfargm Saturday at the Dee Events Center 1 thinkour fourth quarter blew kopea" said ThurxkrtwdscoifeftnyWildetxM whose i- - PORT MYERS Fla (AP) — Manny Ramirez showed up at 8 to 7) up-tem- po Box Elder battled back behind Corey Kamin-ska- 's 10 points (he Would finish with 18) in the third quarter but still could not make up any ground The Thunderbirds then put the game out of reach with their 15-- 2 spurt The Bees were competing in the state finals for die first time in'25 years and third time ever Mecham though disappointed in the loss itself was proud of the way his players performed during die season other teams are at home right Twenty-si- x now wishing they got to the finals so (making it) is a great accomplishment" he said "I'm sure after die disappointment goes away they'll understand it was great" bat Ramirez remains an enigma to many fens He rarely talks with reporters and didn’t comment on his fast start When he does talk he reveals little He's described by teammates as a big kid— he’s still just 29 — who simply loves hitting a baseball He was criticized last season when he hit a grounder to die pitcher and turned to go back to the dugout before die throw reached die first baseman He then apologized to his teammates “I don't think Manny’s worried about outside distractions like he was before’’ HUlenbrand said “He’s sensitive He worries what people think of him “Manny makes $20 million a year and he doesn't like that put on him because he’s an average person” he added “When you make that much money people’s perceptions about you are different and he doesn’t want to be different He wants to be a nor- ar mal person” ' RBIs a rare combination of power and average “Power and average are a byprod- uct of swinging the tot well” Garci- aparra said “If you’re hitting the ball well they’re going to go out” Ramirez had seven hits in his first 12 exhibition at bats this year despite rarely swinging a bat but working out almost every day in the offsea- son In his first camp with Boston he went “Manny’s a lot further ahead than where he’s been the last two years in spring training” said third baseman Shea Hillenbrand one of Ramirez’s close friends' “Where that puts him I don’t know The biggest thing I see is a comfort factor" As predictable as he is with the ! Showing exceptional quickness and tenacity to go along with its height Timpview overmatched the Bees Elder (18-shot just 341 percent and committed 13 turnovers — rarely able to force the game it prefers They were like dogs on meat" Bees coach Keith Mecham said They were wanting it and really kept us out of our offense" Timpview used a 15-- 4 run to extend its lead to 30-1-5 at die intermission It promptly scored the first two buckets in the third quarter — by Chris Miles (10 points) and Matt Pinegar (18 points three assists) — to enlarge the advantage to 19 fAmericanlLeague am for extra batting practice Sweat beading on his forehead after taking his swings he sat in a cornet of fee Red Sox clubhouse and smiled He chatted with teammates in Spanish while music blared from a nearby boom box Ramirez has reasons to be cheerful He’s off to an outstanding spring training start with three homers in his first five games after his first two seasons in Boston were filled with distractions and brilliant hitting “He’s wasting them all” Nomar Garciaparra joked “You’re excited when you see guys on base and he’s at die plate You know something can happen’’ Ramirez won his first batting title last season with a 349 average He hit 33 homers with 107 RBIs despite missing 39 games with a fractured finger In 2001 his first season with Boston after signing an eight-ye$160 million contract he hit 306 with 41 homers and 125 RBIs in 142 games All that despite saying he wasn’t comfortable in the clubhouse Manny might look like he’s got a weakness but he doesn’t” said Red Sox pitcherJohn Burkett who pitched against Ramirez while with " Texas “A pitcher has to make adjustments because he does” There’s not much uncertainty when Ramirez assumes his relaxed stance In seven of his eight full sea- starting with Cleveland in 199J he’s hit 306 or better with 31 or mpre homers and at lea$UQ7 Unpview put the contest but of reach in die finri period Etoept that this time it didn't have to mounta rally The IlKinderixrds (23-never trailed taking a 12--4 lead early in the first quarter Senior guard Tuner Hannon waa hot at die outset icoring eight of Uallpdms in the opening stanza "I just think our team had amazing confi- dence today” Hannon said Yet it was the defense— ted by reserve guard Andrew Low and his three steals —that would prove to be die difference 2) to 65-4- 11 : Ramirez’s laid-bac- k demeanor and the fact he didn’t always run hard to first base because of hamstring con-- “ cems two years ago fool fans about his work ethic “This guy’s a batting title winner and he’s in here working harder than anybody" said Kevin Millar in his first season with Boston “That shows a lot that I don’t think people know about Manny” That and his easygoing personali-son- s ty endears him to teammates “I hung out with him He’s a quiet guy” Boston pitcher Willie Banks said' “But be works his tail off I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t hit 70 homos this year” Ramirez was just 14 when Banks saw him play while both were in high school in the New York area “He wasjust a little short slim guy spid he was ripping the cover off the toll” said Banks who is three years older For all his hard work and sharp focus on the pitch Ramirez has a simple “see the toll hit the toll” approach Sometimes he doesn't know the count or the pitcher “Some guys get in trouble when they start worrying about what the pitcher can do” said Red Sox hitting cpach Ron Jackson who found Ramirez to be an eager student AP photo Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez stretches prior to his fifth inning in Fort Myers Fla Thursday at-b- at during a game against the Minnesota Twins Capriati Davenport advance at Pacific Life Weary INDIAN WELLS Calif (AP) — Amelie Maures-m- o of France won Saturday night to Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament Saturday Mauresmo had to work the hardest to get there though The fifth-seedplayer in the $21 million tournament Mauresmo struggled for 2 hours 11 minutes 6-- 2 7 over Tunarine Tana-sugabefore winning 6-- 3 of Thailand “It was very tough" said Mauresmo playing in just her third event of the year “It was one of those days where you don’t feel very good very comfortable and nothing is going the right way “I felt like I was not moving too well not hitting the ball very well So I just tod to do the best I could do and give 100 percent and fight That’s what I did” Mauresmo won the first set rather easily but lost the second in part because Tknasugam began hitting more accurate passing shots ed 3-- m Russian Tennis ' No 2 seed Capriati and two-tim- e champion Lindwith advanced earlier easy victories say Davenport bothered said she was slightly by Denisa Capriati Chladkova’s unusual rhythm but otherwise had no problem in winning 6--2 6-- 2 “I think I played confidently and relaxed” said Capriati who won 61 of 97 points “She’s a difficult opponent to play She’s got her own rhythm so you have to go along with it sort of up and down But I think I just concentrated on my own game and my own shots I think I executed everything pretty well” Capriati moved into the fourth round and will play No 14 Elena Dementieva of Russia outlasted Vir6-- 3 ginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-- 3 1) Davenport lost serve twice but broke Elena Likhovtseva’s serve six times and won the final d nine games to eliminate the 25th-seede- Sanders stuns Klitschko with HANOVER Germany (AP) — Crane Sanders knocked out Wladimir Klitschko 27 seconds into the second round Saturday to take the WBO heavyweight title in a major upset Sanders caught the 240-pouKlitschko wife a left wife 33 the first round then sent him down to the canvas three more times ft was Klitschko’s sixth -defense of the lightly regarded World Boxing Organization toft He was regarded by many as a top contender in fee weight class and had just signed a rhard i i nine-fig- ht deal wife HBO Hie outcome drew boos from a crowd of 1 1500 angered over the brevity of the fight and the unexpected result Klitschko’s brother Vitali is ranked No 1 by both the WBC and WB A and is in limbo waiting for a possible fight wife reluctant champion Lennox Lewis The brothers are from Ukraine but spent much of their early careen in Germany where they are hugely popular They have been try 6-- 3 Davenport will face No 13 Elena Bovina of Russia in the fourth round Bovina was a 6-- 1 6-- 0 winner over American qualifier Samantha Reeves Davenport started slowly against Likhovtseva losing serve in the first and third games “I was able to bounce right back into the match' Davenport said “Fortunately I think I hit my groundstrokes a lot better than I did the other day and played a little more aggressive” Davenport is now 9-- 0 against Likhovtseva Top seed Kim Clijstcrs will be in action' when third-roun- d play continues Sunday In other third round matches No 23 Meghann Shaugnessy upset No 1 1 Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-- 4 6-- 3 Magui Serna of Spain beat Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia 7-- 3 6-- 2 and Vera Zvonareva defeated Dvetlana Kuznetsove 6 6 6--4 unseeded match between in Russians a (3) had fought only three rounds since being knocked out by Hasim Rahman nearly three help Klitschko (40-2- ) went down three straight times in the last minute of the first round reeling around the ring as he tried to avoid Sanders’ blows Sandras a South African jumped into his trainer’s arms when the scheduled fight years ago After a slow opening minute Sanders (39-- 2 29 knockouts) went right after Klitschko “I wasn’t planning that — it just happened that way during the fight” Sanders said Klitschko hadn’t fought since December when he stopped Jameel McCline In the buildup to Saturday's fight Klitschko said he needed to knock out Sanders to make a statement that would 12-rou-nd 6-- 3-- 7-- KO second-roun- d ing to build up their fan base in America Saturday's result won’t ended “I gave myself big chances to beat him I knew I could do it” the 4 Sanders said Before this victory Sanders Continued from 6-- 0 back his claim of being one of the top heavyweights in the world “To win the fight is important To really dominate the fight is important too” Klitschko said during the week ‘To win by knockout — no one questions the win- ner” Klitschko teamed a hard lesson about boxing He appeared on the verge of final- ly conquering the US market carving out a name for ' himself wife impressive knockouts of McCUhe and Ray Mercer B1 the most energy tonight was going to win the game" Grif- fin said “And we came out with a lot of energy” Dallas led by 28 points after the third quarter allowing coach Don Nelson to rest his starters The Mavericks were in front by as many as 33 in a ragged fourth quarter “Any time you can get some rest at this time of the year it's nice" Nash said Karl Malone's 16 points and 1 1 each from Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Arroyo paced the Jazz who've lost five of their last seven Dallas held a 35-3- 2 halftime edge hitting 2 1 of 39 field goal attempts (34 percent) and 2 from going range The Jazz couldn’t cut into the deficit and the frustration showed as Greg Ostertag missed a dunk with 4:35 left in the third “Dallas got back here later than we did so it 'was a good -1 ed butt-kickin- g” Ostertag said “(The Mavericks) are a good team and did everything they wanted to do tonight” said Malone who missed 10 of 16 field goal attempts “These are the kind of games ' you have to reach down and see what you're made of And you have to give them credit" |