Show r I I I B4 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday October 8 2003 cdetotuit BYU men favored to win MWC hoops leBrotn makes pro Pretty class any more” James said “The level of play is so much higher here In high school you could take a few passes stand out more than his points AUBURN HILLS Mich (AP) — LcBron James’ sec-m- id assist was more impressive than his first basket Making his professional debut in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first exhibition game James was a better passer than scorer in a 100-9- 6 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night while James shot had and scoring eight points three rebounds and seven assists — the prettiest of which came as he was cutting across the lane midway through the first quarter As a second defender came over James quickly delivered a behind-the-bac- no-lo- one-hand- ed “ v hand-checki- k bounce pass to Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a dunk It was the play of the night from the phenom on an p vening when lie struggled with his outside shot but would have had more assists if his tkammates had converted other nifty passes “Where he gets that vision from I don’t know” Cavs coach Paul Silas said “because he can come up with some passes like nobody can” James' only basket of the first half was a breakaway dunk off a steal by Ricky Davis Knowing he was all alone James fully extended his right arm and flushed : home a jam The dunk was replayed twice on the main scoreboard ' The pass to Ilgauskas v came less than two minutes later — one of James’ four : assists in the quarter — and ' thrilled crowd a neat-sellout ng AP photo Cavaliers rookie guard LeBron James (23) clunks during the first quarter against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace One heckler made James laugh by telling him his car was ugly but James had lit-tie otto interaction with a crowd sprinkled with fans of 20862 that booed him during introductions and after his first basket ' James made three outside shots in the third quarter when he handled more of die playmaking chores and he added a deft touch pass to Davis for an easy basket His favorite pass however ' was the early one to ' ' Iigauskas “I see a lot of things before some of my team- -- mates even see it so I’m v going to try to put them in position where they can : score a basket” James said Cavaliers jerNo 23 jermore Many sey seys will be bought and worn this season as most fans get their first look at die most hyped prep player ever to make the jump directly to the NBA James was the No 1 pick in last June’s draft 7 “The biggest difference between this and high school is that I don’t have to go to : wine-and-go- - ld ‘ ' ' ' Good ' of James’ wearing replicas : atmosphere is going to be like” New York manager Joe Torre knows 7 Dodgers-Gian- ts rivalry” he said “It“ was warlike” about intense rivalries having grown There will be several indiviflual up when there were three major league teams in New York having managed dramas:’"''' : play-:- The Pistons credentialed more than 100 media for a game in which the enduring image of James was his w ' passing He had assists off two other passes although he also had a drive i swatted away by Wallace and shot an airball on one of his first attempts from the no-lo- ok - — Roger Clemens returning to Fenway Park one final time to pitch Game 3 against Pedro Martinez — Jeter on the same field with Nomar Garciaparra his shortstop rival to the north — Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer back at Fenway Park against the team he managed in the loss to Drat and New York in the infamous 1978 one-ga- first-pla- finished 23-- 8 defeating Oregon in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Kentucky in the second round The Mountain West has sent six of its eight teams to the postseason each of the past two seasons and is the only league in the country to have sent 73 percent of its members to the postseason two straight years BYU and Utah each had two players selected to the preseateam Senior son center Rafael Araujo and senior forward Mark Bigelow were named to the team from BYU while senior forward Tim Frost and senior guard Nick Jacobson were selected from Utah ce first-pla- ce All-MW- conference’s regular-seaso-n title last season with 11-- 3 records The Cougars went 23-- 9 overall and fell to Connecticut in the first round of die NCAA tournament The Utes C Ute women unanimous ' three saves herself 7 “We played well” Grizzlies coach Stacee Flygare'said “I wish we could’ve got a couple (goals) to fall: “I liked the fact (we) came out hard the second half and showed a little - action Moun- win over Bonneville while Roy dealt Box Elder a 1 defeat The Bobcats didn’t attend classes conferTuesday due to parent-teachences Despite being out of its routine Sky View still had more than enough firepower to get past the Grizzlies who lost their seventh straight Julie Marlowe and Emily Campbell ' each scored a goal 10 minutes apart in the first half to provide the only offense of the contest “It’s a little bit different mind-swhen you don't have school" Bobcats senior Desi Housley said ” But we still should have been able to come out and play hard “(You) gotta give it to Logan — they kept us on our toes They hustled the whole entire game they didn't quit" For all intents and purposes this was the Grizzlies' postseason appearance After Campbell made it 0 in the 16th minute Logan played Sky View even the rest of the way The Grizzlies created several good scoring opportunities forcing Sky View junior goalkeeper Jamilyn Anderson to make three saves to preserve the shutout On top of that Logan's defense stiffened and gave itself a chance to win Keeper Miriam McGregor recorded 2-- 1 3-- er et 2-- Harrison Six seniors —McGregor Michelle Betgsjo Sam Birky Jeanna Nelson Lindsay Nuttall and Celeste Sanchez — all played in their final game for Logan “It’s really hard to lose this bunch” Flygare said “The seniors have been such a good group They’ve been a lot of fun to work with” converMexico A failed two-poision by New Mexico State with 19 seconds left gave USU a 32-3- 0 win Then there was 2001: A 43-- 42 toss to Wyoming after scoring with 25 seconds left but missing the extra point Trailing then No 6 Oregon by just three points after three quarters A rally in the game's final 21 minutes to beat Main State 28-2- 7 After building a lead the Aggies had to hold on for a 30-2- 7 win against Central Florida A school-recor- d 684 yards of offense in a 5643 win against Weber State This Saturday should be no differ nt 28-poi- nt 17-po- int champion “I’m proud of him” SV coach Terrell Baldwin said of Smith who moved to Cache Valley this summer from the Ogden area “He’s been great for our team and for our kids “I think everyone else has tried : to be as good as Dan Smith I think he’s helped elevate our level of -- Mustangs 2 Lakers r 1 At Washington Terrace Katie Brow- -' er scored on a penalty kick with three minutes remaining to cap Mountain Crest’s second consecutive undefeated region campaign ' Naomi Felix tied the game at for the Mustangs (10-0-- 0 after Jessie Baddley put the hosts on top with a goal in the 30th minute “The girls came out and played a real strong second half” said Mountain Crest coach Steve Saunders whose team has won an astounding 22 games in a row in league play 4 Barring a loss the Mustangs will host two games for the upcoming playoffs while Bonneville will go in as the fourth seed out of the region was set up Brower’s game-winnwhen Anna Baugh was taken down in the penalty box play” Unfortunately for the Cats they weren't able play at the same high all 13-0-- 1) (5-5- -0 0) er ent I expect another wild one Some other thoughts Sun Belt Conference players of included a pair of Vandals yes Vandals Make that Idaho Vandals Idaho scored 28 straight points to beat New Mexico State 35-3- 1 and quarterback Brian Lindgren was a big part of the comeback tossing five TD passes on attempts for 408 yards en route to earning the offensive honors Vandal linebacker Mike Anderson picked up the defensive award for his performance He forced a fumble that led score to the game-winniSpecial teams player of the week went to Arkansas State punter Jarod Little He had eight punts averaging 454 yards and dropped five punts the-wee- Continued from B1 Continued from B1 the opportunity for redemption and Smith is now the 4A state golf domination” 28-of- 4l le level as the East Leopards during the final round of the 4A State Golf Tournament Up by six strokes following Monday’s' opening round on the Lake Course Sky View put itself in a big hole early on the Canyon Course and wasn’t able to claw all the way back — 608) The Leopards (309-29ended up taking first place by eight strokes over the Bobcats (303-31- 3 — 616) while Spanish Fork (313-- 3 14 — 627) Pleasant Grove (322-30- 6 — 628) and Box Elder ’ — 632) finished Tar (316-31- 6 behind the two frontrunners “Nobody in the world gave us a chance to even contend (town here but they gutted it up and did some good things” Baldwin said of his 9’ ' inside the line After getting hit pretty hard on several running plays against Louisiana-Monro- e Aggie quarterback Travis Cox was instructed by Dennchy to start getting out of bounds or sliding when 1m scrambles up field Dcnnehy didn't stop there Cox's parents and position coach were also asked to relay the message Cox must have received it because on his first scramble of the night against New Mexico the former Mountain Crest baseball player used his sliding ability He also hustled to get out of bounds later in the game instead of fighting for an extra yard With back-u- p Matt Crivelto out it is een more important that Cox stay healthy But you can’t fault the guy for 20-ya- rd choice to finish first (54) and Air Force (28) Utah placed two players on the preseason team — sophomore forward Kim Smith and sophomore guard Shona Thorbum Smith and Thorbum ranked third and Tuesday sixth respectively in scoring in Utah received all possible the conference last season at votes and 132 total points to repeat as MWC regu- - : 174 and 147 points Also named to the champions Coaches team were BYU junior forward could not vote for their own v r v: Danielle Cheesman New Mexteam " ico junior guard Mandi Moore BYU picked up the other : and UNLV junior forwardcen- - ' vote to place second ter Sherry McCracklin with 120 points edging New Smith was named the top Mexico (119) Colorado State was picked to : returning player and New 7 Mexico junior crater Jenny finish fourth with 98 points 7 Shetters was named the top followed by UNLV (85) San " " - newcomer v 7 Diego State (57) Wyoming 7 DENVER (AP)— Utah is die overwhelming favorite to win the Mountain West Conference women’s basketball title according to a preseason poll of coaches and the media released " first-pla- ce All-MW- lar-seas- on first-pla- C ce playoff ' Red Sax in the competition to sign Throughout the season the Red Sox have played up the “Evil Empire” angle Boston promoted a series 7 against New York with music from “Star Wars” and had actor James Earl Jones— the voice of DarthVader— 7 recite the national anthem Lucchino : called die Yankees die “Evil Empire” last winter after New Yixk beat out die ‘ region-endin- DENVER (AP) — BYU is the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball title In a poO of the league’s media announced Tuesday BYU received 13 votes and 144 total points edging Utah which had six nods and 138 points Wyoming was fifth at 73 points followed by San Diego State (55) New Mexico (36) andAirFbrce(35) BYU and Utah shared the non-respon- se the St Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs and the Yankees against the Red Sox and die Mete ' “The only thing that would come close to this rivalry for me is when I grew up in the ’30s and having the Continued from B1 g In other tain Crest rallied for a championship ' Continued from B2 3 minutes off and coast a little You can’t take a second off in the NBA” James was under the watchful eye of veteran referee Joejf Crawford as die players came out for the opening tip James unadorned by the headband and arm sleeves he wore in high schqpl walked over toward the Detroit bench and greeted each starter individually calling several Pistons by name while exchanging hugs and pounding fists as Crawford watched bemusedly from die center circle Crawford later made sure James tucked in his shirt then called the rookie for the type of ticky-tac- k foul that referees use in the preseason to test a young player’s response James shrugged off the call similar to his in the fourth quarter when he tried to draw a charge against rookie Ronald Dupree but Crawford whistled a blocking foul instead “I just want to see what he’s going to bring to the table There's a lot of hype around him” said Detroit’s Ben Wallace whose curiosity mirrors that of many who have not yet seen James team “We just didn’t play as well 7 as we would have liked “We made a few bogeys' early in the day and then really struggled to get back on trade” 70 After shooting a 1 under-par on Monday Smith came in with a 73 on the Canyon Course to finish even for the tournament Finaii and East’s Robbie Filmore finished three strokes back to tie for third while Nathan Page (Mountain View) and Matt Chang (Roy) tied for fourth at four strokes off the pace 'Chang who finished second to Smith in the final Region 4 stand- ings carded the best score of the 67 day a stunning Like Chang Mountain Crest’s Chet Olsen rebounded from an opening-roun- d 80 to shoot a solid 73 good enough for 11th placeN — 661) also Logan (328-33- 3 took 1 1th as a team with Cam Thomas’ 79 leading the way Among the Cats none of the six golfers shot higher than 84 but unlike Monday they weren't able to come up with another great score to back up Smith Although he ended up ninth overall Josh Griffin (73-7- 9 — 152) wasn’t quite d able to match his per-formance "Golf’s a funny game” Baldwin noted “You can hit the ball well ' but you might not get the breaks Miss a putt here and a putt there and it makes it tough” -- ' first-roun- trying to get those extra yards I just hope that rubs off on his teammates The Aggie defense is still bolding tough despite last week's score USU is 77th nationally in total defense (3772 yards a game) But I liked how early in the game the Aggie D rose to the occasion when the offense turned the ball over after one down on a fumble giving the Lobos the ball at the USU 28 The Aggies had started the game by forcing New Mexico to punt but then fouAd themselves back out on the field with their backs to the wall In the past that most likely meant seven points Not this time Linebacker Rodney Wilson and defensive tackle Jarom Fano dropped Lobo running back DonTrell Moore '' Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras Yankees owner George Steinbren- ner didn’t seem pleased ref“I though it was a semi-cleverence to Star Wars” Lucchino said “The commissioner (Bud Selig) has asked us to cease and desist after George responded by calling me everything but an ax murderer” ' er - Fortunately for Smith he didn’t run into “tough” until die final cou- pie of holes One stroke ahead of Finaii heading into Tuesday’s play Smith briefly gave that stroke back on No 6 when Finau came up with a birdie But on the following hole 7 Smith birdied while Finau bogeyed and he was able to main-- " tain at least a advantage the rest of the way even after miss- ing a short par putt on No 17 V “I played smart all day and then hit j two stupid shots on the last two holes” said Smith who finished his round with four birdies and five bogeys While both golfers' drives on No 18 went far to the right Finau’s was shorter and left him with h n shot at the green Smith however caught part of a tree with his approach and he had to chip on from the apron while Finau was already on the putting surface The tournament came down to putting and while Smith missed a par attempt from about 12 feet out it turned out that his three-fobogey putt was more tjian enough to give him the title thanks to i one-stro- ke wide-ope- ot Finau’s Shocking collapse “(Smith) wanted to finish even par today but he wasn't quite able to do it” Baldwin said “But he still played a great round and ended up even for the tournament” loss Wilson then broke for a up a pass Linebacker Robert Watts ended the scoring threat with a sack forcing a punt The Lobos would eventually start rd scoring after another turnover but I ' have become a believer in this defense True freshman Joe Kilipack has worked his way onto some special team units and turned in a nice kickoff return of 30 yards He did that even after blowing a tire (lost a shoe) during the return Maybe he was gang so fast he ran out of his shoes The Aggies have two players among the top 40 in the nation Safety Terrance Washington is in 13th place for interceptions with three Ben Chaet is 33rd in the punting department averaging 412 yards a kick ' |