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Show SSERET NEWS, Monday, March 17, 1969 NCAA Not Moral Victory For Weber By NICK YENGICH backers and basketballers will Deseret News Sports Writer continue to vocalize, weaving words like and recognition ve can play with them in the conversation. And of course the Weber team that defeated New Mexico State, Saturday for third place in the NCAAs West, will be the product of most Wildcat boasting. It took a halftime lecture from coach toil Johnson to force Weber into winning bas - One of LOS ANGELES and perhaps now these days it will be a day Weber State will stop winning basketball games to prove a s point. The Ogdenites will go on the and win or lose with the basketball opponent, not status, as the chief adversary. But until that day, Weber 58-5- cojrt ketball. The Wildcats were understandably down after Thursovertime loss to days Santa Clara. And they had an extra day (for TV purposes) to weigh the loss in their minds. Then the game was in the afternoon (again for TV purposes) and sunlight basketball is not 63-5- 9 conducive to good performance. at halfWeber was down time, but the Wildcats had stumbled around, trailing by counts of and 29-2- 2-- 15-2- 6 Low-keye- 50-4- 9 ... victory. And this is the point of Webers arrival on the big basketball scene. Finishing fourth in the NCAA Westerns is fine, 1 25-2- Thigpen. , The others let us down. , is Anytime the used, those in the other positions are free to shoot. We had the shots, there's no question. We just didnt hit them." Weber started the game in a defense, switched to the box," then to a 3 zone while trying to say with the man-to-ma- n 2-- Aggies. CoPfais ruptured the by hitting four outside jumpers See WEBER Page B-- 3 2-- 3 TOPS DIXIE Macfi Miller ; hustle and hustle alone. Justus defense Thigpen, a and poor New Mexico State shooting handled Collins. Collins did not get off a field goal attempt for 15:46 in the second half. In the period Weber climbed to a lead. NMSU coach Lou Henson assessed his teams downfall: Thigpen did a great job on Collins, even though I believe Jimmy played well, .despite but not when third is, available. Johnson again impressed his kids that moral victories mean nothing when youre capable of winning. Weber was sacxed on two counts early in the contest. Only senior forward Gus Chatmon was making the rebound effort and Jimmy Collins, NMSUs fine guard scored 16 fieldgoals. points on Weber outbounded the Aggies 0 in the second half on Johnson n wouldnt be exact about his halftime speech. He said: Oh, we just went over a few things rather harshly. Weber captain Larry Bergh admitted a little more, saying: Coach said we were playing like we were after a moral iiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Better Than Closs Yesteryear iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiin By DAN PATTISON Are the young high school cagers of today better than they were a full generation ago? Harvey Murdock asked that question as we sat in the BYU press nest overlooking the floor at the Class B basketball bust. PROVO Every one told me to use the same defense I had been using, grinned North Sanpete cage coach Mack Wilk-eBut I thought I could catch them off stride by changing. That was only one of the surprises employed in bringing the Class B. basketball hardware to ML Pleasant by upending Dixie, Saturday night at George Albert Smith Fieldhouse at Brigham Young University. zone deWilkey used a fense. It could have actually been called a zone, because center David Johnson ) would sag a little deeper than usual to take care of Dixies Scott Cannon. The Hawks had been using a zone in the previous games. In winning, Wilkey accomplished four other feats: He and his son, David, had a dream to win it togethy. Maybe Harvey figured this oldster might know the answers hed been 68-5- sitting around the old gymnasiums for nearly four decades and having played in three state tournaments. 2-- 3 (6-3- But that was a long mans time mind ago isnt as 6-- 7 And curate as some of us suppose , it . to be. Players get larger, histories get heavier,' results get steeper all with the passing of time. But as memory serves and as we are able to $ piece together some of the past it would seem that in many ways the high school players today are more specialized than the players of yesteryear. er. didnt have the basketballs, either. Now every lad has a new ball, a cement driveway to groom his jump shows. He has recreational halls or summer playgrounds of quality. As much as all of that he has better instrucy tion. He knows the jump and shot from Someone is around to advise always early youth. him. fall-awa- He learns to dribble and control the ball because he has the surfaces on which to do it. Time Was when you never touched the ball to the ground from the January thaws to the April dry-up- s. t Yep, the kids of today have so many more moves in basketball. Some have been able to sec such greats as Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Bill Russell. The shortish lads have been able to copy the styles of the best of the little pros. Television has helped, of course. The ball handling, in addition to the shooting, was better in the tournaments this year. Also there is a confidence on the drive the young man seems to know how to make for the basket with more prowess. Before the jump shot the old swing shot and chest shot had to have its space. There was not as much close-i- n play. You waited longer for the shooting chance. Yet, Out Of The Past However, none of todays players were any better than some we have known. Arnie Ferrin would be an in any of the todays games in which he played. all-st- ' ar havent seen anyone who could shoot any better than Ralph Crow ton from all positions, or who could beat Stn Buchner under the basket. I There was never any better at tip-i- n artistry Bill Kinner. Bob Mulica ind Con Watts had the finest touch long before the famous Hank Luisetti was supNo one posed to have invented the beat Cleo Petty on the drive or Shelby West on the ong shots. than Merlin Ahlquist or one-hand- ed one-hande- r. I No one had more hustle than the Cleverly brothers, Wayne and Jimmy. And when it came to poise Stew and Bill Pendleton were a match for any modern. Take the best of the old Cecil Baker or Vadal jPeterson teams, or the later Art Hughes Jordan outfits, and todays cagers would have their froubles with them. r Well, Harvey, thats the way I see it! T ) Dixie, who started with a n zone, went to a in the second stanza after the blonde bomber, Bailey, started banging the hoop with jumpers from the corner along with easy layups. The Hawks hit a cold spell in the second period and went man-to-ma- Class B Cage Summary : 29-2- ; ! t 41-3- 58-5- There are many reasons for this. In the olden days, if youll permit a peruse of the past, most of the preliminary play was not on the planks. Rather there was a bankboard on the old barn and some sort of basket affixed thereto. We 19-1- break. for three minutes without a bucket, but the Flyers were just about as cold and could gain little. North Sanpete led at the intermission, Flyer mentor Don Lay tried a surprise of his own in the third quarter with a zone. It was a box zone which e left Ed Bowler free to go with Bailey. This move back-fireBailey spent most of the period shooting from the charity stripe. Wa just couldnt hit and that was the game, a reject-- , ed Lay lamented in the Flyer dressing room following the-Too many of these fray. calls (indicating a referee's progression call by rotating his arms in a circular motion) didnt help either. Bailey, who won the Wolfe's Cup for tiie touiiuiuieiils Most Valuable Player, dusted the boards for 12 rebounds and 21 points to lead the Hawks attack. Johnson pulled 14 boards off the glass to give the Wilkey club the edge, his Hawks He proved could run with the high flying Deseret News Special Flyers. (Only the day before Brent Atkin swished 19 North Sanpete PROVO against Delta he slowed the for the Flyers, but Stan the to to win Tortoise a points game Trot.) toppled Dixie, Blake was held way under his He proved North Sanpete Class B cage championship. , could win the big ones after Here's the way the Class B average to eight points. losing a heartbreaker to South classic ended: north sanpeti st, DIXIE si Dixit S F P F P N. SanMto Sevier in the 1965 finals. No. 1 North Sanpete Bowler 2 44 I (Ml i B. Ballty With the zone he kept No. 2 Dixie 21 D. Bailer Blake 3 t3 10 Dydies Swaop 0 News No. 5 Richfield W Atkin 4 04 4 Frandsen David Bailey and Johnson out Horlachar 04 2 II Johnson No. 4 Hurricane Cannon 4 24 10 04 2 Seely of foul trouble. No. 5 Morgan Esplin 0 00 0 I Wilkey No. 6 Delta SO ' Wilkey had another surprise I Totals 14 1020 St Score by ouarttrs: for the Flyers. He inserted No. 7 Cedar City North Sanpeta f. Jj SO 34 12 23 No, 8 Manti Dikit sophomore Stanton Seely, a Bankboard On The Old Barn Better Playing Courts (5-5- -2 ac- two I came up ou one of those old courts baskets, raked dirt, floodlights on the boards for night play (the days were not long enough). Some of the youth of those days had to wait for the ccw corral to dry out in the spring before they could get the right kind of a dry bounce on the ball and then there was enough hay burned by the beasts on the flooring of the court" to make the dribble a rather spongy routine. 6-- Deseret News Sports Writer , 3 strong boy, in the starting lineup to cope with Cannons muscle. From the outlet the crowd estimated at 8,000, knew the Hawks came for one reason to win! ' and B a i 1 ey, Johnson, ) got the George Dyches Hawks moving early in the at the first canto to lead ' v.V u ' 9 Deseret Deseret Newt pnoto Dy 0. Wallace Ketteier 7 1 North Sanpete's Brent Bailey, left, and George Dyches are held by their jubilant teammates while taking the net down in the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse to toast the Hawks' Class B cage championship. 1 Consolation Champs: Morgan! Ferguson Honored By BRENT CHECKETTS Deseret News Sports Writer Region Five Is head a little higher its holding to a thanks scrappy Mortoday that team pulled its third gan in as many days here Satupset in defeating taller Manti, urday for the Class B consolation basketball championship. PROVO - sports-writer- 61-5- The little Trojans of Coach Ron Abegglan used a center Bob Bell jumper by with three seconds remaining on the clock to subdue Wilbur 6-- 1 Braithwaites Templars. Morgan was the only Region Five team to reach the final round of tourney play, as South Rjch, Wasatch and North Summit were all eliminated after two straight defeats. Last season Region Five was a powerhouse, as North Summit defeated Wasatch for the title. Bill Howard, r KUTV, was of the named Sportscaster Year for the fifth tive year. in Morgan's performance gaining this years Class B consolation trophy and salvaging some Region Five prestige in the process was a gutty one. Only loss by the Trojans was to eventual tourney champ North Sanpete, the first night. After that, Abegglans team came back to edge sup- consecu- Track Fire Probed 3 Ocstret News Photo by 0. Wallace K.stotor Morgan's Bob Bell is 43-5- hoisted up by teammates after scoring the winning bucket to give the Trojans the consolation championship. Morgan couldnt get as many posed tourney powers Uintah meanand South Sevier on Thursday easy shots, while Manti, to the started while, and Friday, respectively. warming occasion on the shooting of Morgan edged Uintah, and then parlayed a slow down Kevin Cox, Craig Nielsen and win over South LaMar Barton. game to a Sevier. The Templars gradual fight The Trojans speeded things back was culminated when Barup somewhat in jumping out to a 3 first quarter lead Satur-- , ton hit a set shot with 2:14 remaining in the game to tie it day. Last tie prior to that Manti started in a collapsing; at been had midway through zone defense, and the Trojans simply ate it up. They the first quarter. waited for the Templars to overshift to one side or the Morgan went back up. other and hit the open corner on two free throws by Kim Warcenter men under the bucket or the; ner, but then Mantis Bell at the foul line Steve Willardsen hit two for two at the line with 15 seconds left area. to knot it again. By halftime those tactics had That set the stage for Bell's 9 lead and it produced a looked like a Morgan runaway. heroics and the wild celebration that followed on the floor and in Manti mentor Braithwaite the Morgan dressing room. switched his charges to a Bell was mobbed by teamdefense to start the second half, and it made a big dif- mates and Morgan fans after he hit the winning jumpejr. For ference. 56-5- 33-2- 9 17-1- j 57-5- 8-- 59-5- 6-- 9 36-2- it looked like hed be, eret News second team All- smothered by well wishers, but State selection Nielsen and eventually they lifted him to Doug Neeley are juniors wholl their shoulders and carried him be back next year. Look for the from the floor. Templars to be a threat in the 1970 classic. We didn't as well awhile play as we against their had against others in the tournament, but Bob really made up for it at the last. the excited Abegglan said post game. It was great I still dont know whether to believe it or not." ) r . MOUNT VERNON, ILL. (UPI) Die possibility of arson was being investigated after fire swept through a barn at the Mount Vernon State Fairgrounds Sunday. WHEELS ALIGNED & STATE SAFETY INSPECTION man-to-ma- n 10.20 Value ' ... Mantis Braithwaite was un- derstandably dejected after the contest but he has a lot to look forward to. Three of his start--! ers, the gangly Willardsen, Des- MORGAN 41, MANTI Morton OPT 3 Porter 0 4 4 0 10 14 M 1 0 4 4- - t I. Jones Brower 25 1130 41 Manti G Barron 4 P Cox 4 Totals BUG T 8 10 8 t 18 Drive the MUFFLERS Installed Fro now VW Today 3 2 2 34 2 ABSORBERS State Inapectien 495 kj hutellod fro tf 8:30 1064 Initont credit with root gas, dept. South Main PH. 486-2-1 Most Any Cor. SHOCK Open daily except Sun. 1:30 VOLKSWAGEN INTERMOUNTAIN 241M8 St Scort by quarter$: Morgan Manti THINK St Neeley 3 2 2 Nielsen 3 Willardsen 7 44 Clarke Kiesel 1 Nelson 1 0 Haves 33 Bell 2 Francis 12 Warner man-to-m- V N.C. SALISBURY, George J. Ferguson, Sports Managing Editor of the Des-- . eret News, was honored Sunday as Sports Writer of the Year in Utah. The award was determined s in balloting by local and sportscasters of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. This is the second consecutive year that Ferguson has been so honored by the award. A sports writer for the Des- eret News for some 11 years, Ferguson covers local college and football, basketball and track, and in the' summer handles the local golf scene. He is also District Seven (Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Arizona) representative for the United States Basketball Writers Association. 11 Phone 364-843- 1 1147 So. State |