Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 9

INSIDE: B2 Tyson trial continues B3 Area prep basketball roundup 85 Entertainment TUESDAY February 4, 1992 Mattoon Journal Gazette Athlete of Week B2 Dss to EdaFra SGatte I I if Si I t. (1 CI 31 oU WfLXW' ft ElU's Derek Kelley battles By BRIAN NIELSEN Staff Writer CHARLESTON If you missed all but the last few seconds, you still saw enough to get the idea. "We've played like this too many times," Eastern basketball coach Rick Samuels said. "We have a back cut to the basket and a pass from a senior to a senior that we've made for three years now and we couldn't make it." That uncompleted pass from Steve Rowe to Barry Johnson came just after Murray State's Frank Allen had hit the go-ahead three-pointer and just before Allen converted the two clinching free throws that handed the Panthers Monday's 77-73 non-conference loss at Lantz Gym. "It's frustrating," Johnson said.

"As you could probably see from the stands that team shouldn't have been able to have played with us. We play well at times, but at other times we play like we haven't been coached since second grade. "It's not coach's fault. I can't blame it on the younger players. (Freshman) Louis Jordan came in and played well.

We just didn't get it done." So now Eastern has lost three straight home games, interrupted only by Saturday's win at Western Illinois, and its record is 9-8. If you hadn't already figured it the Panthers' only chance for a post-season berth is probably to win the Mid-Continent Conference tournament and an automatic NCAA berth. They have missed too many opportunities at building a good enough record for an at-large NCAA berth or NIT bid. Beating five-time defending Ohio Valley champion Murray State might have helped change, Instead, All-Americari Popeye Jones padded his nation-leading rebounding average with 15 Monday to go with 22 points as Murray State, 9-11, won for the ninth time in its last 12 games. Just a key play or two and the Panthers would have overcome Popeye and his friends.

After the game had 14 lead changes and 12 ties, Eastern had its chance when trailing 75-73 and the 6-foot-8, 265-pound Jones vulnerable inside with four fouls. "The play was designed for me to get down to the post," Johnson said. "As I was sliding down to the post, the pass came a little sooner than I expected. It wasn't a bad pass, it wasn't a great pass, but I should have executed better." As it was, the EIU forward never had the handle on the ball, which was grabbed by Allen who was fouled with eight seconds left. Allen, just 4-for-8 from the line up to then, converted the two big free throws to finish with 22 points and finish off Eastern.

Lake Land's Anton Little (left) battles for a loose (Lakers psti Cu Photo by Jay Kimball ball Monday tam Murray State (77) Jordan 2-3 0-1 4 4 4 FG FT Reb PF TP Olson 7-14 5-8 1 5 26 Gumm 3-7 5-7 2 4 12 West 3-7 0-0 3 2 6 Wilson 1-1 1-4 5 2 3 Kelley 1-1 0-0 3 2 2 Cannon 3-10 6-6 6 4 12 Leib 0-2 0-0 3 2 0 Allen 7-13 6-10 2 3 22 Team 7 Adams 1-3 0-0 112 Totals 26-61 14-21 36 24 73 Sivills 1-4 2-2 4 2 4 Walden 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 Murray State 26 51 77 Jones 8-20 6-9 15 4 22 Eastern Illinois 28 45 73 Team 8 Totals 24-68 26-38 44 22 77 Three-point shots: Murray State 3-7 (Gumm 1-2, Cannon 0-2, Allen 2-3), Eastern Illinois (73) Eastern 7-16 (Rowe 0.1,' Maitifc0-1 FG FT Reb Johnson 0-1 Olson 7-i SJkjShooting per- Rowe 4-15 7-9 6 3 15 centages: Murray State Eastern Martin 0-2 0-0 1 4 0 Assists: Murray State 12 (Cannon 4j Johnson 9-16 1-1 8 2 19 Allen 4), Eastern 14 (Martin 6). Turnovers: Landrus 0-1 1-2 10 1 Murray State 15, Eastern 18. LAKELAND Ra-FtjAfT-frrAFffiBipritP Shimkus 0-0 W)H" X' Gilbert 10-21 1-2 2 3 ,23 Team 3 Johnson 5-12 1-1 '20 11 TOTALS 24-59 9-1 31 15 60 Graves 2-8 3-4 6 1 7 Score by halves: Uttfe 5-5 0-0 6 3 10 Lakers 37-37 -74 Billingsly St.Francis 27-33 -60 Smith 3-7 0-0 3 0 6 Shooting percentages: Lakers Reddick 4-6 3-3 5 3 11 St.Francis .406. Three-point shots: Lakers Bobo 0-1 0-0 4 2 0 2-of-1 4 (Gilbert 2-7. Johnson 0-2, Graves Sherrod 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0-4, Smith 0-1); St.Francis 3-of-12 Tigner 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 (Mecher 1-4, Villa 1-4, Otto 0-1, Zisakos Acres 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 Roy 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 St.Francis 19 Team 3 TOTALS 31-64 10-12 37 15 74 WOMEN'S GAME ST.FRANCISFG-FGAFT-FTAREBPF TP Lady Lakers 31-33 -64 Mecher 2-7 0-0 5 4 5 Kankakee 33-45 -78 Villa 7-19 0-0 6- 2 15 LLC: Woolever 1-0-2; Bolen 0-0-0; Miller Otto 9-16 5-7 8 1 23 0-0-0; Kaiser 6-0-16; Roy 8-9-25; Smith 3-8 0-0 4 2 6 Richardson 1-0-2; Downs 6-1-14; Star- Zisakos 3-8 2-2 3 2 9 wait 0-0-0; Shubert 2-1-5.

TOTALS: Anderson 0-1 0-0 0 4 0 24-11-64. Bonebrake 0-0 2-2 0 0 2 Three-point baskets: Kaiser 4, Downs 1. Novak 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Lisa Abry had 30 points to lead Kankakee. V. A I Photo by Tim Smith Popeye Jones for rebound.

"My shot was going in tonight and the guys were setting good picks for me, but it wasn't enough. We just didn't play totally together like we did at Western." Said Samuels: "When we learn to play well with each other we have the chance to be a good bas1-ketballteam. "Our team is one to get into space sometimes. We just don't operate very well. To play a game like we did the other night at Western and one night later play like this, it's very frustrating." Adding to the woes was an ankle injury to guard Eric West, who had to miss the last 15:15 Monday and may miss more than that.

Healthy Panthers won't get much rest. They start a three-game road stint with Thursday's non-conference game at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Bulls lose in 3 OT's SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Jeff Malone hit three free throws with 0.5 seconds left in the third overtime Monday night to lift the Utah Jazz a 1 26-123 victory overf the Chicago Bulls. Malone got two free throws when Michael Jordan fouled him as he drove the lane then earned r- a technical foul Jordan was ejected for bump ing referee Tommie Wood while arguing the call. Malone shook off 4-for 21 shooting to become the hero.

The, Jazz as a team shot just 41 percent. Sports Menu TODAY 8 p.m. -Mil Lady Green" Wave varsity basketball team at Decatur MacArthur. 5:30 p.m. -Lake Land Lady Lakers host Vincennes Univer- fiitv flt FiolHVimiao 3:30 p.m.-MJHS girls volleyball teams host Effingham Central.

7 p.m.-MJHS vs. Casey-West-field in title game of Charleston IESA 7th Grade Sectional at Charleston Junior High. Lady Wave look to keep in Big 12 race BY JIM KIMBALL' JG Sports Editor MATTOON StFrancis College's jayvee team was added to Lake Land's men's basketball schedule just last week. "The kids said they wanted another game to replace the one they lost (when E.T.Clements pulled out of the 1991 Laker Classy)," Laker coach Jim Dudley said Monday after watching his Lakers record a sluggish 74-60 win before a sparse crowd at the Laker Fieldhouse. "I began to think there for awhile we shouldn't have scheduled the game," he admitted.

"The kids played just hard enough to win and that was disappointing. i "We can't afford to take anybody lightly and especially a team which came in here 13-5. They've got a good program up there their varsity is 14-6." Lake Land worked up a 37-27 halftime lead and then allowed SfcFrancis to play them practically even in the second half. really begin to fear our kids topk the game too much for granted after St.Francis made that run early in the second half," Dudley expressed. "That run" saw the Chicago visitors outscore Lake Land 11-2 in a 3:23 span early in the second jiajf to pull even at 39-39 with .21 leR.

Lake Land kicked it mckingear. Laker scoring star James jilbert, who struggled to score 23 )oints, seven below his No.3 na-ionally-ranked average, netted i short jumper for a permanent U-391ead. Keith Johnson followed with a asket and after Vanasis Zisakos icored for St.Francis, Lake Land eeled off six straight points to pen up a 49-41 lead and was lever threatened again. Maurice Reddick, who came )ff the bench to score 11 points md gather five rebounds, hreaded two free throws before Gilbert and Anton Little added caskets to round out the key iix-point rally. "The kids played hard during hat run," Dudley credited.

our play wasn't very )retty or exciting." Despite the Lakers' seemingly agged play for the most part, shot a respectable .484 from floor and hit 10-of-12 free while enjoying a 37-31 refunding advantage. "Thank goodness we were able some scoring on the inside," His bigger feat was. the three-pointer from deep in the corner against Eastern's 1-3-1 zone. That shot lifted Murray State to its 75-73 lead with 27 seconds left. "We knew exactly where it was going," Johnson said.

"Coach said watch out for the three-point shooter cutting across, and that's exactly what happened. "But like I said, the game shouldn't have come down to this. We made mistakes early in the game, in the middle of the game and late in the game." So wasted was Dave Olson's second straight season-high scoring night. After getting 24 points in the Panthers' 78-66 win at Western Illinois, the 6-6 senior had 26 Monday with 7-for-13 three-point shooting. "We played hard at times, we just didn't play hard all the time," Olson said.

"There were lapses. Sanders is coming off her highest output of the season, 27 points, which she scored against Champaign Centennial last Thursday. Another junior climbing the scoring ladder is Jennifer Hortenstine. The 5-foot-9 guard needs 12 points to take over 4ttfS seventh place on tne vT list. Hortenstine has 663 career points.

She is currently av eraging 13.5 ppg. Mattoon's other starters could be Tara Bartels, a 6-0 sophomore who is averaging 8.9 ppg, Shelly Strong, 5-5 junior (5.0) and Allison Waggoner, 6-0 senior (5.0). Deadre Smith could also see plenty of action, after nursing a stress facture back to health, while Hopgood's ankle is questionable. The Lady Wave have two regular season games remaining before opening regional play in two weeks. 7-11 won-loss mark while improving their spotless record to 23-0.

"I was very pleased with our effort," Perry said. "They beat us 95-58 ua there in an earlier meeting. "We're having trouble with our passing game. Otherwise, this game would have been much Downs closer. "We were able to break their press without much problem, but then we would end up throwing the ball away a lot." Lisa Abry, a talented 6-2 sophomore center from Pontiac, paced Kankakee with 30 points.

"She did a good job of posting up and we couldn't stop her turnaround jump shots," Perry said. Abry has signed to attend Illinois State University on a basketball scholarship next year. Christine Roy, Neoga freshman, headed LLC's offense with 25 points. Michelle Kaiser added 16 and Robin Downs 14. Downs, a freshman from Marshall who Perry says has junior college All-American potential, saw her long consecutive free throw "string snapped at 29.

She sank one of two charity tosses. "We don't have a record for most consecutive free throws made, but I've got to believe that would be it if we did," Perry said. "She's hitting over 90 percent of her free throws which has to put her among the national leaders." The Lady Lakers return to action tonight. Vincennes University calls for a 5:30 encounter. Dudley remarked.

"Our perimeter shooting was off tonight." Anton Little, who sank all five ot his close-in shots, finished with 10 points to join with Reddick's 1 1 to give LLC good production in the paint. The Lakers connected on just three points launches. "With three guards (Gilbert, Johnson and Chad Graves) in there we should shoot better than that." Despite the fact Dudley didn't give his team many passing grades "we got the game in, won it and I guess that's the most important thing. "But, the party's over," he said in looking ahead to the next three games. "It's back to war.

"We go to Lincoln Trail day and then come home against Southeastern Saturday and Parkland next Monday they'll all be tough." Monday's victory improved Lake Land's record to The Lakers need to win six of their remaining 11 games (which includes the Region 24 opener) to reach the charmed 20-win plateau for the first time since 1980., Lady Lakers lose 78-64 MATTOON Unbeaten Kankakee Community College's Lady Cavaliers are deserving of their No.3 Division II national TankiiTg7Lake Landcoachr Dwight Perry feels. "John A. Logan has one heck-ava team also," Perry says, "but I think Kankakee is probably the best we've faced this season." Lake Land made it interesting for awhile. The Lady Lakers trailed by only a 33-31 halftime margin before the talented visitors took over in the second half. They outscored Perry's team 45-33 to leave Lake Land with a MATTOON Three more conference basketball games await Mattoon's Lady Wave girls' basketball team.

MHS travels to Decatur MacArthur tonight in hopes of keeping a share of the Big 12 Conference title alive. The Lady Wave are currently 20--1 overall with an 11-1 league mark. Mattoon defeated the Lady Generals 69-41 in the second round of the Mattoon Holiday Tournament. Kerry Hopgood led MHS with 23 points, and may see limited action tonight. Jody Sanders continues her assault on the career scoring mark, the 5-9 junior, who is averaging 17.2 points per game this season, has 1,079 career points and trails fifth place Michelle Newman by 88 points.

Barb Blume-Love is the all-time scoring leader in Mattoon history with 1,709..