Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 70, Greencastle, Putnam County, 28 November 1987 — Page 5

Sheridan blanks Jimtown for Class A title

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Perhaps no one was more surprised by Sheridan’s defense than Coach Larry Wright. Defense was Jimtown’s strong suit, but Sheridan’s big defensive plays Friday propelled the Blackhawks to their third Class A football championship. The 10-0 shutout marked the second time Jimtown has lost in the title game. Sheridan had advanced to the state championship contest with a 35-7 triumph over 1986 Class A titlist South Putnam last Friday. The offense dominated the 2A championship, with Rochester edging Indianapolis Ritter 23-20 on three fourth-quarter touchdowns. In the 3A final, top-ranked Zionsville completed an undefeated season with a 23-7 victory over Elwood. COUPLED WITH Sheridan’s victory, the triumph by Zionsville gave the Rangeline Conference two state championships in one day. Top-ranked Hobart, a five-time state runner-up, was matched against N 0.3 Jasper for the 4A championship Saturday, with Indianapolis Ben Davis going against Highland for the 5A crown. “No, the defense hasn’t played

sports

Auburn victory over ’Barna sugar-sweet

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) A simple game plan gave Sugar Bowl-bound Auburn a victory over arch-rival Alabama and the Southeastern Conference crown, says quarterback Jeff Burger. “The offense just kept pounding and pounding and the defense played awesome. That’s all there is to it,” Burger said after seventhranked Auburn’s 10-0 victory Friday over the eighteenth-ranked Crimson Tide. Alabama’s first shutout loss in seven seasons knocked both the Crimson Tide and No. 6 Louisiana State out of Sugar Bowl contention. Auburn, 9-1-1, will play undefeated and fourth-ranked Syracuse in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. ALABAMA, 7-4, goes to the Hall of Fame Bowl to play Michigan on Jan. 2, and LSU, which had a shot at the Sugar Bowl had Alabama won, will face No. 8 South Carolina in the Gator Bowl on Dec 31. Although Auburn isn’t in the national championship picture, the Tigers could spoil whatever title aspirations Syracuse has. The top two challengers to No. 1 Oklahoma will be in action today when runnerup Miami entertains No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 3 Florida State visits Florida. MIAMI ALSO HAS a Dec. 5 game against South Carolina before facing Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl in what could be a national championship showdown. Oklahoma completed an 11-0 regular season last week, but there are a few key games today No. 5 Nebraska (bound for the Fiesta Bowl) at Colorado, No. 14 Georgia (Liberty Bowl) at Georgia Tech un-

Fleming, Pacers knock off Hawks

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Guard Vem Fleming is averaging 14.6 points, but it’s his improved ball handling that is pleasing Indiana coach Jack Ramsay the most “Vem keeps improving,” Ramsay said after the third-year pro contributed 16 points and a seasonhigh 14 assists Friday while playing 43 minutes without a turnover in Indiana’s 88-86 victory over Atlanta. FLEMING HAS had 10 or more assists in four of his last five NBA games and is averaging 8 per game. He has had only 13 turnovers in the last eight games. “He has better control of his passes,” Ramsay said. “I think he’s more aware of what the point guard’s responsibilities are. He’s seeing the floor (passing opportunities) better. He’s making the pass to his left, and he had trouble doing that before.” Fleming’s last assist came as he

this well all year,” Wright said after the tough battle in the first game at the Hoosier Dome. “Our team started well and maybe peaked a little too soon. “We lost our intensity for two or three games and didn’t play well in the sectional,” Wright said. SHERIDAN LOST ITS final two regular-season games, including a 31-13 loss to Zionsville, then barely got by Clinton Prairie 20-19 for the sectional championship. “We knew it would be a real dog fight right to the end,” Wright said. “We were containing Jimtown pretty well, and sooner or later I thought we could get them.” And it was a third-quarter turnover that did get the Jimmies, losing in the championship game for the second time in three years. “That definitely was the key,” Wright said of Grant Delph’s 23yard return of a fumbled punt that set up the game’s only touchdown. “That gave us momentum. We took it in and scored. It was the biggest play of the ball game.” DELPH RECOVERED the fumble and his return set up the 9yard touchdown run by his cousin, Tony Delph.

der the lights, Vanderbilt at No. 16 Tennessee (Peach Bowl), Arizona at Arizona State (Freedom Bowl), New Mexico vs. Arkansas (Liberty Bowl) at Little Rock and Wyoming (Holiday Bowl) at Hawaii at night. Burger’s 44-yard pass to Lawyer Tillman was the big play during the only touchdown drive of the game, a 99-yard surge capped by Harry Mose’s 5-yard scoring run that gave the Tigers a 7-0 halftime lead. Win Lyle got the other Auburn points on a 23-yard fourth-quarter field goal after the Tigers had moved 69 yards to the Alabama 9. That drive was comprised entirely of running plays against a Crimson Tide defense that had been on the field most of the half. AUBURN COACH Pat Dye said his defense “just wouldn’t let Alabama’s offense get started in the second half. And our running game got on track.” Dye said Auburn, which finished 5-0-1 in the SEC to LSU’s 5-1 and Alabama’s 4-2, “pretty much had control most of the game, but we weren’t ahead by much.” Linebacker Kurt Crain had 16 tackles and two interceptions as Auburn shut out Alabama for the first time since Notre Dame defeated the Crimson Tide 7-0 in 1980. BILL CURRY, WHO went 0-7 against Auburn as the Georgia Tech coach before taking over at Alabama this season, said a key to the loss was the Tide’s inability to cash in after Derrick Thomas blocked an Auburn punt at the 9 in the first period. Alabama disdained a field goal on fourth down from the Auburn 1, but the gamble misfired when a pass fell incomplete.

passed to Wayman Tisdale, who made an 8-foot turnaround jumper with 26 seconds to play for the game’s final points. “I JUST KNEW when I got the ball I was going to go up with it,” said Tisdale, one of five Pacer starters who finished in double figures. “I was calling for it (the ball). He (Fleming) hollered my name. His man dropped off him at first, and Vem looked like he was going to shoot. But he gave it off to me.” The 6-foot-7 Tisdale was closely guarded by 7-1 Tree Rollins. “I said to myself Tree is going to have to block this one,” said Tisdale, who contributed 11 points. “Wayman in the box or a short distance from the box is virtually unstoppable. The size of the player doesn’t matter. He has to make the appropriate move,” Ramsay said. “Wayman can score inside. Cliff Levingston, starting in place of the injured Dominique

Jimtown, unbeaten and ranked No.l in the state, had given up only three touchdowns duming the regular season. But the Sheridan defense limited the Jimmies to only five first downs and 152 net yards. The lOth-ranked Blackhawks, finishing the season at 12-2, added a 28-yard field goal by John Walton, then held off a Jimtown scoring threat midway through the final period. Jimtown Coach Bill Sharpe said Sheridan is “an excellent defensive team. We have to run to be successful, and they forced us to do something we didn’t want to do (pass). It’s a tribute to their defense. “WE FELT GOOD at halftime because we are a slow-starting club,” Sharpe said. “But the fumbled punt turned the ball game around.” Walton’s field goal also was set up by a turnover, after a pass by Rob Lowe was intercepted by Todd Harris at the Jimtown 26-yard line. Sheridan reached the 11 in five plays before Walton hit the field goal on fourth down less than a minute into the final period. Sheridan quarterback Jeff Durham received the IHSAA Eskew

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The first-ever three-point attempt by a Putnam County high school basketball player is in the air earlier this week as North Putnam’s Mike Hart fires from the corner in Tuesday’s game at Southmont. Hart can-

Wilkins, had a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks. Wilkins was sent back to Atlanta after the team’s afternoon workout to have a sore right knee checked by doctors at the Hughston Sports Medicine Hospital in Columbus, Ga. The examination revealed no serious problem. THE SCORE WAS tied 18 times before Tisdale’s 8-foot basket produced the game’s 14th and final lead change. However, the Hawks had dominated the boards all night and had three scoring opportunities after the score. After a time out, John Battle missed a drive for Atlanta. The Hawks got the offensive rebound, and Doc Rivers missed a 3-point attempt. The ball bounced around after the shot, and Randy Wittman got the rebound for the Hawks but lost it to Indiana’s Chuck Person with one second to play. I don’t know if we could have

Award for mental attitude. Rochester’s Tim Walker got the award in the 2A game, and Zionsville’s Rob Schein, who scored two of the Eagles’ three touchdowns, was the mental attitude award winner in 3A. “The last couple of weeks, people started to respect our No.l ranking a little more,” Zionsville Coach Rick Wimmer said of the 3A Eagles, whose conference opponents all are in the smaller Class A. “I DON’T APOLOGIZE for our schedule,” he said. “How many times do you see two teams from the same conference win state championships? You saw it tonight “The running game is our forte,” Wimmer said. “But I thought our defense was the big difference against a strong offensive ball club. Field position was part of it.” Elwood Coach Mark Hughes agreed. “Field position was the big difference,” Hughes said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes, and in the first half we played not to lose rather than to win. We haven’t done that all year.”

ned the first three-point attempt and went on to lead the Cougars with 17 points in their opening-game defeat. Hart is a NPHS senior. (Banner-Graphis photo by Gary Goodman).

gotten a better shot,” said Atlanta Coach Mike Fratello of Battle’s drive to the basket. PERSON WAS HIGH man for Indiana with 22, and Steve Stipanovich, who came up with the defensive rebound before Tisdale’s shot, had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Wittman thought he was fouled. “That was a shot. They just grabbed me on the way up, and it fell short. That just happens a lot in this game, and they’re not going to call it at that point” “There’s no way we shouldn’t have won this game,” Rivers said, adding that he wasn’t second guessing himself for trying a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. “It was a rebound. I was just standing out there; and once I got the ball I was behind the 3-point mark and open, so I went for the win,” he said.

ZIONSVILLE’S 14-7 lead at halftime was “the first time we were down at the half (this year) and the kids didn’t know how to handle it,” Hughes said. In the 2A game, the lead changed four times in the fourth quarter before the Rochester Zebras got the victory. Steve Ruckman’s 9-yard touchdown run with just over a minute to go was the game-winner. “Both backs were leading. I was just trying to get to the comer,” said Ruckman, a junior halfback. “Fortunately, the blocks were there and I just cut in (for the touchdown.” “It was a fantastic comeback,” said Rochester Coach Mark Miller, whose team started the period 10 points down. “THE KIDS NEVER stopped believing. It was a fantastic performance by everybody, but (quarterback) Brad McMillen did a tremendous job (directing the comeback).” The Zebras clinched their first championship when Ritter quarterback Vince Purichia, who set two passing records but missed two earlier field goal attempts, failed on

Three-at-once is new approach in high school, too

By JOHN RABY Associated Press Writer In Palmer, lowa, they’re nuts about shooting a basketball from downtown. This season, in Indiana and the rest of the nation, high schools will find the joy and sorrow of playing with the 3-point shot. “We’re a little crazy. We overuse it,” said Palmer coach Alden Skinner, whose team averaged nearly 20 three-pointers a game last year, and made more than half of them. But you can’t argue with success. Palmer has won the past two small school lowa state championships and had a 52-game winning streak entering this season. In the big basketball state of Indiana, where small schools play big schools and only one champion is crowned in the sport, 76 percent of the coaches felt high schools weren’t ready for the 3-point shot “They’re not sure 19-feet, 9-in-ches is the correct distance,” said Bill Stearman, coach at the 2,040student Columbus North High School and a former member of the national federation rules committee. The small school-big school matchup “gives the little schools the opportunity to upset the big school. They talk about that in little communities for the next 10 years,” Stearman said. Thus, the 3-point shot is a disadvantage to smaller schools, he said. “The little schools normally have to gamble on the outside shot,” he said. “If they can get through a game where the big school isn’t hitting on the 3-point shot, fine. “As a coach at a big school, I’m going to take advantage of it.” Stearman is the winningest active coach in Indiana high school basketball, starting this season with 607 career victories. The Bulldogs currently are ranked N 0.9 in the state by The Associated Press. The 3-point shot has been an option at the high school level for two years. Some states have been experimenting with it for up to five years. lowa was one of nine states to use the 3-point shot in the 1986-87 season. So did North and South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Connecticut and Utah. Last spring, the rule was expanded nationwide use for boys and girls by the basketball rules committee of the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations in Kansas City, Mo. It’s the same 19-9 distance used in college basketball. “Everybody likes it except the coaches,” said Dave Bones, a Toledo, Ohio, scout who runs a collegiate recruiting service for coaches that evaluates 3,000 high school players each year. Palmer, where 20 of the 22 boys in school went out for basketball this year, averaged 19.8 shots from 3-point range per contest last season, making 210 of 396 threepointers for 53 percent accuracy. About a third of Palmer’s shots this season will come from 3-point range. “We’re a very small school, and consequently, have not had a whole

November2B,l9B7THE BANNER GRAPHIC

a 41-yard field goal try with 10 seconds to go. “I thought we had it,” said Ritter Coach Rick Carrico. “He (Purichia) is a great kid. If we had to do it again, I’d put him right in the same position.” McMillen passed for 184 yards for Rochester, which scored three times in the final period and drove 72 yards in eight plays for the winning touchdown after Ritter took a 20-16 lead with 3:38 to go. After Ruckman’s touchdown, Ritter drove to the Rochester 24-yard line, but the Raiders were without any more timeouts and went for the field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. PURICHIA PASSED for 263 yards, breaking the championship game record of 257 set by Warren Central’s Jeff George in 1985. Purichia’s touchdown passes included a state finals-record 61 yards to John Goebel on the first play of the second half. Purichia also had a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tim Roberts in the second quarter. The final Ritter touchdown was on a 15-yard run by Damon Daniels with 3:38 to go.

Buha leaves post at ISU TERRE HAUTE (AP) Pete Buha, assistant football coach at Indiana State, announced his resignation Friday, the university said. Buha,who played colegiately at the University of Missouri, has been ISU’s defensive coordinator since 1984. He resigned in order to enter private business in Terre Haute, the athletic department said. Buha’s resignation becomes effective Dec.l.

lot of size,” Skinner said. “We play a lot of perimeter. We’ve been very fortunate, we’ve got some tremendous shooters.” “It’s really an equalizer for the smaller kids and the smaller schools,” Skinner said. “I disagree with a lot of the people that insist it does away with a lot of skills. Those are the same people who want the dunk.” Willie West, who has coached Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles to nine city championships and three state championships, likes the 3-point rule but doesn’t expect to mold his team around it. “We’re a pressing team, and we’re still going to try to do the things we try to do,” he said. West predicts the 3-point rule will help teams that don’t have a tall center. But it also could give teams with the big man an added advantage because it forces defenses to spread out, giving the center more room to work. Others argue that the rule is only as good as the coach who uses it correctly. “Some coaches are saying they’re just going to use it at the end of the game if they’re behind and need to catch up, but I think that’s a mistake,” said Bert Jenkins, coach at Gulfport, Miss., High School, the defending state Class 5A champion. “They have to practice it as part of their offense and use it as part of their game,” he said. “I don’t think they can achieve luck out of desperation.” The 3-point rule will magnify bad coaching, Bones said. “The teams that are not disciplined teams now are going to take bad 22-foot shots rather than bad 17-foot shots,” he said. The rule also will force changes in defense, said Jenkins, who is nearing his 800th coaching victory. “It may cause teams to extend their defenses out a little bit or go more to a man-to-man,” he said. “Some of the teams that are sitting back in their zones are going to have to do something different now.” The new rule also will add a dimension to college recruiting. “I can see that coaches are taking their fifth recruit as a guard with great range,” Bones said.

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