Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 106, Greencastle, Putnam County, 12 January 1988 — Page 6

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THE BANNERGRAPHIC January 12,1988

To play nationally-ranked DePauw

Wabash coming to town

By KEITH E. DOMKE Banner-Graphic Sports Editor The possibility exists that when rival Wabash College travels south to meet DePauw Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Lilly Center, the Little Giants will be playing the top ranked team in Division 111. The Tigers nine-game win streak were placed in the position to possibly gain that top ranking earlier today when the NCAA poll was released. DePauw was ranked third a week ago, but could move up after the top two teams Nebraska Wesleyan and Southeast Massachusetts both suffered losses. But, things are really up in the air before the release of die poll because No. 1 Nebraska Wesleyan’s loss came to an NAIA school while No. 2 Southeast Massachusetts was beaten by an NCAA Division II team. Both losses were the first of the season for both institutions, while DePauw does own the two setbacks.

THE POLL was released shortly after noon today. Wabash’s Mac Petty is one of the regional coaches that helps decide the rankings. He said this morning that he will place the Tigers first in the Great Lakes Region, a spot he also felt they deserved in the first poll last week. “DePauw is very good. They deserve recognition,” said Petty, who finds his troops trying to snap a four-game losing streak that has placed them at 5-6 on the season heading into Wednesday’s showdown. “(DePauw coach) Royce (Waltman) has done an excellent job in taking over the program. His kids are playing well. They’re doing the job.” HOWEVER, THE possible No. 1 ranking would only add more fuel to the fire, giving the Litde Giants even more incentive to play well. A Monon Bell victory by the DPU football team last November has not yet been forgotten, and that same Monon Bell sits atop the concession stand inside Neal Fieldhouse. Wabash enters the game with everything to gain and nothing to lose. The Wabash game is the first of two for the Black and Gold this week as Waltman’s crew will travel to Anderson University on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game with the Ravens. DePauw also has a pair of games next week with Indiana UniversityPurdue University of Indianapolis at home on Wednesday, the 19, while a trip to Taylor is planned for Saturday, die 23rd. If the Tigers would gain that top ranking in Division 111, it would be the first time in the school’s history they would do so. DPU has been ranked as high as second in the past when the Black and Gold found success under now Division I East Carolina University coach Mike Steele. DePauw has put together four straight 20-win seasons and has also appeared in four consecutive Division 111 postseason tournaments. “WE ALWAYS play DePauw tough,” said Petty, who is 205-149 in his 15 years at Wabash. “Sure, they’re good this year, but never count Wabash out.” Four players are scoring in double figures for Wabash with AllAmerican candidate Chris Whitfield leading the way with a 24.1 mark. The 6-6 senior is also tops on

Playoff loss leaves Colts with empty feeling Twnx AXT a r>ru tc am .

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) General Manager Jim Irsay has an empty feeling about the Indianapolis Colts despite the franchise’s first winning season in 10 years, its AFC East title and its first playoff appearance since 1977. “There’s been a feeling of satisfaction and somewhat a weight off the shoulders, particularly in being a division champion rather than a wild card (playoff participant),” Irsay said. “But I’ve emphasized to our people that we have a lot more expectations than just winning a division championship. “A Super Bowl victory can only be the true mark of a successful season. That’s really the stamp of ultimate success.” The Colts, who finished 9-6 in 1987, had their Super Bowl dreams evaporate Saturday with a 38-21 loss to AFC Central champion Cleveland. Statistically, Indianapolis made major improvements in every category from 1986, and the disappointment of the playoff loss was camouflaged by satisfaction over this year’s accomplishments for most players. Quarterback Jack Trudeau, who started eight games and the playoff

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CHRIS WHITFIELD WC’s leading scorer

the team with an eight rebounds-per-game average and has blocked 28 shots during the 11-game schedule. Six-foot-three senior forward Steve Cox is next in line for the Little Giants with a 15.4 scoring and 6.5 rebound average. Six-one junior guard Mike McCarty is clipping the nets at 14.6 points per game, while 6-2 sophomore guard Brian Shepherd is scoring 10.5 per try. Shepherd is also leading WC in assists, dishing out 6.1 per game. DEPAUW WILL counter with the same kind of balance, even though the statistics are not as flashy as its Crawfordsville-based counterpart. “I think in a nutshell Wabash is a very athletic team that has players who have a lot of skills,” said Waltman. “They have three-point shooters who can also take the ball past you to the basket and they have Whitfield who is a scorer and rebounder inside. “We have to be ready to guard players that are really good athletes.” SENIOR MIKE Connor is leading the way with a 14.1 average, while fellow seniors Dan Falotico and Jim Sandgren are pumping home 12.3 and 11.2 points, respectively. Sandgren is the Tigers’ top rebounder with seven per game, while Connor is ripping the boards for 5.6 per outing. Connor just needs three points to move into the top 10 scoring list in DPU history. He has netted 1,088 points in his four-year college career and trails Herb Spier by the three markers. Also doing a fair amount of the scoring for DePauw have been senior Randy Biederstedt (9.6), freshman Brett Crist (9.2), junior Mark Smith (6.4), and freshman Iroy Greenlee (5.6). Crist leads DPU in assists with four per game. Since a 61-57 loss to Butler in

game as a replacement for the injured Gary Hogeboom, gained confidence and showed the ability to move the Colts as Indianapolis won its last two games to claim its title. “I can’t tell you how much it (the season) means to me,” said Trudeau, who threw two touchdown, passes and had Indianapolis driving for the go-ahead score midway in the third quarter before a Cleveland blitz and interception. “I’ve never been on a losing team before, and last year was as frustrating as anything I’ve ever been involved with,” said Trudeau, who went winless in 11 starts filling in for Hogeboom as the Colts got off to an 0-13 start in 1986. Trudeau completed 128-of-229 passes (55.9 percent) for 1,587 yards in 1987, throwing six passes for touchdowns and having six intercepted. That was a significant change from his rookie season when the second-round draft pick completed 204-of-417 passes (48.9 percent) and had eight touchdown passes and 18 interceptions. “To have it change in just one

Hinkle Fieldhouse on Nov. 28, the Tigers have won nine in a row as Hanover, Earlham, Rose-Hulman, Thomas More, Olivet, Wittenberg, Maine-Presque Isle, Franklin, and Taylor have all gone by the wayside. In compiling that sparkling, 10-2 mark this season, DePauw is scoring 78.8 points per game, while limiting its opponents to 62.4. WABASH HAS scored 86.1 points per game through its first 11, but has given up 87.2 as high scoring affairs have been the norm for the Little Giants. “We really will have to be able to handle the ball well offensively,” Waltman said. “Wabash is the kind of team that can apply a lot of pressure, so we have to be ready for that.” In their current losing streak, WC has been defeated by Urbana, Butler, Oakland City and RoseHulman. Wabash has defeated Earlham, Findlay, Blackburn, Eureka, and North Central. “It’s been a matter of consistency,” Petty said. “We’ve had spurts when we’ve scored well and have had spurts when we’ve been dry. I think that is a mental thing more than anything else. We’ve improved lately, but we are in a slump.” THE LITTLE Giants are connecting on 44 percent of their shots as a team, compared to the 53.2 percent mark DePauw has established from the floor. Officially, that .532 percentage places the Tigers among the top 10 in that nation and is only .004 percent off the school record of .536 set during the 1984-85 season. ‘The inside game will be a key,” Petty said of the Whitfield-Cox versus Connor-Sandgren-Falotico battle underneath. “You have to go with what you’ve utilized so far in the season, even though our scoring has been pretty well rounded throughout the team. “We have to maintain that. That may be the biggest key.” A YEAR ago, the Tigers won both meetings against Wabash. At Crawfordsville, the Black and Gold posted a 71-50 win as Connor scored 14. In Neal Fieldhouse, DPU prevailed, 73-71, as Falotico tallied 19. That win the 21st of the season at the time sent DePauw into the playoffs. “I was impressed with our school spirit in the (Monon) bell game during the football season,” Waltman said. “But, I, myself, won’t know what this rivalry is really about from a basketball standpoint until Wednesday.” Anderson is 4-10 this winter and is coached by A. Barrett Bates, who owns a 197-169 record and is in his 13th year there. In the only meeting between the two schools last year, DPU won, 88-68.

year and for things to go the way they did and have a chance, it really means more than I can tell you. It’s unbelievable,” Trudeau said. Trudeau has had more starts than Hogeboom, sidelined by four injuries in two seasons as a Colt, in the past two years even though Hogeboom started two games during the 24-day players strike. But Trudeau will still have to win the starting job if Hogeboom recovers from his latest injury a dislocated shoulder on his throwing arm. “I’d like to solidify the quarterback position,” said coach Ron Meyer, who has compiled a 12-6 mark since replacing Rod Dowhower when the Colts were 013 in 1986. Meyer admits that without Trudeau, who was 5-3 as a starter during the regular season, his club wouldn’t have made the playoffs. Meyer isn’t allowing himself to become overwhelmed by the success of 1987. He says that despite sending six players to the Pro Bowl, the Colts need better performance in nearly every phase of the game to face a 1988 schedule that includes five playoff teams.

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Local winners In the Elks Hoop Shoot contest Saturday at South Putnam High School were from left, front row: Jason Burges, boys’ 10-11-year-old age group; Leah Ross, girls’ 8-

North Central Conference 1-2-4

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) weren’t for Bedford-North Lawrence, the North Central Conference would have a clean sweep atop The Associated Press boys’ basketball poll this week. Polls in scoreboard Even with with the unbeaten Stars’ No. 3 ranking, the tough NCC has three of the top four spots, thanks to Kokomo’s move ahead of Concord into the No. 4 spot. As usual, NCC rivals Richmond and Muncie Central remained 1-2, followed by Bedford-North Lawrence. Unbeaten Kokomo, which plays at Richmond next week, is a distant fourth, with Concord close behind. Oregon-Davis remained sixth in the voting by AP’s statewide board of sports writers and broadcasters. The Kokomo-Concord switch was the only change among the top six teams of a week ago, but a pair of losses dropped Fort Wayne Northrop 10 spots to 17th and moved Jeffersonville and Anderson Highland up one spot apiece to seventh and eighth, respectively. Northrop could move up again or out of the Top 20 entirely after this week’s game with Richmond. Richmond received 27-of-30 first-place votes and, for the second week in a row, a near-perfect 594 of a possible 600 rating points from the AP panel. Muncie Central, whose only loss in nine games was to Richmond, remained second. The Bearcats didn’t have any first-place votes but increased their rating point total slightly from 510 to 514.

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JACK TRUDEAU Improved in 1987

9; Jarod Unger, boys’ 8-9. Back row: Jay Mutterspaugh, boys’ 12-13; Jennifer Beller, girls’ 12-13; Kelly Smith, girls 10-11. (BannerGraphic photo by Gary Goodman)

Bedford, 11-0, again had the remaining three votes for No. 1 but lost the four rating points that Muncie gained, totaling 478 this week. Kokomo received 391 points, Concord had 375 and OregonDavis 290. Jeffersonville received 247 points and Anderson Highland had 207. Rounding out the Top 10 teams this week are unbeaten South Bend St. Joseph’s, up three spots to ninth, and Indianapolis Cathedral, up one spot to 10th. Terre Haute North climbed two spots to 11th; Hammond Noll, 10-1 with a nine-game winning streak, rose six places to 12th, marking the biggest gain by a Top 20 team this week; Rockville and Jay County rose three spots apiece to 13 th and 14th, respectively; and LaPorte climbed four places to 15th.

Season high not enough for CHS

CLOVERDALE Coming up with its best scoring output of the season to date still was not good enough to sent the Cloverdale High School girls’ basketball team to its second triumph of the season. However, it did bring a smile to coach Greg Hammond’s face. The Lady Clovers were defeated by Cascade, 74-61, on Monday, dropping the CHS record to 1-10 on the season heading into Thursday’s Putnam County showdown with North. Before that point total, the previous Cloverdale high game had been 59. “I FELT like we played at a notch higher than we have in the past,” Hammond said. “We had a lot of girls contribute and we played pretty good basketball. It was a well-played game and we hung tough for most of it.” Cascade led at all stops, but not by much through the first half. At the end of the opening quarter, the Cadets were on top, 20-18, and led by three at the intermission, 37-34. The lone Cloverdale dry spell came in the third stanza, where the visitors outscored the Clovers, 149, to take a more comfortable, 5143 advantage into the final eight minutes of play. ‘That one stretch in the third quarter hurt us,” Hammond said. “We made four of five turnovers in about six possessions, and Cascade turned all of them into points. We quickly found ourselves down by 11 right after we were right in the thick of it.” CLOVERDALE MANAGED to cut the lead back to five in the fourth quarter before Cascade sealed the win down the stretch. “We took some big steps in this game,” Hammond said. “I was pleased with what I saw.” Junior standout Ann Hutcheson continued to scorch the nets as the petite guard scored 43 points to easily lead all scorers. And, although no other Clover hit double figures, teammate Mendy parker added a career-high nine points, while Monica Koosman tacked on eight.

Vincennes, 6-2 with a six-game winning streak, was one of three newcomers voted to the poll this ’ week. The Alices were picked 16th, and New Washington and Indianapolis North Central were voted to a 20th-place tie. Floyd Central, 14th last week, and Evansville Bosse, which was 15th, dropped out of the Top 20. Elsewhere, Goshen climbed two spots to 18th despite a loss to Concord, and Gary Roosevelt fell nine spots to 19th after losing to un- . ranked Merrillville. i The top six teams in the girls’ coaches poll were unchanged this week, with Noblesville still atop the rankings. Scottsburg was picked N 0.2 again, followed by Indianapolis Brebeuf, Rushville, Anderson Highland and Seymour.

HUTCHESON ALSO led the Clovers with 10 rebounds and six steals. On the night, the hosts hit 25-of--57 shots from the floor, while Cascade canned 30-of-62. Cascade 74, Cloverdale 61 CASCADE (74) Dugan 7 5-5 1 20. Shafer 0 0-0 1 0, Barger 3 2-4 2 8, Ferguson 4 0-0 1 8, Sykes 6 2-3 2 14, Bowman 0 0-0 0 0, Lueck 0 0-0 0 0, Peterson 1 2-4 4 4, Tomlden 3 1-14 7, Sallee 0 0-0 0 0, Lopossa 6 1-1 1 13. Totals 30 13-18 16 74. CLOVERDALE (61) Parker 4 0-1 09, Fidler 0 0-0 4 0, Burcham 0 1-2 2 1, Atkins 0 0-0 5 0, Hutcheson 17 6-9 4 43, Koosman 4 0-1 1 8. Totals 25 7-13 1661. Cascade 20 17 14 23 —74 Cloverdale 18 16 9 18 —6l Three-point goals Dugan (Ca) 1, Hutcheson (Cl) 3, Parker (Cl) 1. Rebounds Cascade 30 (NA), Cloverdale 21 (Hutcheson 10). Assists Cascade NA, Cloverdale 12 (Koosman 4). Steals Cascade NA, Cloverdale 8 (Hutcheson 6). Fouled out Atkins (Cl). Turnovers Cascade 20, Cloverdale 20. North Korea may still skip SEOUL, South Korea (AP) The Soviet Union says it will take part in the Seoul Summer Olympics, but North Korea insists it will boycott the Games unless it can be a joint host. South Korea hailed the Soviet decision, announced Monday, and urged archrival communist North Korea to drop its demand to be a co-host. Park Seh-jik, president of the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee, said the Soviet Union’s decision to take part would make the Games a major success and help ease world tension. “The Games will become a global festival both in name and reality for East-West harmony in which an unprecedented record number of countries from the East and West camps take part,” Park said. SLOOC officials expressed concern about North Korea’s announcement Monday that it would not meet the Jan. 17 deadline for accepting an invitation to enter the Games. North Korea said it would continue to demand to be made a co-host with Seoul. The Soviet announcement appeared to dash North Korea’s threat.