0 Page 8-Sunday, March 28, 1982-The Michigan Daily INDIANS WIN 'A' CROWN, 79-60 Flint Central takes title Straight from the source's mouth By RON POLLACK By JESSE BARKIN Flint Central went a long way in reaffirming that basketball is a team game, yesterday, as the Indians whipped Detroit Southwestern and its one-man offen- sive machine Antoine Joubert, 79-60, to capture their second straight Class 'A' crown before a packed house of 13,609 at Crisler Arena. Joubert, the Prospectors' All-State junior, banged in 35 points, most from the outer reaches of Crisler, but the Indians countered by out-shooting, out- rebounding, out-defensing, and completely out- pfaying Southwestern. THE INDIANS, perhaps more relaxed since they had won the title one year earlier (with Eric Turner), came out and quickly took an 8-0 lead. Joubert, meanwhile, was having trouble finding -his range against a tight, ball-denying zone defense and missed seven of his first eight shots. And while Joubert was struggling, Central was very patient in attacking the Southwestern zone and came away with open shots inside and outside, nearly every time down court. Joubert heated up toward the end of the half, hitting his last four shots, but Central led 37-24 at intermission. The second half began much like the first, and though Joubert was almost unstoppable (scoring 21 points in the half), the closest Southwestern could come was nine points, 57-48, with five minutes left. With 1:25 left, Flint Central guard Mark Harris put the finlishing touch on the game with a fast break dunk which brought the crowd to its feet and made the score 73-56. ONE OF THE keys for the Indians was their rebounding as they out-caromed the Prospectors 41- 24. 6-8 senior Marty Embry controlled both ends of the boards with 14 rebounds (seven on the offensive end) as the bigger Central team denied Southwestern second shots time and time again. In the shooting department, Darrel Johnson turned in an incredible performance for the Indians. While the Prospectors were trying to key on Central's 21- point a game scorer Harris, they left Johnson open and the 6-2 forward responded with 25 points on 11-14 shooting, mostly from the outside. Prospector coach Perry Watson did not expect this type of performance from Johnson. "We didn't know he would shoot like that," he said. "If someone was going to hurt us with the shot we figured it was going to be Harris." HARRIS FINISHED with 14 points, but also dished off for 14 assists.-Guard Chris Williams added 14 poin- ts for Central. Central coach Stan Gooch was also a little sur- prised with Johnson's shooting. "He's got a lot of ner- ve, but he knows he can shoot, and he can shoot. He's going to be a very fine ballplayer for us." On the strategy he used to defend Joubert, Gooch said, "We weren't going .to do anything to stop him. Just pressure him, and if he hit, he hit. Unless he's a Kareem or some big guy, we're not going to get beaten by a guard too often," he added. LSU after M' recruit. Okemos' snatches Class B crown- fro'm DeL aSa le By SARAH SHERBER Okemos successfully defended its Class B high school championship yesterday by defeating the Pilots of Detroit DeLaSalle, 60-57, at Crisler Arena. "We're a good shooting club," said the Chieftains head coach Stan Stolz of his 24-1 squad. OKEMOS PROVED its coach right by shooting 48.6 percent from the field and an impressive 85.7 percent'from the line before the sell-out crowd of 13,609. DeLaSalle was able to get on the board first, but by the end of the first quarter the Pilots found themselves in trouble. That's when Bob McGinnis committed his third personal foul in less than seven minutes of play (fourth team foul for DeLaSalle) and also earned the only technical of the game. OKEMOS TOOK advantage of the situation, as Mike Mertz made the free throw which came in the midst of seven unan- swered points by the Chieftains. The quarter ended with Okemos out in front 15-12. Before the half, Okemos was able to open its lead to 13 poin- ts as the second quarter ended, 35-22. DeLaSalle came back in the third quarter and outscored Okemos, 16-9. Six of the points for the Pilots came from layups by McGinnis. OKEMOS CONTINUED to be outscored in the final stanza of the game. With just 16 seconds left to play DeLaSalle had managed to bring the score to within five. The Pilots' John Bautista was at the free throw line for his team and sunk both shots, making it 58-55. His twin brother, Michael, was immediately called for a personal against Mertz. It was Bautista's fifth foul and he left the court to a standing ovation from the DaLaSalle fans. Mertz, meanwhile, missed the foul shot, which was rebognded by the remaining Bautista brother who scored on a jump shot to bring the Pilots to within one. MERTZ WAS again immediately fouled while taking the ball down the court, but this time he was able to redeem him- self by making both shots and lifting the Chieftains to 60-57 before time ran out. Mark Abraham scored a game-high 18 points as he paced Okemos to the victory. Two other teammates, Mertz and Bruce Arensmeier, scored in double digits with 16 and 14 points, respectively. McGinnis led DeLaSalle with 17 points, followed by John Bencie and David Wolf who both had 13. Stolz, who has led his team to a 50-2 record the past two seasons, was more than relieved by the victory. "I think there is much more pressure for us this year. Staying there (first place in the state) is not as tough as getting there." Et 0 ...A twisting tale SOME PEOPLE just can't take no for an answer. At least that's the feeling Michigan's prized basketball .recruit Richard Rellford and Head Coach Bill Frieder must have. Rellford, a high school All- American from Florida, verbally committed to Michigan on February 16. Yet,-he is still being recruited by Louisiana State. Rellford insists that he will sign a national letter of intent with Michigan when the official signing day rolls around (April 14). LSU head coach Dale Brown, meanwhile, claims that the 6-52 forward may be having second thoughts about playing for the Wolverines. The following are excerpts from interviews conducted with Rellford, Frieder, Brown and Fred Jacoby who is the chairman of the Letter of Intent Steering Committee for the Collegiate Commissioners Association: Wednesda, March 24 Rellford- "Whenever LSU calls, I tell them that I'm already committed to Michigan. They call every other day, and I give them the same answer. every time. "I committed early because I didn't want to ave to put up with the tension that goes with recruiting." Frieder- "I've been aware of it, because both Richard and his counselor called to tell me about it. It disappoints me, but it's part of the business. Until the recruiting signing dates are changed so that high school players can sign when they make their decision, you'll have these players'being harassed by other schools after they've verbally committed. "We don't do that and we'll never do it. We respect their decision and we aim our recruiting efforts elsewhere. What I'd like to know is what recourse a high school player has to keep a school from harassing him after he's ver- bally committed?" Thursday, March 25 The answer to Frieder's question comes from Jacoby, who doubles as the Mid-American Conference commissioner when he isn't heading the Letter of Intent Steering Committee. "It's up to the player and his parents," said Jacoby. "If they want, they can shut it off very quickly by just not taking any more calls from recruiters." As for why the letter of intent signing is April 14 and not earlier, Jacobi said, "We want to let the student finish the season. Otherwise they might sign before their senior year, which may not be.in the best intrest of the student." Friday, March 26 Brown- "Recruiting is a situation that is impossible to predict due to the youthfulness of the individual being recruited by adults. Richard said, I kind of told Michigan I'd go there, but I'm contuse.' so I asked if he wanted to visit LSU and he said yes. He plans to visit, but'a date hasn't been set'." Rellford denied ever saying that he would visit LSU. "I told one of their assistants that I was committed and that I wasn't interested in visiting LSU because I'd already made my mind.up. They probably just heard some rumors. I've been hearing those rumors, but I'm not paying any attention to them. "LSU started recruiting me about a month ago, after I had verbally com- mitted and I don't think that they knew anything about that commitment at the time. So when they asked me to visit, I told them no since I was verbally committed to Michigan and Michigan is where my parents wanted me to go. On April 14, I plan on signing with Michigan." Saturday, March 27 When informed of what Brown had said the previous day, Frieder said, "As far as I-know, Richard is not confused as to where he will go to college. I'm a little disappointed in Dale Brown because Richard has committed to Michigan and he has sent a letter to LSU saying that he's coming to Michigan and that he would appreciate it if he (Brown) and his staff would stop recruiting him." Taking all of this into consideration, it would appear that Brown's assessment that there is some confusion involved in the recruiting of Rellford is only partially accurate. There is some confusion, but it seems that it is on Brown's part and not Rellford's. When Rellford talks about LSU, he adamantly denies the fact that he has any interest in the school. The letter to which Frieder referred reinforces this point. No matter how many ways the question of whether he ever said that he wanted to visit LSU is phrased, Rellford gives the same answer-no! Apparently/ Brown's contention that Rellford is confused and wants to visit LSU is based more upol his hopes of landing the star cager than Rellford's actual feelings. MORE RECRUITING NOTES- Although the Wolverines have verbal commitments from four high school players, they are still out on the recruiting trails. Michigan is still recruiting 6-2 guard Anthony Watson (Detroit), 6-91/% Keith Wesson (Ohio) and 6-7 Butch Wade (Boston). Wade has narrowel his choices down to Michigan, Providence, Connecticut and possibly ,DePaul. Wesson is reportedly visiting Michigan this weekend. Other schools that he is interested in include Ohio State, Cincinnati, Wiscon- sin and Tennessee. St. Mary's destroys Reed City in finals, 76-48 By JIM DWORMAN - The Reed City cheering section may have screamed "Whoosh!" whenver its team shot a free throw, but the whoosh sound could be heard most often when an Orchard Lake St. Mary's shot swished through the net. The Eaglets of Orchard Lake connec- ted on 58 percent of their shots en route to a 76-48 victory over the Reed City Coyotes in the state Class 'C' cham- pionship game last night in Crisler Arena. MOST OF St. Mary's fine field goal shooting came from the hands of senior Hiram Harris and Chris Howze. Howze, the 6-5 transfer from Pontiac Northern, scored 27 while hitting 1.3 of 19 shots. The 6-6 Harris pumped in 23 points on an 11 for 15 shooting perfor- mance. Another reason for the Eaglets ex- cellent field-goal percentage was its shot selection. Only 10 of 76 St. Mary's points came from shots taken from outside of 15 feet. Orchard Lake was in control from start to finish. The Eaglets held leads of 16-11 at the end of the first quarter and 40-24 at halftime. The lead increased to 26 at the end of the third quarter when the Eaglets found themselves holding a 60-36 lead. THE MARGIN widened even further when St. Mary's ran a streak of 12 straight points midway through the final stanza before coach Bob Shoemaker emptied the bench. At this point, St. Mary's had such a big lead that even 5-3 freshman Eugene Watson got into the game. The Coyotes, who finished only in third place in the North Central Con- ference, were led by 6-5 senior Layne Brower's 17 points. Reed City finished the season at 20-7. i Orchard Lake, which also got 13 poin- ts from 5-9 senior Lance Davis, finished with a 25-3 mark. The Eaglets' only three defeats this season were at the hands of Class A Detroit powers Cass Tech and Cooley and Class B runner-up DeLaSalle. St. Mary's last won the state cham- pionship as a Class D school in 1978 when its starting lineup included Michigan State forward Evaristo Perez and Michigan baseball star Jim Paciorek. Bulldogs run and'gun 'past Trout Creek, 105-94 By JIM DWORMAN When Al McGuire coached Marquette to the national championship in 1977, he gave much of the credit for winning the title to his big men, Jerome Whitehead and Bo Ellis. McGuire referred to those two as his "aircraft carriers." Last night at Crisler Arena, the aircraft carriers won another title. Whitehead, DerrickWhitehead that is, and John Willhite dominated the floor in leading the Covert Bulldogs to a 105-94 victory over the Ewen-Trout Creek Panthers in the championship game of the state class 'D' championships. - THE DOUBLE "W"s accounted for 60 points and 27 rebounds as the two teams set a new tournament record for the most-points scored in the champion- ship game with 199 points. Covert also set a record for the most points scored by a team in'the quarter-, semi- and final games with 265. Covert coach Kenneth Jackson praised the efforts of Whitehead, who scored 22 points and grabbed 12' rebounds despite a nagging knee injury. "You really didn't even see him at his best," said Jackson. "He banged up his knee real bad againsi East Catholic last night." About the extraordinary performan- ce of Willhite, who led Covert with 38 points and 15 rebounds, Jackson could only say, "He really gets up for the big games." THE FIRST quarter was an evenly played, run-and-gun affair, as Trout Creek countered Covert's full-court man-to-man pressure with a zone press of its own. The period ended with the Bulldogs holding a one-point advan- tage, 20-19. But while the two carriers continued to propel the Bulldogs in the second quarter, the Panther fleet stalled. Covert rattled off streaks of eight and 12 straight points early in the quarter and by the time Trout Creek coach Tom Caugill called time out at the 3:40 mark, the score was 42-27 in favor of the Bulldogs. When the half ended, Covert led by a score of 50 - 36. THE TEAMS traded baskets the rest of the way. The only real difference between the two was that Covert's poin- ts came from an assortment of dunks and jump shots while Trout Creek mixed an array of layups with its jum- pers. Al Smith added 22 points for the, champions, whose victory gave them a -26-1 mark. 40 U U SPORTS OF THE DAILY: Gymnasts finish tenth at NCAAs v " v Special to the Daily SALT LAKE CITY - The women's gymnastics team went to Salt Lake City for the NCAA champion- ships as the tenth and final team to qualify for the meet, and that's exactly where the Wolveirnes wound up as the team, competing in the NCAA tournament for the first year, found the competition extremely tough. Michigan scored a 136.9, slightly under its seasonal average, but even the Wolverine's best performance plus five or six extra points would not have been enough to overcome Utah who won the championship with a 148.60. Cal State Fullerton followed with a 144.15, and Penn State finished third with a 143.10. Even though the team finished last, coach Sheri Hyatt did not look at the meet as a disappointment. "I thought they (her team) did a good job. We didn't have our highest score of the season, but it wasn't bad. We still are one of the ten best in the country." Kathy Beckwith posted the best all-around score for the Wolverines with a 34.70, and 32nd place overall. Sophomore Nancy Papows was 42nd with a 34.05, and Christy Schwartz and Dayna Samuelson finished 49th and 50th, respectively. nation's number-one spot throughout the season, splitting the season's home-and-home series at one win apiece. Netters win Special to the Daily WICHITA- The Michigan men's tennis team downed Wichita State 5-4, Friday, as Wolverine coach Brian Eisner picked up his 199th career win to sur- pass William Murphy and become Michigan's win- ningest tennis coach. Wolverine Mike Leach got things going for Michigan early with a win over Wichita's Roberto Saad, 5-7,6-3,6-4. THE SHOCKERS' Per Larson came back, however, to down the Wolverines' Mark Mees, 6-4, 6- 2. Wichita's Paul Smith added another victory to the Shocker's tally by defeating the Wolverines' Tom Haney, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Whichita's Steve Grey downed Ihor Debryn, 7-5, 5- 7, 6-2, to put another mark on the Shocker's side of the scoreboard. Bill Godfrey, however, defeated the Shockers' Dale Houston, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, to add to the Wolverine's tally. IN DOUBLES competition, the combination of victory over the New Jersey Nets lasi night. Darwin Cook's driving layup rolled off the rim at the buzzer to keep the Nets from sending the game in- to overtime.8 Buck Williams, with a game-high 39 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets, fouled out with 38 seconds remaining. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor. The Pistons held a 55-51 margin at the half and an 89-87 lead at three quarters. Tripucka and Terry Tyler combined for 24 of 34 fourth-quarter points. Tigers 4, White Sox 3 LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - Jerry Turner's pinch' single in the eighth inning drove in Enos Cabell with the winning run as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-3 in exhibition baseball yester- day. Detroit trailed 3-1 in the seventh when Kirk Gib- son's two-out bases-loaded double off Chicago reliever Jeff Schattinger drove in Lynn Jones and Chet Lemon to tie the game 3-3. CHICAGO'S Mike Squires tripled and scored in the White Sox first when Cabell let a double play toss from pitcher Milt Wilcox get away from him at third - ~ยง~>j~- >i*-j