Page 8-Sunday, March 27, 1983-The Michigan Daily N.C. State upstages Virginia, 63-62 OGDEN, Utah (AP) - Sophomore Lorenzo Charles sank two free throws with 23 seconds remaining yesterday, lifting North Carolina State to a 63-62 up- set over fourth-ranked Virginia in the NCAA West Regional championship game and denying Ralph Sampson his coveted national champsionship. North Carolina State, 24-9, now advances to the Final Four in Albuquerque, N.M., against the winner of Sunday's East Regional final between North Carolina and Georgia. State beat North Carolina and Virginia on successive nights two weeks ago to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and earn an NCAA bid. IT WAS SAMPSON, the three-time All-America, who committed the decisiive foul when Charles drove for the basket. Charles calmly sank both free throws, capping a Wolfpack rally from a seven point deficit with 7:39 left. Virginia, unable to get the ball into Sampson for a final shot, had two more chances to win it, but Tim Mullen's long jump shot bounced off the rim and Othel Wilson's follow shot fell short as time expired. Senior guard Dereck Whittenburg led theWolfpack with 24 points, most of them from long range, while forwards Thurl Bailey and Charles finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively. SAMPSON PACED the Cavaliers with 23 points, in- cluding eight straight Virginia points that built the seven point bulge in the second half. But Virginia couldn't hold the lead, and Sampson's illustrious four-year career ended without the national championship he so cherished. The Cavaliers, a solid free-throw shooting team during the regular season, had problems at the line for the third straight tournament game. The Cavaliers converted just seven of 14 free throws in the second half and missed three of their last five free throw tries, including one by Wilson with 54 seconds left that gave North Carolina State its chance to win in regulation. WITH VIRGINIA unable to pull away from thA pesky Wolfpack in the first half, the 7-foot-4 Sampson took personal charge of the Cavaliers: His hook shot put Virginia, the top seed in the West, ahead 50-43. After a pair of free throws by Wolfpack guard Sidney Lowe and a basket by Charles, Sam- pson scored two more baskets, one a slam of a missed Virginia shot. Bailey cut the deficit to 54-49, but two Sampson free throws with 7:39 to go extended Virginia's margin to seven again, at 56-49. Bailey had four of N.C. State's next eight points as the Wolfpack drew closer and Charles shouldered hi4 way inside for a bucket that tied the score, 59-59 with 3:43 left. Virginia guard Rick Carlisle, who had converted six straight free throws in the closing seconds of Virginia's semifinal victory over Boston College Thursday night, then missed a free throw, but Sam- pson's stuff off a lob pass from Carlisle put the Cavaliers ahead 61-59 with 1:47 left. Louisville pounds Kentucky in OT , . t d/' H AP Photo All-America Ralph Sampson prepares to leave Virginia's lockerroom and his college basketball career after Virginia's 63-62 defeat at the hands of North Carolina State in the West regional final of the NCAA tournament. Straight from the source's moutha By RON POLLACK So long Ralph and Antoine... ... coaching wins championships IF YOU COULD pick any person from a college basketball team for the NCAA tournament, who would it be? If you could pick any person from a Michigan high school basketball team for the state tournament, who would it be? Virginia's Ralph Sampson and Detroit Southwestern's Antoine Joubert you say. That's fine and dandy with me. Now it's my turn to choose. So who should I pick? North Carolina's Michael Jordan, Memphis State's Keith Lee or Tennessee's Dale Ellis for the NCAAs? Flint Central's Darryl Johnson for the Michigan high school tourney? They're all fine players, but I think I'll pass. So what's left? How about a top-notch coach. Come tournament time, a fir- st-class coach is as important as a Sampson or Joubert. Probably more so. Take yesterday's Class A final as an example. Joubert has been called All- State, All-Everything and just short of All-World. But in the finals, Antoine's one-man show wasn't enough and Flint Central won its third straight state championship. The reason for Flint Central's dominance is its coach, Stan Gooch. The man has had good talent to work with, but his teams win because of an emphasis on the team concept and balance rather than a one-man highlight film. So I'd choose a Stan Gooch over an Antoine Joubert. Gooch has proved that can win without a superstar of Joubert's caliber. He had good talent to work with this season, but nothing to compare with Joubert, despite what Darryl Johnson fans say. Joubert, on the other hand, has shown that he can- not win without a coach who will instill a team concept. The last two seasons, Joubert has compiled awesome statistics and press clippings, but has lost in the state finals to Flint Central both times. And for the same reason, I'd choose a Bobby Knight, Dean Smith of Denny Crum over a Ralph Sampson for the NCAA tourney. For the last four seasons, Sampson has failed to win a national title because his coach has not used him properly. Sampson hasn't been part of the team, he's been the whole squad. He has been asked to do too much, to be a one-man team. And one-man teams do not win NCAA tournaments. Opposing coaches are too smart and have too much bearing on games for this to occur. The import- ance of the coach has been seen throughout this year's tourney. A clearly undermanned Indiana team gives Kentucky a battle because it is so well coached by Knight. Another overmatched squad, Princeton, pulled off an early upset over Oklahoma State because of the emphasis on defense and a slow down offense its coach has stressed all season. Yesterday, Ken- tucky had the momentum going into overtime against Louisville, but Wild- cats' coach Joe B. Hall let the game get out of hand by not calling a timeout at a crucial moment. If you look at the teams left in the tournament, you will find that their coaches have infused a team concept. North Carolina's Michael Jordan is considered to be the college Player of the Year in some corners, but the Tar Heels are not a one-man show as is Virginia. Credit Smith for that. The other remaining teams - Georgia, North Carolina State, Louisville, Villanova and Houston - all sport fairly balanced attacks. So give me an outstanding coach over an outstanding player. I'd be willing to bet that if Joubert were coached by Gooch, he'd have a state champion- ship to his name. And I'd wager that if Smith or Knight coached Sampson, the 7-4 giant who is arguably the finest college basketball player ever, he would own an NCAA championship ring. Instead, these two fine players can only wonder about what might have been. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Lan- caster Gordon hit two baskets within 18 seconds, triggering an overtime out- burst that carried second-ranked Louisville to an 80-68 victory over no. 12 Kentucky yesterday in the NCAA Mideast Regional tournament in the first meeting in 24 years between the Bluegrass State powers. ' Tenacious Louisville, 32-3, which used a trapping defense to fight back from a 13-point first-half deficit, scored the first 14 points in overtime and gained a berth in the Final Four at Albuquerque, N.M. next week against the winner of Sunday's Midwest title game between top-ranked Houston and No. 13 Villanova. IT WAS THE 16th victory in a row for the Cardinals, who have won 24 of their last 25 games. Gordon scored 24 points and Milt Wagner 18, most of those after half- time, when Louisville went to its relen- tless pressure defense that forced Ken- tucky, 23-8, into numerous turnovers. The Wildcats held a nine-point lead when Louisville applied the pressure in earnest. The Cardinals forced Ken- tucky into six turnovers in less than two minutes, going on a 10-2 spurt that cut the lead to 45-42. LOUISVILLE didn't lead until 11:40 remained, when Gordon pulled up off a drive to sink a six-footer for a 50-49 ad- vantage. Gordon came back with a dunk 90 seconds later to put Louisville ahead 54- 53, and the Cardinals never trailed again. Kentucky got possession to force the overtime when Charles Hurt rebounded Hord's missed free throw for a layup that tied the game with 3:15 left in regulation. Wagner's errant pass gave Kentucky possession with 2:24 to go, and the Wildcats held the ball for the final shot. HOWEVER, Dirk Minniefield spotted an open lane to the basket with 16 seconds to play but had his layup deflected by Jones. Gordon came back with an eight- fiooter 11 seconds from the finish to make it 62-60 before Master's shot at the buzzer tied it again 62-62. However, there was no contest in overtime. Gordon's two quick baskets, one off his own steal, ignited the 14-0 outburst that sealed the victory. MASTER AND Melvin Turpin led Kentucky with 18 points each, a dozen each after halftime. Rodney McCray added 15 for Louisville and Charles Jones had 14. It was the second straight comeback victory in the Mideast Regional for the Cardinals, who overcame a 16-point fir- st-half deficit Thursday night to edge ninth-ranked Arkansas on Scooter Mc- Cray's tip-in at the buzzer. TV 4 t5v, Air poll I AP Photo Louisville's Rodney McCray tries for two points between Kentucky's Kenny Walker (34) and Melvin Turpin (54). Judge nets 47 in By RICK BYRNE The case was closed yesterday on the Class A Basketball Championship, and as the red and black banners proclaimed, the Judge was overruled. The Flint Central Indians came to town with just one goal in mind. They were looking for their third con- secutive Class A title, a feat not accomplished since 1951, when Kalamazoo-Central turned the hat trick. They came up against the Prospectors of Detroit Southwestern High and the Judge, incredible Antoine Joubert, equally determined to avenge last year's final round loss to the Indians. When the smoke had cleared, Flint emerged on top, defeating South- western by the score of 84-80. MUCH AS ONE would like to give credit to all the Prospectors, who played their hearts out in the closely-contested match, there could be no denying that they were a one-man team. That one man was Joubert who took 40 of his team's 60 shots from the floor and poured in 47 points for a new Class A Final Game record. The game began as a dogfight, neither team gaining a decisive upper hand. But as the second quarter began with Flint on top, 22-19, the Indians widened the margin with a run of four unanswered baskets. The notorious accuracy of Central's outside shots was in evidence as Darryl Johnson and Ervin Leavy scored three field goals, from 15 feet or more during that drive. Southwestern coach Perry Watson called time out to regroup, and when play resumed, his players moved to the ball more on defense. However, oftense was still suffering as the Prospec- tors trailed 40-33 at the half. All of Southwestern's 14 second-quarter points were scored by the Judge. The sellout crowd at Crisler Arena was dominated by Prospector fans, and as the players took the court for the second half, their cheer of "Let's get fired up!" filled the air. Offensive efforts by Clarence Jones and Johnny Johnson helped Detroit to chip away at the Flint lead, though Central continued to 'A' loss hit from all positions, as Ken. Bowie contributed 8 points in the third quarter. At the buzzer, Joubert fired a 22-footer to tie the score at 53. AS THE FOURTH quarter developed into a replay of the first and second, it became evident that Southwestern could not win. Joubert dominated the scoring and his teammates were unsupportive under the boards. Central was able to consistantly ril down offensive rebounds and take the decisive secon and third shots. In the winning effort, four players scored in double figures, Michigan State-bound Darryl Johnson leading the way with 30. In the final analysis, Johnson best summed up the play when he said, "We had a good balanced attack, but Southwestern had to rely on (Joubert)." For his part, Joubert, who showed his leadership in comforting some of the younger players after the heartbreaking loss, said, "We're tough and we'll be back next year, and I'll be here watching them." Corunna overpowers Oak Park for ' title By STEVE WISE The Cavaliers finally won a basket- ball championship during Ralph Sam- pson's senior year. No, it wasn't the Virginia version, but the Corunna Cavaliers who defeated the Oak Park Redskins; for the Class B state title in Crisler Arena yesterday, 52-49. Corunna used a tough man-to-man defense and superior rebounding at both ends of the court to offset a weak 38-percent shooting performance. The Cavaliers out-boarded the Redskins, 37- 30 (22-14 in the second half). "WE MADE IT very difficult for them to go inside," said Cavalier coach Frank Davis. THE CAVALIERS opened the final quarter with two straight baskets to take their first lead since two minutes into the first quarter. They then stret- ched the margin to seven, 46-39, on a pair of Fattal free throws. But Oak Park wasn't done yet. Redskin guard Fred Marshall, who was the Oak Park offense in the first half with 19 points, scored the last of his game-high 29 points on an incredib off-balance jumper with 28 seconds lef in the game. His basket cut the Corunna lead to 48-47, but that was as close as Oak Park could get. Phil Zielinski, Corunna's senior cen- ter, scored the last four points for the Cavaliers. He finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds. "It (a state championship) is. C~AS Tournament Midast Regional Final at Knoxville, Tenn, "ttisville 80, Kentucky 680OT West licgion"fI Final at Ogden, Utah Nrth Carolina State fa, Virginia 62 Oak Park coach Richard Griest agreed the Corunna defense made the difference. "They put a lot of pressure m M RM M NO ON W