Sports News,  Past Articles,  Mayfield's Mutterings,  Schedules,

Announcements,  Calendar,  Sports News Elsewhere  (fresh daily from the Web)

Wednesday, March 5

High school basketball

[MARCH 5, 2003] 

Boys

Class AA regional
     At Lincoln

Springfield      7   14    20     37

Lincoln          20   31   54     70

Lincoln -- Courtwright 0-0-0, Gallagher 1-1-3, Bunch 3-3-9, Farmer 3-0-7, Komnick 1-0-3, Whalen 0-0-0, Pickering 0-0-0, Harmsen 1-0-2, Peters 0-0-0, Charron 1-0-2, Schrader 2-1-7, Werner 3-0-9, Young 11-0-22, Heidbreder 3-0-6.  Totals 29-5-70.  Three-point field goals (7): Werner 3, Schrader 2, Komnick, Farmer

[photos by Bob Frank]

Class A sectionals
Games today

Fieldcrest sectional
     At Minonk

Illini Central vs. Putnam County

Shelbyville sectional
At Shelbyville

Gillespie vs. Warrensburg-Latham

Lynx open baseball season in Missouri

[MARCH 5, 2003]  ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Lincoln College lost its opening game of the baseball season here Tuesday afternoon, 10-0, to St. Charles. The Lynx managed just two hits in the contest as Mitchell fanned seven of the first nine hitters he faced. Williams pitched the final three innings for St. Charles. The game was halted by the 10-run rule after six innings.

Matt Gilbert took the loss for the Lynx, hurling the first three innings, giving up two hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out three and walking two. Darren Lewis and Tin Villasener each pitched one inning, and Josh Becker threw in the sixth.    

Josh Davison and Matt Miflin had the only hits for Lincoln coach Tony Thomas.

In the second game, Lincoln College was leading 6-5 when the contest was halted due to darkness. Davison connected for a double and a three-run homer to lead the Lynx attack.   Davison's homer came in a five-run second inning. Zach Rinaberger and Brandon Snyder each had a hit for Lincoln in the second game.   

Dan Dunn started on the mound for the Lynx and pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and five runs (three earned) while walking three and striking out one. Donnie Oelerich came on in the third to record the final two outs.

Lincoln is scheduled to play at McKendree Thursday before leaving on its spring trip to Florida and Alabama Friday.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

[MARCH 5, 2003]  ST. LOUIS -- On Tuesday, Illinois State's Marcus Arnold became the fourth Redbird freshman to be named to the all-freshman team for the Missouri Valley Conference in the last five years, while sophomore Vince Greene earned honorable mention all-conference honors.

"This is a great honor for both of these young men," head coach Tom Richardson said. "Each was instrumental in our successes this season, but they will play an even more prominent role in the years to come. Hopefully, both Marcus and Vince will continue to work hard, improve and build off this honor to eventually become two of the top 10 players in the league."

Arnold started 18 of the Birds' 27 games this season. The 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago averaged 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He scored in double figures in 12 games and really came on during the conference season. In league play, Arnold averaged 9.2 points and 3.3 boards per tilt.

For the year, Arnold shot 49.4 percent from the field and is only 13 made field goals away from owning the freshman field-goal percentage record at Illinois State.

[to top of second column in this article]

Greene leads the Redbirds in points, assists and steals. Also a Chicago native, Greene averaged 12.2 points per game while totaling 123 assists and 47 steals. He started 25 games, including all 18 league games.

In conference play, Greene shot 47.5 percent on treys and 55.6 percent from the field. His field-goal percentage in league games ranks No. 4 in the conference, and he is the only player under 6 feet in the top 15.

Both Arnold and Greene return to action on Friday, when the Redbirds face Drake for the third time in 20 days. The tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. in the first round of the 2003 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis, Mo. The winner will face No. 1 seed Southern Illinois on Saturday.

[Todd Kober, director of media relations,
Illinois State University]

March madness symptoms:
play, watch, wait, root ... play again

[MARCH 5, 2003]  NORMAL -- The Illinois State women's basketball team doesn't have complete control over its own destiny, but a win at Indiana State in the final regular-season game at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Terre Haute would go a long way toward cutting down the watching, waiting and rooting many teams have to face in March.

A win by Illinois State, 7-19, 5-12 in the Valley, would force Evansville (5-11) to win back-to-back road games at Wichita State (Thursday) and at Southwest Missouri State (Saturday) to keep the Redbirds from earning their first bid to the eight-team State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament since 1998, because Illinois State would win based on the second tiebreaker for Valley teams, a regression matrix which gives points for each win -- and more for beating teams higher in the standings.

That last win is a tall order for the Birds. Only Wichita State has beaten the Sycamores, 19-7 overall, 12-5 in the Missouri Valley, at Hulman Center this season. On the other hand, the Redbirds are 4-4 in league road games. For Redbird coach Jenny Yopp, the game plan for the Sycamores is easy to describe, hard to execute and similar to the formula against ISU's last opponent, Creighton.

"Game plan-wise, it will be similar to what we faced at Creighton," said Yopp. "Four great perimeter shooters, dominant rebounders inside, and it all starts with their pressure defense. You have to be disciplined every single time down the floor. If we can control the ball and get into our offense and convert the second shots we need to get from the offensive boards, we can get the job done."

Because they are travel partners playing midweek, the Redbirds and Sycamores will finish their Valley schedules while the other eight teams each have two games left. For the Redbirds, that means a lot of scoreboard watching, particularly if the Sycamores beat them. Illinois State can still get in but would be rooting for Wichita State and SMS to beat Evansville and for either Northern Iowa or Bradley to beat Drake this weekend. Since the Birds swept the Bears, and Evansville has a win over Drake, it's to Illinois State's advantage in the tiebreaker system if SMS (9-7) finishes higher and Drake (10-6) lower in the final standings.

[to top of second column in this article]

For head coach Jim Wiedie and the Sycamores, it means pulling for Bradley and Northern Iowa to beat Creighton, which would give the Sycamores a Valley regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

"It's an advantage to have the season wrapped up early," said Wiedie. "Then you can spend some time rooting for Bradley and Northern Iowa. We get a few more days of rest and a few more days of preparation time for the tournament. So I like the way the schedule has panned out."

He knows Illinois State is a better team than the one his team thumped 70-51 Jan. 4 in Normal, but he thinks his team has a lot to play for. Wiedie knows that Jaci McCormack has been the hottest Redbird scorer lately, averaging 12.5 points over her last seven games. He respects Taren O'Brien's point guard leadership and the Redbirds' most experienced inside duo of Sharon Blade and Zora Skrabalova.

"Illinois State is always a battle, and with the way Jaci McCormack is playing, our emphasis has to be on her," said Wiedie. "Taren O'Brien can be a big factor for them, and we can expect Sharon Blade and Zora Skrabalova to have a big impact on the game for them as well. To be able to win on Senior Day for (seniors) Kourtney (Mennen) and Kristin (Stewart), who have been through so much here, and to win 20 games for the first time in a long time in this program -- those are things we want to play for."

The Redbirds have some other things to play for as well. A sixth league win would be the most in five years, and a fifth league road win would equal the program's total Valley road wins for the previous four seasons combined. But, most of all, a win could solidify a trip to the conference tournament and a chance to play another time.

[Thomas Lamonica, Illinois State University]

Articles from the past week

[MARCH. 3, 2003]  Sometimes the planets and stars align just right. Sometimes the good karma is flowing your way. And sometimes even the sports gods are looking favorably upon you. That's the way many sporting events have turned out for area residents through the last week. One of those contests was the always tough Lincoln-Lanphier battle…

The Lincoln Railsplitters had one last tough assignment in CS8 play. And that was to beat the always difficult Lions of Lanphier High. No coach prides himself more on scouting and being prepared for Lincoln than former Railer coach Craig Patton. And late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter when Lanphier cut a substantial lead to four points, you began to worry. They even had chances to cut into the lead further, but the Railers would have none of that!

With the victory Lincoln now stands at an incredible 28-2 and ends up sharing the league title with Springfield Southeast. Postseason play is the next level for Lincoln, as they will host Springfield Tuesday night in their own regional.

You may be wondering if you read that subtitle correctly. Is it just another Mayfield overstatement? In a word, no. It is one of the biggest victories ever because of the possible implications or consequences. The Illini had to at least split their remaining road games.

Kudos and props to Greg Taylor, Brad Neal, Tom Seggelke and a host of others who felt all along that Illinois could win at Michigan easier than at Wisconsin.

Normally, I would've agreed with them. But that was before I watched Michigan do everything but beat us in their last trip to the Hall. Thank God for Brian Cook, or we would've already been eliminated from the league race. It was also before I saw how much Michigan had improved and saw for myself that they were as good as anybody and better than most. Then, when you consider how tough it is to win on the road, especially the last few years in the league… Or when you analyze how young the Illini truly are… Not to mention that since Michigan is on probation (something I might vote for on a permanent basis), winning the league championship and tourney title is the only postseason that they will have. Weighing those options, the scales seemed to tip in favor of Michigan.

But, I didn't know that they weren't going to watch film and remember that No. 34 lit them up in the last meeting. I didn't know that Sean Harrington would find himself, and I didn't know that Dee Brown would want the ball in crunch time and make a huge midrange jumper to deliver a dagger.

And did you happen to see the ball screen that Cook used to free up Brown? Or how 'bout the pick Cook displayed freeing up James Augustine for another nail in the coffin? Cook only had 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and may have even helped usher some of the patrons to their seats, especially with the last 3-pointer that he nailed!

I agree with longtime central Illinois resident John Coady, who once said that if you could place microphones over the TV rooms of fans all over the state in games like yesterday's, the noise level would be nuclear or louder. The final possessions of either half would certainly, I think, prove Mr. Coady's hypothesis!

[to top of second column in this article]

Oh, and the biggest reason that I think this win was one of the biggest ever was because the victory gives Illinois a chance to three-peat for the first time ever in their history.

In an unrelated development, I think that Brian Cook may have solidified his position as the possible player of the year in the league. It may also help him get consideration for national player of the year honors.

STILL if you would've told me in November that this team would be 20-5 with a realistic shot at yet another Big Ten championship, I would've laughed, given you a stamp and mailed it in for you! Who knows? Maybe we can even win at Wisconsin…

CONGRATULATIONS to the Lincoln College Lynx on winning the Collegiate Conference of Central Illinois league title with a 15-1 record. With Saturday's 83-64 victory over John Wood, LC extended their sparkling record to 22-7 overall. They will play a first-round game in the Region XXIV Tournament Friday at Southwestern.

We believe you can catch the Lady Lynx in a first-round game at home tonight at 5:30, as LC is seeded seventh. They will take a 16-14 record into the postseason.

…had the karma flowing. LCC's teams did for at least one night, as both the ladies and the men won exciting first-round regional matchups. The ladies had their chances in round two in Wyoming, Mich., but just came up short. The LCC men, on the other hand, had their hands full with the always phenomenal Maranatha Baptist team. Maranatha took out the Preachers early and often, and before you knew it, their season was over.

But what a nice feature on them on WAND! And congratulations to coach Randy Kirk and the men for sticking through one of the most obstacle-filled seasons this reporter can ever remember. Lesser men would've folded up their tent and gone home months ago. What you men did by sticking out the season with dignity is a testament to your strong character. Too bad there are no trophies for that.

Please join my good friend Greg Taylor tonight at 6 right here on LDN or on CITV Channel 5 or FIX 96.3 as he hosts Josh Gallagher and John Peters from the Lincoln Railers basketball team. Call 735-3306 with your question or comment on the Railers, the Illini, the Cubs, the Cards or yesterday's wrestling!

Have a good week, everyone, and good luck, Railers and Illini!!!

[Jeff Mayfield]

• Last week: "Coach Alexander new victory king"
• More columns...

Announcements

Back to top

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Calendar

Letters to the Editor