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Friday, March 28

The North and South battle again

[MARCH 28, 2003]  The North will take on the South on Friday (today) at Lincoln Christian College Laughlin Center for the annual Heart of Illinois All Star Basketball Classic. The game begins at 7 p.m.

The event is sponsored by the Lions Club, and the series began in 1988. The all-star game has the participation of 65 schools in central Illinois, reaching north to Chillicothe, south to Pana, extending to Champaign in the east and Canton-Lewiston in the west. Schools within the area may be IHSA Class A or AA but must be within a town with a population of 25,000 or less to be eligible to nominate players for the game.

The player selection process originates from the nomination of players from high school coaches. Nominations are submitted to the Lions Club of Lincoln for the preparation of ballots, along with biographical and statistical information about the nominees. The coaches cast their votes, and the top 24 nominees are named to the North and South squads.

Area players for the 2003 North Squad are Chuck Arnold of Deland-Weldon High School; Chris Bunch, Lincoln Community High School; Cory Farmer, Lincoln; Michael Hasten, Washington High School; Tyler Headean, Morton High School; Dexter Peterson, Clinton High School; Seth Sanert, PORTA High School; Travis Scott, Illini Central High School; Ben Smidt, Morton; Tony Thomason, Bartonville Limestone High School; Brock Werner, Lincoln; Aaron Wheeler, Delavan High School; and Erik Young, Lincoln. Jeff Little, coach at Washington High School, will coach the North.

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The South Squad consists of Justin Anderson of Mount Pulaski High School; Andy Calmes, Warrensburg-Latham High School; Andrew Collier, Niantic-Harristown High School; Blaine Cravens, Buffalo Tri-City High School; Byron Graven, Auburn High School; Zach Kowa, Maroa-Forsyth High School; Korte Long, Warrensburg-Latham High School; John Martinez, Riverton High School; Adam McCoy, Greenview High School; Zach Miller, Riverton High School; Michael Sams, Mount Zion High School; and John Standard, Chatham Glenwood High School. Vic Vinkley, coach at Warrensburg-Latham High School, will coach the South.

Attendance of over 1,000 is expected. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Proceeds of the game go to various Lions Club charities.

If you have questions, please call Sally Litterly (217) 732-3168, Ext. 2242.

[LCCS news release]

Lincoln College baseball vs. Lewis & Clark

[MARCH 28, 2003]  GODFREY -- Lincoln College split a pair of baseball games here Thursday afternoon, winning the first game 6-2 behind Dan Dunn and dropping the nightcap 6-4.

Lincoln College scored four times in the third inning and added single runs in the fourth and seventh. Dunn made the runs stand up with five strong innings. Tim Villasenor and Zach Buchanan each worked one inning for coach Tony Thomas. Jeff Harris had a pair of hits for the Lynx and drove in three runs, while Josh Davison added two hits, including a double, and scored a pair of runs.

In the second game, Brandon Snyder had a pair of hits in three trips to the plate to pace the Lynx. John Lusicic was the starting and losing pitcher, with Villasenor and Donnie Oelerich each working one inning.

Lincoln College is 2-3 in conference play and 6-16 overall. The Lynx are scheduled to play Illinois Central College Friday.

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First game

Lincoln College         004 100 1 - 6-8-3

Lewis & Clark          101 000 0 - 2-3-4

Dan Dunn (W), Tino Villasenor (6), Zach Buchanan (7) and Andrew Bartman. 

Lincoln College      100 210 0 - 4-6-4

Lewis & Clark        103 200 x - 6-5-1

John Lusicic (L), Villasenor (5), Donnie Oelerich (6) and Jesus Valladares.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

Lincoln College softball vs. Danville

[MARCH 28, 2003]  Lincoln College split a softball doubleheader against Danville at Lincoln Thursday afternoon. The Lynx won the opener 5-4 and dropped the second contest 7-5 in eight innings. Lincoln College has a 7-7 overall record.

Danville led 4-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning before Lincoln College rallied to win the opener. The Lynx scored two runs in the fifth and tied the game with two runs in the sixth. LC then won the game in the bottom of the seventh, when Ashley Grako led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a solid single by Norissa Stetter. Jen Polhemus went the distance on the mound to gain the victory for coach Allen Pickering.

In the second game, Danville rallied for the victory with a single run in the fourth and four in the fifth. Lincoln College had taken a 4-0 lead into the fourth, and the Lynx knotted the scored 5-5 with a tally in the bottom of the fifth. Danville finally broke on top with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning.

Erica Ernst suffered the loss in relief of Beth Conner. Stetter had a pair of hits with a double and two RBIs to lead the Lynx. Candi Forsyth also had a pair of hits and two RBIs with a double.

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First game

Danville           000 400 0 - 4-8-1

Lincoln            000 022 1 - 5-7-1

Williams (L) and Waigo; Polhemus (W) and Jenna Clayton.

Danville          000 140 02 - 7-8-2

Lincoln           310 010 00 - 5-10-4

Williams (W) and Waigo; Conner, Ernst (7-L) and Clayton, Halko (7).

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

Articles from the past week

[MARCH 24, 2003]  Of all the scripts Lincoln's Brian Cook has authored through the years, none were even close to what actually materialized Saturday in the stinkin' RCA Dome. Who ever heard of a team nailing 11 3-point shots in a first half? Much less the team being a basketball team from Notre Dame! I've heard the phrase "luck of the Irish," but that was ridiculous! But give ND some credit; they came out and played the game of their lives, when Illinois wouldn't have hit water if they had fallen out of a boat.

Too bad it was at the expense of one of our favorite sons, Brian Cook. When Cook's shots failed to drop he tried to will his team to victory. Especially judging by a career-high 16 rebounds.

And while the SCORE, especially most of their nut-case callers, and several other distraught fans throughout Illini nation want to blame this loss on one scapegoat, believe me, there's plenty of blame to go around for the entire team. I will say that you're not going to beat many people when they convert 13 treys. In fact, why don't I just go to the summation right now: Notre Dame hit their shots, Illinois didn't… end of story!

Stray arrows (boy, does that sum up the game or what?)

--Cook became the third highest point scorer in Illini history with his 19 versus the Irish. He finishes with 1,748 points.

--He's also fifth all-time on rebounds with 815 and fourth in blocked shots with 136.

--He and his teammates went 51-2 in the Hall during his four years -- an all-time record and the best home record in the country over that four-year span.

--He and his mates were one win away from advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for an unprecedented third straight time.

--I still think he will be a top 15 pick in the NBA draft and maybe even a lottery pick.

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[photo by Tom Seggelke]

--The Big Ten still has two teams alive in the final 16. Not bad for a weak, soft conference in supposedly a down year!

--Bracket busters… I've still got three Final Four teams left, but I'm not winning any bracketology awards.

--The Lincoln Railers for having the most wins in the state of Illinois! Did you notice that Peoria Central and Thornwood just happened to be two of the teams that were able to upset Lincoln this year?

--The Lincoln College Lynx for finishing seventh at the national juco tournament in Danville with a thrilling 95-73 victory over Bevill State Community College from Louisiana. The Lynx lost a heartbreaker by two on opening night or, who knows, Lincoln might have won it all!

--Hartsburg-Emden, the 7A state volleyball champions!

--In 8A action, Hartem and Mount Pulaski have advanced to the Final Four round!

If you're going to disappoint me, disappoint me when the weather's like this and we can all enjoy being outside… Are there even any basketball games left???

We'll sort it all out on "FANdamonium" tonight at 6 on the LDN live link, CITV Channel 5 and FIX 96.3 FM radio.

Have a great week, everybody!!!

[Jeff Mayfield]

• March 21 column: "Cook's NCAA double-double leads Illini to victory"

• More columns...

Announcements

[MARCH 6, 2003]  The Lincoln PONY Association will have its annual spring sign-up this year beginning March 9 and running until March 29. Sign-up sheets can be obtained at the front desk of the Lincoln Rec Center. On Saturday, March 29, representatives of Lincoln PONY will be on hand to assist with signups.

Lincoln PONY ball is for both boys baseball and girls softball, ages 8 through 14.

Additional information can be obtained at the Lincoln PONY website and at http://www.pony.org/.

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