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Tuesday, Feb. 4

High school basketball

[FEB. 4, 2003] 

Girls

Midwest Central def. Illini Central 49-46 OT

Illini Bluffs def. Mount Pulaski 69-53

Warrensburg-Latham def. Maroa-Forsyth 74-34

LCC vs. St. Louis Christian

[FEB. 4, 2003]  The Preachers won their second in a row Monday night on the road against St. Louis Christian College, 65-60. Lincoln led 35-26 at the half, but St. Louis outscored the visiting Preachers by five in the second half, when LCC went over five minutes without a field goal.

High scorers for Lincoln were John Holderby with 16 points and six assists, Tim Schultz with 11, and Kyle Rogier, who had 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.

For St. Louis, Rod Ohmes scored 20 to go with 10 boards, Jamie Loker scored 17, and Matt Campbell had 11 points and four assists.

LCC (9-16) hosts St. Louis (7-16) for a rematch on Feb. 17.

The Preachers' next home game is versus Eureka College next Tuesday, Feb. 11.

[Aaron Johnson]

[Click here for photos from last weekend's LCC Classic]

LCC signs Sarah Nichols to play volleyball

[FEB. 4, 2003]  Sarah Nichols, a 5-foot-8 opposite-side hitter and defensive specialist from Mount Pulaski High School, has signed a national letter of intent to play volleyball at Lincoln Christian College.

"We are extremely pleased with the signing of Sarah," said LCC coach Kevin Crawford. "She is an outstanding defensive player."

Sarah helped her team to a second-place finish in the IHSA Class A state volleyball competition in 2002 and a third-place finish in 2001. She was a four-time letter winner and received the team player award the last two seasons.

Sarah has played club volleyball for the last eight years with the Central Illini and MIVA club teams.

She has attended the LCC volleyball camp for several years and has won many camp awards, such as best server and selection to the all-camp team.

[LCC press release]

Alexander nets Valley
Player of the Week honor

[FEB. 4, 2003]  ST. LOUIS -- Sophomore Gregg Alexander led the Illinois State men's basketball team to a pair of conference victories last week and was named the State Farm Insurance/Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week.

"Gregg was instrumental in our success last week, and he is certainly deserving of the honor," head coach Tom Richardson said. "I'm really happy for him, and I look forward to him maintaining that level of consistency."

A native of Lincoln, Alexander shot 56.0 percent (14-for-25) from the field, 66.7 percent (eight-for-12) from 3-point range and 100 percent (two-for-two) from the free-throw line to average 19.0 points as the Redbirds defeated Northern Iowa 76-71 on Jan. 29 and Bradley by a score of 89-74 on Feb. 1. Alexander also averaged 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest in the two games.

Against Northern Iowa, Alexander scored 17 points -- six-for-nine from the field and three-for-three from 3-point range -- and grabbed seven rebounds. Versus Bradley, Alexander collected 21 points -- eight-for-16 from the floor and five-for-nine from beyond the arc -- and hauled in 10 boards for his first career double-double as the Redbirds put together back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

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

Cook is among 30 candidates
for Wooden Award

[FEB. 4, 2003]  LOS ANGELES -- As the country's best college basketball teams begin to eye the end-of-the-season title, so do the nation's best players. The list of top candidates for the John R. Wooden Award has been trimmed to 30, and Illinois senior forward Brian Cook is included.

The remaining list also includes 2002 Wooden Award all-American Luke Walton (Arizona). Nine NCAA conferences are represented: the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, Big East, Atlantic 10, SEC, Conference USA and Missouri Valley Conference. Kansas (Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich) and Arizona (Walton and Jason Gardner) lead the way with two nominations each.

Four players who were not preseason candidates for the Wooden Award have been added to the list: freshman Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse), senior Kyle Korver (Creighton), junior Andre Emmett (Texas Tech) and freshman Bracey Wright (Indiana). Anthony and Wright will try to become the first freshmen on the Wooden Award all-American team since Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury in 1996.

The award committee bases the midseason top 30 on individual player performance and team records through the early part of the season. Players who do not make the list are still eligible for consideration for the Wooden Award. After the schools accredit their respective athlete(s) and ensure they meet the academic requirements, the committee will pare down the list to a ballot consisting of 15 to 20 players. The official ballot will be released in early March.

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his university that he is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.00 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan and Jayson Williams. 

The 2003 award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Wooden Award all-American team, will be at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Saturday, April 12. The top five candidates will be invited to Los Angeles for the ceremony, and $15,000 will be contributed in their name to their university's general scholarship fund.

[to top of second column in this article]

John R. Wooden Award top 30 midseason candidates

(* Indicates player was a 2001-2002 John R. Wooden Award all-American)

Carmelo Anthony, 6-8, freshman, forward, Syracuse

Mario Austin, 6-9, junior, forward-center, Mississippi State

Steve Blake, 6-3, senior, guard, Maryland

Keith Bogans, 6-5, senior, guard, Kentucky

Matt Bonner, 6-10, senior, freshman, Florida

Nick Collison, 6-9, senior, forward, Kansas

Brian Cook, 6-10, senior, forward, Illinois

Erwin Dudley, 6-8, senior, forward, Alabama

Chris Duhon, 6-1, junior, guard, Duke

Andre Emmett, 6-5, junior, guard, Texas Tech

T.J. Ford, 5-10, sophomore, guard, Texas

Reece Gaines, 6-6, senior, guard, Louisville

Jason Gardner, 5-11, senior, guard, Arizona

Marcus Hatten, 6-1, senior, guard, St. John's

Jarvis Hayes, 6-6, junior, guard-forward, Georgia

Kirk Hinrich, 6-3, senior, guard, Kansas

Josh Howard, 6-6, senior, forward, Wake Forest

Brandin Knight, 6-0, senior, guard, Pittsburgh

Kyle Korver, 6-7, senior, forward, Creighton

Jameer Nelson, 6-1, junior, guard, St. Joseph's

Emeka Okafor, 6-9, sophomore, forward-center, Connecticut

Hollis Price, 6-1, senior, guard, Oklahoma

Darius Rice, 6-10, junior, forward, Miami

Luke Ridnour, 6-2, junior, guard, Oregon

Mike Sweetney, 6-8, junior, forward, Georgetown

Chris Thomas, 6-1, sophomore, guard, Notre Dame

Dwyane Wade, 6-4, junior, guard, Marquette

Luke Walton*, 6-8, senior, forward, Arizona

David West, 6-8, senior, forward-center, Xavier

Bracey Wright, 6-3, freshman, guard, Indiana

[News release]

Articles from the past week

By Jeff Mayfield

[FEB. 3, 2003]  Illinois State's Redbirds, featuring Lincoln's Gregg Alexander, are finally back on track! The 'Birds thumped Bradley 89-74 behind Alexander's first collegiate double-double. The sophomore sensation hit for 21 points, including the first three 3-point bombs he attempted, and then crashed the boards to haul down 10 big caroms. Long known for his work on the glass, it comes in handy, as ISU's big men have struggled so much the last couple of seasons. This huge win, coupled with Wednesday night's victory over Northern Iowa, gives the 'Birds their first two-game winning streak of the season and also pulls them out of the Missouri Valley Conference basement!

The Illinois Fighting Illini almost pulled off the big upset in East Lansing on Sunday afternoon, but the Michigan State Spartans had other ideas. They outlasted the Illini 68-65 as they held Lincoln's Brian Cook to 13 points. But people will be talking about the amazing comeback win the Illini had over Michigan last Wednesday night for years to come. Cook's 26-point scoring outburst was one of the greatest sports feats this unbiased reporter has ever seen. You should've seen it! [Click here for the LDN report.]

Lincoln College has now won 10 games in a row, which takes their record to 15-6 and may help them crack the national top 10 rankings! B.J. and his crew seem to be gelling at just the right time. On Saturday they beat Lakeland, which always has a good program, so maybe this is the year that the Lynx will advance in the playoffs.

Lincoln Christian College's hoops teams split their respective games this past weekend. The girls punished Central Bible on Friday before losing a squeaker to Faith Baptist on Saturday. Two former Lady Railers, Steph Urton and Brittany Robbins, continue to shine for the Angels!

The men played extremely well on Friday but faded and lost to Faith Baptist. On Saturday they won what was in some ways an improbable game. On the verge of being blown out twice in the first half, they somehow managed to stay within five at the intermission. And by the time Tim Schultz had garnered 23 points and 15 rebounds, and John Holderby and Dan Black had added 16 and 14 respectively, and Jim Turney had thrown in his 10-point contribution, the Preachers had danced out of their spiffy new Laughlin Center with a hard-fought 77-71 win over longtime rival Cincinnati Bible College! The Preachers truly won one for Marion "Doc" Henderson, who was the first person ever enshrined in the newly created LCC Athletic Hall of Fame. Apparently the aura of that pre-game ceremony lifted the Preachers to victory. Coach Randy Kirk and his current group of cagers are to be commended for fighting through a multitude of obstacles this season. That should make THIS win all the sweeter!

We're less than two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting. IF anyone is going that way and there is development work in the plans…

Junior high hoops should be heating up in the area as we enter the postseason…

[to top of second column in this article]

The Lincoln Railers must feel like they've been lost in space, as I don't think they've played a home game in a month. IF memory serves, the last one was on about Jan. 3…

Speaking of the Railers, they had had a nice double this week too! They took out one of my favorite opponents, Jacksonville, and then disposed of Springfield on Saturday night.

Coach Alexander, according to my notes, is just three wins away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in Railer basketball history. After three more wins he'll have more than guys like Duncan Reid, Loren Wallace and even ol' Roy S. himself. This is an amazing record and one that has the potential of never being broken again!

The Lady Railers have a tough stretch in their next few outings. They will be playing the top four teams in the conference! Hopefully that will get them ready for postseason play as well.

How 'bout that Illinois Wesleyan team? Coach Scott Trost's quintet struggled in his first year, hovering around or below the .500 mark. With their big win over North Park on Saturday, which proved to be their 12th win in a row, they jet their record to 15-2 and 6-0 in league play. I mention it here because rumor has it that they are interested in some Railer players, most notably Cory Farmer!

IF you want to see some true amateurs having some fun, go out to the Rec Center on a Saturday morning and catch the Junior Railer program. My son and I have been going out, and he loves it. He keeps demanding the ball and tells me that no one will pass it to him… the story of my career!!!

The LDN throws out OUR CONGRATULATIONS to Marion "Doc" Henderson for being the first inductee ever to LCC's Athletic Hall of Fame. We'd like to see Lynn Laughlin as inductee number two? What do you think???

NASCAR fans take note… IF you're into NASCAR, and we know that dozens of you are, then you need to catch this week's edition of "FANdamonium." During the middle segment of our show, Greg and I will step aside and bring some people to the mikes who really know their stuff. There'll be Chevy guys and Ford guys, and you callers will have to settle the disputes. See you tonight at 6 on LDN, Channel 5 and FIX 96.3!

Have a GREAT week, EVERYONE!!!

[Jeff Mayfield]

• Last week: "First things first"
• More columns...

Announcements

Softball pitching clinic in Bloomington

[JAN. 31, 2003]  The Bloomington Hearts' annual softball pitching clinic will be Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Shirk Center at Illinois Wesleyan University. Former Illinois State all-American and current Hearts pitcher Nicole Kurth will lead the clinic. Other instructors will include pitchers from the Hearts, IWU and Illinois State University who are very experienced in both playing the game and teaching.

There will be two sessions, so attendees can sign up for 9:30 a.m. until noon or for 1:30 to 4 p.m. The cost is $30 per session, and that includes a heavy-duty T-shirt. For groups of three or more, the cost is $25 per student. The sessions will be limited in number to allow maximum individual instruction.

To register by telephone or for information, call (309) 828-2686 or (309) 662-5861.

[News release]

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