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Wednesday, Feb. 5

High school basketball

[FEB. 5, 2003] 

Boys

Hartsburg-Emden def. Brimfield 44-43 OT

Illini Central def. Delevan 59-51

Mount Pulaski def. Buffalo Tri-City 66-47

Girls

At Stanford

Prairie Central     12   24   34     51

Olympia                7   17   22     36

Olympia:  Wilcox 0-0-0, Floyd 3-2-9, Prager 2-0-4, Logsdon 0-0-0, Hieser 1-0-2, Brand 0-0-0, Canopy 0-0-0, Doss 0-0-0, Litwiller 5-4-14, Westerfield 2-0-5, Crabtree 1-0-2, Rich 0-0-0.  Totals 14-6-36.  Three-pointers:  Floyd 1, Westerfield 1.

Others

Lincoln def. Taylorville 63-49

High school swimming

[FEB. 5, 2003] 

At Lincoln

Normal Unit 5 151, Lincoln 103, Olympia 14

100-yard medley relay:  2. Lincoln; 4. Lincoln

200 freestyle:  3. Andre Ryan (L); 4. Peter Barnes (L)

100 individual medley:  2. Steve Rogers (L)

50 freestyle:  1. Omar Obaisi (L), 26:71; 4. Ron Gillis (O); 5. Ryan (L)

100 butterfly:  2. Sean Weaver (L)

100 freestyle:  1. Aaron Meyrick (L), 1:01.48; 3. Paul Ramono (O); 4. Andy Schreiber

500 freestyle:  2. Chris Allen (L)

200 freestyle relay:  2. Lincoln

100 backstroke:  3. Ramono (O); Dustin Knollenberg (L); 5. Barnes (L)

100 Breaststroke:  2. Weaver (L); 3. Rogers (L); 4. Gillis (O)

400 freestyle relay:  2. Lincoln; 4. Lincoln

Wichita State ends Redbirds' win streak

[FEB. 5, 2003]  WICHITA, Kan. -- Baboucarr Bojang scored a season-high 21 points and added five rebounds, but it was not enough for the Illinois State men's basketball team to win its third game in a row, as Wichita State handed the 'Birds their 16th loss of the year, an 85-71 decision in Wichita, Kan., Tuesday night.

Illinois State is now 3-16, 2-9 in the Valley, while the Shockers improve to 12-7, 7-3 in conference play.

The Shockers shot 60.9 percent from the field for the game, while Illinois State shot 41 percent for the game.

Led by Bojang, the 'Birds also got an offensive contribution from Gregg Alexander, who had 12 points, and Vince Green, who had 12 also.

Wichita State was led by Randy Burns, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists with no turnovers. Jamar Howard added 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.

The Redbirds were strong in the first half off hot shooting from Bojang and led 28-23 with 7:10 to play before the break. But Wichita State went on a 22-5 run to end the first half, taking a 45-33 lead into halftime. A 17-11 rebounding edge by the Shockers was the difference in the half, as both teams were hitting the mark offensively.

[to top of second column in this article]

The Redbirds never regained the lead in the second half but pulled to within eight with 17 minutes to play. The Shockers' advantage continued to grow, however, to as many as 12 with 7:51 to play. A quick bucket by Casey Reid got ISU back to within 10, but Illinois State trailed for the final minutes.

At the 3:10 mark, the 'Birds were down 82-67 before Howard hit a 3-point shot for Wichita State's final bucket of the game. Ken Hill scored Illinois State's last points with 48 seconds left, making it 85-71.

ISU returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 8, against the Sycamores of Indiana State. It is a 2:05 p.m. tipoff at Redbird Arena.

[Erica Fricke, assistant director of media relations, Illinois State University]

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…

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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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