The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 21

5 THE TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 1976 v' Nothing could be finer! North Carolina-Charlotte. N.C. State win in NIT Clay County retains title, becomes Shawnee's foe; Trigg, Christian victors 3M both posted narrow semifinal victories in the 12th. McCreary (29-4), with talented Tim Stephens leading the way with 37 points, nipped Somerset 64-59. Somerset shot 61 per cent to McCreary's 51 per cent but fell victim to 23 turnovers.

McCreary was guilty of just five. Stephens, averaging 35.7 points a game this season, fired in 18 of 26 field-goal attempts and showed his class by coming up with 28 points in the second half after being limited to nine in the first. A 15-foot jumper at the buzzer gave Casey County its 74-72 win over Monti-cello. Mike Mann made the shot. The final in the 15th will feature of rematch of the 58th District final won 76-67 by Betsy Layne over McDowell.

Those two teams earned berths in the Staff Photo by Pam Spaulding its record to 23-5 while Oregon wound up 19-11. Al Green scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the first half to stake N.C. State (20-8) to a 36-24 lead. Kenny Carr then took over to help the Wolfpack build a 54-32 lead with 14 minutes left to play. The big lead was more than enough to withstand a hard charge by Holy Cross (23-10), which scored 13 straight points to pull within 54-45 with 10 minutes left.

North Carolina State then outscored Holy Cross 13-5 to stretch the lead back to 67-50 with less than five minutes remaining. Holy Cross was led by Bill Doran with 17 points. Michael Vicens and Marty Halsey had 15 and 14, respectively. North Carolina State started the game with a scoring burst behind Carr, rolling to a 12-2 lead with six minutes gone in the game. The team from the Atlantic Coast Conference improved its margin to 13 points later in the half, leading 30-17 on a driving layup by the omnipresent Green.

Another layup by Phil Spence, who scored 10 points for the winners, provided North Carolina State with a healthy 36-22 lead shortly before intermission. Holy Cross fumbling kept the Crusaders out of the game in the first half. They committed 14 turnovers, leading to 16 North Carolina State points. Along with his 21 points, Carr grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Doran led Holy Cross with nine rebounds, although the losers outrebounded North Carolina State 37-27.

North Carolina State made nearly 63 per cent of its shots from the field, while Holy Cross was only able to convert 46 per cent. NIT quarterfinal boxes NORTH CAROLINA STATE 78 (36-42) Green 23, Carr 21, Spence 10, Sudhop 9, Davis 7, Walker 6, Jackson 2, Ewing 0, Dell 0. HOLY CROSS 6 (24-44) Doran 17, Vicens 15, Halsey 14, Potter 8, Kane 8, Dee 4, O'Connor 2. NC-CHARLOTTE 7 (35-44) Maxwell 30, Massey 20, Watkins 10, Ball 7, King 6, Shipman 6. OREGON 72 (31-41) Ballard 27, Lee 17, Barwig 8, Jaskson 8, Mack 4, Graham 4, Drummond 2, Harts-horne 2.

Attendance 9,238. Louie Dampier of the Kentucky Colonels tries to drive around San Antonio's Coby Dietrick during last night's ABA game at Freedom Hall. The spurs tripped the fourth-place Colonels 118-105. Silas and Gervin spark Spurs to 118-105 win over Colonels Associated Press NEW YORK North Carolina-Char-lotte stunned Oregon 79-72 and North Carolina State coasted to a 78-68 victory over Holy Cross last night in the National Invitation Tournament, putting two Carolina basketball teams in the semifinals of the 12-team event. The Carolina clubs will clash Thursday night at 9 p.m.

at Madison Square Garden. The first game could be a match between two teams from Kentucky, Louisville and UK, providing both can win quarter-final games tonight. Cedric Maxwell scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead North Carolina-Charlotte's upset of Oregon. NC-Charlotte broke the game open with a 10-point streak midway through the second half with Maxwell scoring six of those 10 points. Before that surge, Oregon had closed to within 5349, being led by Greg Ballard, who finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

Oregon, a 20-point winner over Pacific 8 champion UCLA late in the regular season, took an early 12-4 lead before bilting under a NC-Charlotte charge led by Lew Massey. Massey scored 11 of his 20 points to help the winners build a 35-31 lead at the half. North Carolina-Charlotte improved roll call BASKETBALL EAST TENNESSEE Hired Sonny Smith, assistant coach and chief recruiter at Virginia Tech, as head coach. TEX AS-ARLINGTON Promoted assistant Robert LeGrand to head coaching iob. GEORGIA Signed 6-foot-10 Lavon Mercer, who averaged 37 points and 30 rebounds per game at Metter, High School, to a grant-in-aid.

EASTERN KENTUCKY Named Max Good, head coach at Richmond Madison High for three seasons, to assist new head coach Ed Byhre. VIRGINIA TECH Named Charlie Mohr, who established winning programs at Roanoke College and Tulane, as head coach. BASEBALL KANSAS CITY ROYALS The Kansas City Times reported that first-baseman John Mayberry signed a five-year contract worth more than $1 million. FOOTBALL HOUSTON OILERS Named Ken McCullough, an assistant coach of the British Columbia Lions, as offensive line coach. HOCKEY EDMONTON OILERS Acquired left winger Jack Carlson from the San Diego Mariners for a future draft choice.

NIT pairings Kentucky 67 Kentucky Niagara 61 Maih 76 7p.m. Kansas State Kansas Stat by. Providence 84 Providence N.Carolina 68 March 16 p.m. Louisville Louisville by. No.

Carolina-Charlotte 79 San Francisco 74 No. 79 March 15 Oregon Oregon 72 by. Holy Cross 84 Holy Cross 68 St. Peter 77 March 15 North Carolina State No. Car.

State 78 by. the scoring of the stellar trio, Bass said. "Allan Bristow must have picked up at least six loose balls. And, of course, Coby Dietrick had a big rebounding night." When Utah and San Diego folded, the ABA came up with a schedule that would give the remaining teams the required 42 home games. But San Antonio and St.

Louis ended up with just 41 away games each. "They said in December we wouldn't have to play that other game," Bass stated. However, -it could be crucial in determining the playoffs matchups, so it will be played Friday in Salt Lake City. "I thought we were going to come back here Friday and play a doublehead-er (when New York visits Kentucky)," Bass added. "But I guess they decided to play out in Utah because we can make some money that way." AlU3th Region Ricky Arnold, Walter Brumley and Marcus McKessic, all of Clay County; David Parks, Alan Vaughn, both of Cawood; Keith Nance, Raymond Flannerv, both of Jackson County; Jimmy Smith, Middlesboro; Jerry Baker, Corbin; Walter Stepchuck, Evarts; Hunt Johnson, Pineville.

Clay County almost started counting its State Tournament tickets before they were earned last night, but a last-second basket by Marcus McKessic put coach Bob Keith's team and its Manchester supporters on the trail to Louisville for the fourth straight year. McKessic's shot provided Clay County with a 63-61 squeeze past Cawood in the 13th Region final, thus clinching the "Sweet Sixteen" berth opposite Sixth Region kingpin Louisville Shawnee in the concluding first-round game in Freedom Hall at 9 p.m. Thursday, March 25. Shawnee and 11 other regional champions clinched their berths in big one last weekend. Three other championships will be determined tonight.

Trigg County and Christian County won semifinal games in the Second Region, McCreary County and Casey County did likewise in the 12th, and Betsy Layne and McDowell gained the 15th final. After leading by as much as 15 points in the fourth quarter, Clay County saw its entire margin go by the boards. Mike Howard's basket for Cawood with 10 seconds showing on the clock knotted the count at 61-61. That set the stage for McKessic's heroics. Brian Grubb got the assist on his pass to McKessic, who connected as the final second on the clock disappeared.

In the Second Region, both Trigg County (17-11) and Christian County (24-6) became surprise finalists. Christian County upended Madi-sonville 91-88 behind the powerful 44-point outburst by junior Curtis Parker, while Trigg County used a pair of free throws by Lawrence Cheatham to beat regional-favorite Union County 53-51. Most of Parker's field goals came on long jump shots from the 17 to 20-foot range and enabled the youngster to overshadow the 35-point effort of Madi-sonville's Jim Jones. Christian County was guilty of just eight turnovers in the fast-paced contest. Madisonville lost the ball on 17 occasions.

Trigg County sank Union County with those free throws by Cheatham with nine seconds left, but Union was its own worst enemy, making just 19 of 61 shots for 31 per cent. McCreary County and Casey County Basketball scores NIT at NEW YORK Quarter-Finals North Carolins State 78, Holy Cross 68. North Carolina-Charlotte 79, Oregon 72. National Junior College Basketball At Hutchinson, Kan. First Round San Jacinto (Tex.) 91, McLennan (Tex.) 90.

Westchester, N.Y. 56, Arizona Western 55. Allegheny Pa. 69, Henry Ford, Mich. 59.

DeKalb South, Ga. 74, Johnson County, Kan. 67. Mercer, N.J. 71, Anderson, N.C.

68. NCAA Division II Quarter-finals Old Dominion 90, Cheyney State 85. Tennessee-Chattanooga 107, Nicholls State 78. Eastern Illinois 81, Bridgeport 66. WNES WPAD M- r.

CP regional final as McDowell ousted Johnson Central 74-73 in two overtime per iods ana Betsy Layne bested Feds Creelc 59-44. David Grisby made a layup as time' ran out in the second overtime to give McDowell. Jack Wireman topped John-i son Central with 27. Boys' regional results, pairings x-Overtime. local times prevail.

Final. 2nd at Hopkinsville Christian County 91, Madisonville 88 (SF). Trigg County 53, Union County 51 (SF). Trigg County vs. Madisonville, 7:30 p.m.

(F) 12th at Pulaski County McCreary County 64, Somerset 59 (SF). Casey County 74, Monticello 72 (SF). McCreary County vs. Casey County, 8 p.m. (F).

13th at Union College Clay County 63, Cawood 61 (F). 15th at Prestonsburg '''i Betsy Layne 59, Feds Creek 44 (SF). xx-McDowell 74, Johnson Central 73 (SF). Betsy Layne vs. McDowell, 8 p.m.

(F). Boys' regional box scores 2nd at Hopkinsville i Hobson 18, Chea-' tham 11, Radford 10, Carlin 8, Stallons 4, McGee 2 UNION COUNTY 51 (IMMO-IB) F. Cbwan 24, Curry 10, Shadowen 6, L. Cowan 6, Rideout 5. COUNTY 91 (22-19-2-24)-Parker Walton 21.

Reese 16. Rneii a. Ti.m, ai. 44, MADISONVILLE 88 (22-18-26-22)-Jones 35, Scott 22, Parsons 15, Dulin 9, Taylor 4, Casey 3. 12th at Pulaski County Mccreary county 64 37, Johnson 13, Taylor 10, Duvall 4, Ridner 0.

SOMERSET 59 (8-14-18-19) Gilmor 22, Lampkin 20, Gover 11, Dungan 6, Claunch 0. CASEY COUNTY 74 (12-20-24-lB)-Salyers 25, Hogue 14, Price 12, Mann 12, Mullins 8, Murphy 3. MONTICELLO 72 (20-17-15-20)-Shrum 21, Barns 21, Silvers 10, Lair 9, Ferrell 6, Bertram 5. 13th at Union College CLAY COUNTY 63 (13-12-19-19) Arnold 16, Brumley 15, McKessic 14, Combs 12, Thompson 4, Grubb 2. CAWOOD 61 (12-7-13-29) Parks 24, Howard 20, Vaughn 8, Coldiron 4, McDaniels 3, Turner 2.

15th at Prestonsburg MCDOWELL 74 (18-21-11-10-9-5) Osborne 22, New-some 15, Grisby 13, Tuttle II, Dausherty 7, Tackett JOHNSON CENTRAL 73 (12-17-15-16-9-4) Wireman 27, Lemaster 26, Taylor 8, Sturgill 4, Magura 4, Crum 2, Murray 2. BETSY LAYNE 59 (12-17-12-18) Roberts 18, Staple-ton 18, Rose 6, Sammons 6, Clark 5, Hall 2, Ferrell 2, Lvkens 2. FEDS CREEK 44 (1 7-8-8-1 Hunt 14, Bevins 13, Revnols 8, Meiller 4, Fuller 3, Belcher 2. dial 970 CENTRAL CITY PADUCAH in New York Manh 18 7p.m. March 2 I P.m.

No. Carolina-Charlotte March 18 p.m. EHbsobi Square tauta North Carolina St. with foD Snorts Broadcasters Jack Tennant and Tom Sutton Continued from Page 1 salvage a tie by winning at home March 27. If the Colonels win the series, and in the event they would tie San Antonio for third place at the end of the regular season, a one-game tiebreaker would be played here.

The Colonels played the way Brown had hoped only briefly at the start of last night's game in those moments before a 12-year-old boy fell through the false ceiling of Freedom Hall and to the arena's floor 65 feet below. The youngster, Marty Smith, was listed in serious condition at St. Joseph's Infirmary. When guard Bird Averitt spun in a layup with 6:41 left in the opening quarter, Kentucky led 18-8. But San Antonio scored the next 10 points while the Colonels, Brown noted, "came down and forced up three bad shots and made two turnovers." By halftime, San Antonio had moved ahead 59-57.

At that point Silas had 17 of his 37 points, Gervin 16 of his 33 and Paultz 17 of his 21. "We had no one at those positions who could stop those guys," Brown said. Kentucky's final collapse, however, didn't come until late in the third quarter. With 5:35 left in the period, Louie Dampier, whose string of 30 free throws ended in the first quarter, tallied a three-point play to lift the Colonels into a 73-73 tie. But for the remainder of the period, Silas personally outscorod Kentucky actually, Johnny Neumann 10-2 and the Spurs ran off to a 90-75 lead.

Between them, Silas and Gervin kept San Antonio in front by no less than 10 points the rest of the way. "Gervin's and Silas' second-half performances were nothing short of sensational. Along with that, we were whipped up front at all the positions," said Brown, noting that the Colonels, in addition to shooting just 40 per cent, were outrebounded 62-55. "We came at them off a set play," Bass said, "but Gervin was scoring off free lance moves. When Silas is backing in, that's a set play.

We try to clear things out for him. I know it doesn't look like much, but he scores a lot off it." But the win resulted from more than SAN ANTONIO SPURS 118 Player min fs fsa ft fta reb a pf tn Dietrick 31 3822 14 358 Bristow 35 39229538 Paultz .37 10 17 1 3 9 0 3 21 Silas 42 13 20 11 13 2 7 3 37 Gervin 36 12 23 9 9 6 0 5 33 Olberding 25 03005300 Owens 16 2 6 1 3 9 2 2 5 Gale 18 3 7 0 0 5 1 0 6 Team 3 Totals 240 46 93 26 32 62 21 21 118 KENTUCKY COLONELS 105 Plaver min fs fga ft fta reb a pt tp Lucas 32 7 21 5 8 12 1 2 19 Jones 33 8 15 2 2 9 2 1 18 Gilmore 38 7 15 3 4 13 5 3 17 Damoier 37 9 20 1 2 1 3 4 19 Averitt 4 13 0 0 2 5 5 8 Breda Kolff -15 0 4 1 2 2 4 2 1 Thomas 16 0 0 0 0 7 0 1 0 McDaniels 10 04002030 Neumann 8 17 0 0 2 4 4 19 Murphy 5 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 4 Team 4 Totals 240 45 111 12 18 55 24 26 105 SAN ANTONIO SPURS 29 30 31 28118 KENTUCKY COLONELS 30 27 18 30105 Three-point poals (included In above totals) Dampier 0 of 1, Neumann 3-5. Shooting percentages San Antonio 49.5, Kentucky 40.5. Errors San Antonio 18 (Dietrick 2, Bristow 1, Paultz 7, Silas 2, Gervin 4, Gale 1, Owens 1); Kentucky 11 (Lucas 2, Gilmore 4, Dampier 1, Averitt 3, McDan-iels 1). Attendance 6,788.

National Hockey League CAMPBELL CONFERENCE Patrick Division Team W. L. T. pts. Philadelphia 45 10 14 104 NY Islndrs 38 17 15 91 Atlanta 31 31 10 72 NY Rangers 24 36 9 57 Smyths Team Chicago Vancouver St.

Louis Minnesota Division W. L. T. Pts. 27 25 17 71 28 29 13 69 25 33 12 62 18 48 4 40 Kansas City 12 46 10 34 WALES CONFERENCE Norris Team Montreal L.

Angeles Pittsburgh Detroit Washington Division Adams W. L. T. Pts. Team 52 9 10 114 Boston 33 30 7 73 Buffalo 31 28 11 73 Toronto 21 39 9 51 California Division W.

L. T. Pts. 44 14 11 99 38 20 12 88 31 26 14 76 25 38 9 59 8 52 9 25 Sunday's Results Buffalo 8, Minnesota Boston 4, California Philadelphia 6, Atlanta Pittsburgh 7, St. Louis Montreal 5, Washington New York Islanders 5, Chicago 3.

Last Night's Results No games scheduled. Tonight's Games New York Rangers at Washington; Minnesota at New York Islanders; Philadelphia at Atlanta; Pittsburgh at Montreal; Detroit at Vancouver; Buffalo at Los Angeles; Chicago at Kansas City; Boston at St. Louis. World Hockey Association East Division Team W. L.

T. Pts. Team W. L. T.

Pts. New Eng'd 30 34 6 66 Cleveland 29 34 5 63 West Division Team W. L. T. Pts.

Houston 43 24 0 86 Phoenix 35 58 6 76 San Diego 33 31 4 70 Cincinnati 31 39 1 63 Indianapolis 29 3 7 3 61 Canadian Division Team W. L. T. Pts. Winnipeg 48 22 2 98 Quebec 40 25 4 84 Calgary 35 30 4 74 bdmonton 24 43 5 Toronto 19 43 5 43 Sunday's Results Phoenix 3, Cleveland 2, overtime; Toronto 3, Quebec Winnipeg 4, Edmonton 2.

Last Night's Results No games scheduled. Tonight's Games New England at Quebec; Cleveland at Toronto; Calgary at Edmonton. Kentucky to play Kansas State, of faces Providence in NIT can come out to the side and get the ball. He'll do a lot of one-on-one stuff." Hall said he doesn't know if UK will play man-to-man defense or its 1-3-1 zone. "It'll be like a prize fight," he said.

"We'll be feeling 'em out early." The coach also said he "expects a good ball game" from 6-11 center Mike Phillips, who scored only three points (13 under his average) against Niagara, Kansas State, which received a first-round bye, has a 20-7 record. It was runner-up in the Big Eight Conference to Missouri (five conferences sent two teams to the NCAA, but the NCAA didn't want two from the Big Eight). In three games, Kansas State beat Missouri once. Also heard Statewide on the following UL Sports Broadcasting Network Stations WIEL ELIZABETHTOWN W0MI 0WENSB0R0 pro sports calendar W0CH NORTH VERNON, IND. WVLK LEXINGTON Brought to you statewide by: Continued from Page 1 all its starters back next year, and Kentucky will have four starters back from this NIT team.

"We're going to be a REAL good team next year," Crum said. "If we can play two or three games in the NIT even if we won't win it that would be a big help." The first game comes tonight against Providence, a team that beat Louisville 63-60 on national television two months ago. An easy winner over North Carolina A in an NIT first-round game, Providence has a 20-9 won-lost record. Louisville, which had a first-round bye, is 20-7. "When we lost at Providence, that was our worst game of the year," Crum said.

"Wesley Cox (with 26 points, 10 rebounds) was the only player who played anywhere near his potential." Crum said Louisville is ready this time. "We had a good week of practice, and yesterday's practice was our best all year for enthusiasm and for playing well, too," he said. Kentucky, a 67-61 winner over Niagara in first-round game, must stop Kansas State guards Chuckie Williams and Mike Evans tonight. Williams is scoring 20.7 points a game, Evans 18 and each man has taken more shots than the other three starters put together. 1 "Kansas State looks like Notre Dame did "with Austin Carr," coach Hall said, i "They'll set stacks down low so Williams sports on the air Television '7 p.ri.

NIT basketball, Kentucky-Kansas State, 1 Channel 3. 9 p.i. NIT basketball, of 1-Providence, Chan- nel 3. Radio 6:55 p.m.-Kentucky-Kansas State, WHAS (840). 1:55 p.m.-U of L-Pravidence, WAVE (970).

11:08 p.m. Louisville Downs race, delayed, WHAS. (840). J. Raymond Rice Son Floor Covering of Louisville Grange Mutual Insurance Your Partner in Protection Your Credit Unions of Louisville American Basketball Association Team Denver New York San Antonio KENTUCKY W.

L. Pet. 50 19 .725 45 26 .634 41 29 .586 39 33 .542 Team Indiana St. Louis Virginia W. L.

Pet. 35 38 .479 33 38 465 12 59 .169 Sunday's Results KENTUCKY 130. Indiana 119; New York tonio 95. 110, Virginia 106; St. Louis 111, San An- LAST NIGHT'S RESULT San Antonio 118, KENTUCKY 105.

Tonight's Games 'St. Louis at Denver; Indiana at San Antonio. National Basketball Association EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Team W. L. Pet.

Boston 43 22 .662 Philadelphia 39 29 .574 Buffalo 37 29 .561 New York 32 36 .471 Central Division Team Washington Cleveland Houston New Orleans Atlanta W. L. Pet. 42 26 .618 39 26 34 34 32 37 28 39 .600 .500 .464 .418 WESTERN CONFERENCE Midwest Division Pacific Division Team W. L.

Golden Stale 48 20 Los Angeles 34 34 Seattle 34 35 Phoenix 32 35 Portland 30 39 Team W. L. Pet. Pet. .706 .500 .493 .478 .435 Milwaukee Kansas City Detroit Chicago 29 38 .433 .397 .394 .303 27 41 26 40 20 46 Sunday's Results Washington 102, Boston 89; Kansas City 114, Atlanta 113, overtime; Seattle 113, New York 103; New Orleans 118, Golden State 103; Phoenix 108, Milwaukee 106; Los Angeles 137, Buffalo 109; Portland 114, Detroit 103.

Last Night's Results No games scheduled. Tonight's Games Los Angeles at Cleveland; New York at Houston; Phoenix at Chicago; Detroit at Golden State; Buffalo at Portland. Your Kentucky Ford Dealers, including Byerly Ford The closer you look the better we look Brandeis Machinery Your International Payline Distributor A.S. Blunk Heating Air Conditioning Broadcasting Network A broadcast Division of Jim Host Associates, Inc. 512 East Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508.