The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 17

THE COURIER-JOURNAL, SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1975 5" hall joe UK must strike balance between haste, patience Hb DAYTON, Ohio When you move into the more intensified atmosphere of tournament play, it gives you a better understanding of the scope of your program. In the last week or so, we've been made conscious of literally thousands of people who are really interested in the Wildcats. We've been amazed at the influx of telegrams, some with hundreds of names on them. After 10 years at Kentucky, I continue to encounter new people in other states who are seriously interested in our basketball. Many, of course, are transplanted Kentuckians who follow UK on the radio.

The Dayton area has many Kentucky natives who let themselves be known whenever we are playing here. One such supporter, a 68-year-old lady this will enable us to give a great effort without pressure. The crowd will be predominantly Indiana, with Kentucky rooters a strong second. Indiana fans had advance knowledge that they'd be heading in this direction. Our fans were in some doubt as to where we'd be going, and got caught at the market place in the scramble for tickets.

But we have enough fans here to make an enormous amount of noise if we can give them something to cheer about. Offensively, we'll have to strike a balance between haste and patience. Few Indiana opponents have managed this. On the one hand, you want to avoid firing up a poor shot as soon as you start your offense. On the other hand, the tendency to be too patient over-passing and who moved here from Taylorsville after her husband died, called before Thursday's game to wish us luck, then called back around midnight with congratulations.

About today's game: If we were to advance all the way to the national final and capture the championship, I don't believe it could be more important or meaningful than this game is to us. Every player has been chipping in with his own attempt at leadership, encouragement, seriousness. I think this attitude is bound to have a good effect -on the way we play. I expect a classic game. I have no doubts about which team will be favored; most rating services make Indiana eight to 10 points stronger than anyone in the country.

Indiana totally dominated a big, strong, physical Oregon State team Thursday night much more than the final 10-point margin indicated. In fact, Indiana's 10-point win was far more convincing than our 17-point win over Central Michigan. We exploded at the last after leading by three points with 7:21 left to go. Indiana led by 18 or 20 most of the way. Indiana must be thinking of its undefeated season and obviously has that pressure to deal with.

The further goal of being national champions really, of protecting what is already predicted for them adds to that pressure. We have less to lose, being underdogs, and having absorbed a bad loss to Indiana earlier, we won't be playing in fear of humiliation or disgrace. Hopefully, handling the ball too much can lead to turnovers against their defensive pressure. I think this is one of the most intense and at the same time cleanest and most wholesome rivalries in sports. Our players know and like the Indiana players as people and, of course, respect them as athletes.

The game figures to be extremely physical. These are two groups of highly competitive young men. Again, I expect a classic in collegiate competition. We had planned a short workout yesterday, but we cut it even shorter because I could sense their total readiness. I sent them off the floor because I didn't want to waste an ounce of it.

Now for the game. The final four 10:05 a.m. Central vs. Henry Clay 11:30 a.m. Male vs.

Christian Co. Central 'tones down' to pass Shelbyville in tense 70-64 win If -V' ftp Asf) 'J if I By CARTER PENCE Courier-Journal ft Timet Staff Writer Central High is not' the type of club that plays conservative basketball. Most would call coach Robert Graves' No. 3-ranked team downright flashy, to say the least. Central takes pride in its run-and-gun offense and a scrambling, choking defense.

But after the first half of yesterday's quarter-final game between Central and Shelbyville, Graves thought he had better tone down his team's aggression a bit. Central had fallen behind by as many as eight points in the second period, mainly due to Shelbyville's ability to capitalize at the free-throw line. Central had committed its fifth team foul midway through the first period, and would be charged with eight more before the intermission. So, in the second half, Graves' troops eased back a little. "We had to be a little more conservative on defense," Graves said after his team held off a late Shelbyville rally for a 70-64 win.

"We still pressured them, but we didn't overplay. I think that pressure may have had something to do with it." Whatever the pressure had to do with the outcome, it didn't take its full effect until the final quarter started. Central fought back from its eight-point deficit to a 34-32 lead at the half, but could improve that lead by only four points and take a 50-44 margin into the final eight minutes. But then, the full measure of Central's attack became unleashed. Flenoil Crook, who led his team with 21 points, followed in a missed shot, Duncan Hill connected on a 14-footer and Ricky Daniel added points with another long By then Central had its momentum going, and with a 56-44 cushion, its players became less inhibited about putting up shots.

And of Central's "conservative" defense. Except for junior Vince Chambers, the game's leading scorer with 22 points, Shelbyville had no offense in the early part of the final quarter. Chambers scored Shelbyville's lone tally in the first three and a half minutes of that period. Central, meanwhile had scored 14 points and held a safe 64-46 lead. "I thought we had them for a while," said Shelbyville coach Bobby Cook, whose team finished with a 27-6 record.

"I figured if we could come in the locker room (at the half) with a tie, we'd be in good shape. "But they wore us down in the second half," Cook continued. "Five for we're just as tough as they are. But they started coming in with the reserves. We beat their first five, but they got 30 points out of their reserves." That could be a bit misleading.

Central starts five players merely because that's all the rules allow. Ricky Daniel is a reserve. But Daniel scored 14 points and played 23 minutes in yesterday's game. Duncan Hill played 14 minutes and added eight points. Slow second half start "We start Charles Mathies in there fie cause we want to get some height in the) lineup," Graves said.

"But Daniel usually gets into the game pretty early. He caft come off the bench and really play ball." With Mathies out and Daniel in, Cen' tral loses some five inches in height Evidently, though, it didn't' mattet against Shelbyville. Central won the rebounding war in no small fashion. The score in that contest was 59-26. Central's Bruce Little led all individuals with 20.

Flenoil Crook added 11 and Daniel had eight. Vince Chambers led Shelbyville with 10. Cook took note of the size "If we had a cbuple more inches per man, we'd have beaten them," he sai "They were getting two and three shots every time down the floor in the third quarter. And a couple of times at the1 free-throw line, they made the first, missed the second, but tipped it in. Those really hurt." Shelbyville made one desperation attempt at the Sixth Region champions, but could come no closer than the final margin.

Cook blamed his team's slow second-half start for the eventual outcome. "We weren't moving the ball as well on offense as we did in the first half," he said. "And our defense wasn't quite as good. But I thought we played well. We made some mistakes, but they were human mistakes.

Even pros make 'em." Staff Photo by Michael Coers Up, up and aivay! Staff Photo by Bud Kamenisti Louisville Central star Flenoil Crook watches fourth-period action against Shelbyville in the State Tournament yesterday with his team protecting its lead. Crook scored 2 1 points. Reserve Terrance Everett of Male High drives for a layup over Greg Ratliff-of Knott County Central in last night's game in the State Tournament. Everett scored seven points in seven minutes as Male rolled 98-56. Male High outmans Knott County Central in 98-56 romp by Knott County supporters that Male tried to run up the score.

A complaint, was that it kept pressing even after getting a big first-half lead. "I told them to go to a 2-3 zone, but they couldn't hear me," Houston said. "We press 90 per cent of the time, so it was just natural reaction for my players. I finally got a player's attention and they went into the zone. "I didn't want to run up the score or anything.

I let my subs play over half the game. I hated to take my starters out because you want them to get the recognition and make the all-tournament team. In all, 12 men played for Male and 11 of them scored. Houston began substituting in the first quarter, so Griffith and Turner had to make the best of what time they did play. Griffith finished with 16 points on eight-for-11 shooting, giving him 35 points and 17-for-23 shooting for Male's two games in the tourney.

He played just 18 minutes last night. Turner added 14 points in 16 minutes, also giving him 35 for two nights. The game's leading scorer was Male substitute guard Victor Yarbrough, who had 20. There was some grumbling afterward and a field goal by Griffith Male was never in trouble. With 1:51 left in the first quarter Male had a 17-3 lead.

Turner had eight points by then and Griffith had four. Knott County's only points were a free throw by center Greg Ratliff and a field goal by forward Joe Stamper, which didn't come until 2:40 was left in the quarter. "They (Knott County Central) were tight," said Houston, whose team advances to this morning's semifinal against Christian County. "They didn't play anything like they did Thursday night. They just couldn't relax out there on the floor." By ROY WALTER Courier-Journal Timej Staff Writer Throughout this season, Louisville Male High has been referred to as a two-man team meaning forwards Darrell Griffith and Bobby Turner.

But everybody got into the act, from Male's point of view, anyway, as the Seventh Region champions blew Knott County Central out of Freedom Hall 98-56 last night in the final quarter-final game of the Boys' State Tournament. After scoring the first four points of the game on two free throws by Turner did its job. Male was quick and good defensively, but we were tight." He was asked if Male tried to run up the score. "They let up on us," he answered. "They sent their reserves in early.

After they got the real big lead they started pressing again when they wanted to hit 100. I don't appreciate that, but I understand it." Herbie Stamper finally got into the scoring column when he hit two free throws with 7:32 remaining in the half. The 6-2 guard was unable to connect on a field goal until 4:55 was left in the half. It came from underneath. By then, Male was ahead 33-11.

As a team, Male hit a blistering 64.6. per cent of its shots while Knott County Central could manage just 18 of 62 for 29 per cent. Knott County Central seemed intimidated by Male's aggressive defense and never really settled down. Male out-rebounded the 14th Region champs "We knew we had to do a good job on the (Herbie) Stamper kid," Houston said. "But we didn't do anything special on him.

We thought we would match up-pretty well." They can't do that on the bench. It was hard to take them out." There also was some" complaining because Male got back out on the court at halftime before the officials and set up a dunk line. No technicals were called. Overall, it was a disappointing performance for coach George Francis' 14th Region winners. But probably the most disappointed player was guard Herbie Stamper, who carried the biggest load in Knott County Central's hopes for upsetting the state's No.

1 team. Stamper scores 19 He came into the tournament averaging 28.6 points and 10 rebounds and had scored 29 in his team's 88-68 win over Johnson Central Thursday. Stamper hit on six of 16 from the field. But even he was no match for Male's jumping jacks. Stamper finished with 19 points, but had only one first-half field goal as Male began the rout early.

It led 50-21 at halftime "The shots didn't go for us," said coach Francis, whose team finished 32-3. "And we didn't follow them up. Our defense sports on the air It's tough for Central, easy for Male Television TODAY 10 o.m. Kentucky High School semifinals, Channel 3. p.m.

Indiana High School finals, Channel 11. 1 p.m. NCAA East Regional Championship, Syracuse-Kansas State, joined in progress, NBC, Channel 3. 2 p.m. NCAA Mideast Regional Championship, Kentucky-Indiana, NBC, Channel 3.

2 p.m. NCAA Midwest Regional Championship, Louisville-Maryland, Channel 32. 4 p.m. NCAA West Regional Championship, Arizona State-UCLA, NBC, Channel 3. 4:15 p.m.

National Invitation Tournament semifinals, Princeton-Oregon, joined in progress, CBS, Channel 11. I p.m. Kentucky High School championship, Channel 3. 9 p.m. Indiana High School championship, Channel 11.

MALE HIGH 98 LOUISVILLE CENTRAL 70 tg fga ft fta reb pf tp (9 fia ft fta reb 1 11 21 0 2 16 1 Player min Griffith 18 Turner 16 Anderson 15 Jones 14 Mack .17 Cunningham 14 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 Player min Crook 30 Mathies 6 Little 30 Duncan 21 Yarbrough 26 RudolDh 2 Buford 2 Pf 3 0 1 3 1 1 3 3 4 3 tp 1 '( 8 .2 10 4 6 0 20 9 0 18 0 1 0 2 9 2 6 5 8 8 2 1 14 0 0 SUNDAY 1 p.m. National Invitation Tournament championship, CBS, Channel 11. 2 p.m. World Championship Tennis, Memphis, NBC, Channel 3. 3:30 p.m.

Atlanta 500 stock car race, ABC, Channel 32. Radio TODAY' 9:50 and 11:30 a.m. Kentucky High School semifinals, WHA3 (840). 12:40 and 2:30 p.m. Indiana High School finals, WXVW (1450).

1:30 p.m. NCAA Mideast championship, Kentucky-Indiana, WHAS (840), 4 p.m., delayed, WXVW (1450). 1:40 p.m. NCAA Midwest championship, louisville-Maryland, WAVE (970). 7:55 p.m.

Kentucky High School championship, WHAS (840). 8:55 p.m. Indiana High School championship, WXVW (1450). 11 p.m. Louisville Downs race, WHAS (840).

SUNDAY 12:15 p.m. -Atlanta 500 stock car race, WSAC (1470), WSAC-FM (105.5). 1:30 p.m. Exhibition baseball, Reds-Boston Red Sox, WXVW (1450). 2 1 0 0 1 4 2 1 6 3 3 i 8 TV r'c IL.

1 oks 15 2 Daniel 23 2 Petty Garner Hendricks Braxton YarbroutJh Everett Miller 0 10 4 0 0 2 14 6 0 1 Benson Hill Gregory Totals 1 7 3 2, 2 r98 2 24 65 14 Totals 20 70 160 JO 74 10 14 5 KNOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 56 ft fta reb fg fga Player mm SHELBYVILLE 64 2 4 3 9 Williams J. Stamper Ratliff Mullins H. Stamper B. Sturgill Day 28 22 24 24 3 9 Staff Photo by Bud Kamenish Player min fsa ft fta reb pf tp Jones 32 .3 12 0 1 3 2 4 6 V. Chambers 32 7 14 8 9 10 0 3 22 D.

Chambers 32 6 12 2 5 8 0 3 14 Mason 29 8 17 5 3 2 1 2 18 Beach 32 16223134 Robinson 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 160 25 63 14 20 26 4 li 64 fp 8 8 5 3 19 2 0 2 54 0 7 2 10 0 5 0 5 0 2 0 6 0 7 0 0 1 0 30 1 Franklin Madden 8 Gavheart 3 Smith 2 0 Koyal home runs beat Yankees FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) Hal McRae and John Mayberry slammed home runs yesterday as the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Y'ankees 8-4 in exhibition baseball. ...12 21 16 20-70 ....16 16 12 20-64 The point of no return Tears flow with ease as the Newport Catholic cheerleaders watch the final seconds tick off in their team's 72-68 quarter-final loss to Lexington Henry Clay yesterday in the State Tournament. CENTRAL SHELBYVILLE Totals 160 18 62 20 35 24 98 ....21 29 24 MALE HIGH KNOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 19 56 5 1 16 Shootino percentages: Central 40.5; Shelbyville 39.7. Attendance 14,000.

Shooting percentage: Male 46; Knott 29.0. Attendance 10.000. l'.