The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 7

10 The Courier-Journal, Friday morning, January 18, 1980 SIP Allen Central holds trumps a pair of (guard) aces HMEO and a better defensive player. Of course, Stepp doesn't try to play a lot of defense." College scouts haven't exactly been knocking the doors down in search of Slone, but Wallen thinks he has college potential. "He's just had the first letter," Wallen said. "Nobody has really come down to see htm, and that's what they need to do. Slone is only 6 feet, but has great jumping ability.

And he's gotten his shot off against some quick people." The 5-11 Martin averaged 18 points a game as a junior, but has given up a lot of the scoring end this season. He is dishing out 10 assists a game while scoring 14.3 points. "He's the point guard," Wallen noted. "Mark is the leader and a great young man. He's given up himself quite a bit in order for us to have a better team.

"These seniors have a goal to get to the State Tournament. And they're very dedicated. I think we've got as good a shot as anybody in the region. We're not a dominate team." The Rebels are also small, but quick. "Our offense is quick enough to cause trouble, and we do a lot of pressing," Wallen said.

"I hope the inside people can improve. They've really come around for us so far. We can rebound pretty good against the teams in our region." Allen Central is dominated by youth inside with 6-4 y2 sophomore Bruce Mu-lins and 6-4 junior Randy Conley. Mul-lins is averaging nine points and nine rebounds. Conley is averaging nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Jeff Bailey, a 5-10 senior, runs the other spot in Wallen's three-guard offense. Bailey averages five assists. cause of the schedule. We've played only four home games. Before the season I expected us to be decent, but didn't realize we'd be so good on the road." Slone, a 6-foot, 160-pounder, is averaging 25.6 points a game and 7.8 rebounds.

In his sophomore season, Slone hit for 18 a game and 8 averaged 22.8 points as a junior. "We've played some pretty good teams this year and he's scored against them all," Wallen said. "He has a good shooting touch and great quickness. "I saw Stepp play twice and he's definitely a great high school scorer. He has more range than Phil because he works on it more.

Phil won't shoot from 25 or 30 feet, but Stepp can make some from that far. "Stepp has about two or three inches on Slone, but I think Slone is quicker Special to The Courier-Journal EASTERN, Ky. The Allen Central High School boys' basketball team may not be holding the aces in the 15th Region, but coach Howard Wallen Jr. will pit his pair against any other combination. Wallen's senior guards, Phil Slone and Mark Martin, have become the region's dynamic duo with a combined average of nearly 40 points a game.

The combination has led the Rebels to a 16-2 record and established them as one of the strongboys in the region. "I wouldn't want to say one was better than (Ervin) Stepp (the nation's leading scorer for Phelps High) or (Tim) Branham (a junior sharpshooter at rival Johnson Central). But I will say they're the best pair of guards in the region," Wallen said. "I'm kind of surprised at our start be "Jeff Bailey could play for any team in the region," Wallen said. "He's a decent player for the region." Lack of size has proven costly to Wallen's team in losses to Lexington Lafayette and Scott County.

Allen Central, which has won eight straight games including the Pulaski Invitational Tournament lost 53-48 to Scott County and 65-63 to defending state champion Lafayette. "We can always Improve on rebounding because we're so small," Wallen said. "At this point we're going to try to work and get better. We don't want to rest on what we've done up to now. "There are five, six or maybe seven teams that could win the region.

It will be the team that gets the breaks and does the little things the best." Tim Out it a Courier-Journal feature for local sports fans, ft focuses on high school teams, players and coaches from all over Kentucky and appears throughout the McCormick Steelers9 No. quarterback: All he has to do is show up Billy Reed 'big man9 Center wishes OVC had more Courier-Journal sports editor LOS ANGELES This is what Cliff Stoudt says about his, ah, career as a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers: "I'd like to get a bruise, get the wind knocked out of me, see stars, something, just for two seconds." And this is what Stoudt says about his spotless No. 18 Steelers' uniform: "I take a shower after games but they don't wash my uniform. Why should they? It still has the 'Inspected by No. 7' tag in it." And this is what Stoudt says about his role In Super Bowl XIV: "I'll take a few notes, use up a little ink.

I ought get a contract from Bic. Are the Rams' cheerleaders gonna be there? Good, that's what I'll be doing during the Super Bowl." Stoudt, 24, isn't a Hollywood comic, although his timing and one-liners are good enough. He's the third-string quarterback for the Steelers, who will put their Super Bowl championship on the line Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. But don't hold your breath waiting to see Stoudt play, even if the Steelers get a 30-point lead. If Steeler coach Chuck Stoudt says.

"People find out you're on the Steelers and they want to know what you have done. What am I gonna tell my sons and grandsons when they ask what I did in the pros?" The only way Stodut will get to play Sunday is if both Bradshaw and backup quarterback Mike Kruczek get injured. That would give him the dubious honor of making his pro debut in the Super Bowl. However, Stoudt neither hopes nor expects anything to happen to Bradshaw. i "You gotta know Terry," Stoudt says.

"When we played St. Louis this year, they carried him off the field on a stretcher. At halftime, we're getting the game plan and all of a sudden we look in there and he's bouncing around in the training room. I thought they were going to bury him and there he is, ready to play in the second half." Nevertheless, it's difficult to feel sorry for Stoudt. If the Steelers win Sunday, he will have two Super Bowl rings and $69,000 in playoff money, which See VETERAN PAGE 13, col.

4, this section Noll hasn't seen fit to use Stoudt on so much as a single play for three years, why would he put him in the Super Bowl? No kidding, Stoudt is a bench-warmer's benchwarmer. His main job is to stand on the sidelines, pen and clipboard in hand, and function sort of as Bradshaw's secretary. "I charted the tendencies of the defense for Terry," Stoudt says. "He comes over and, of course, he never looks at it." Stoudt doesn't mind the role. It's just that he would like to get in, sometime, for just one play.

"I mean, it's kind of embarrassing," itie By PHIL COFFIN Courier-Journal Staff Writer BOWLING GREEN, Ky. He has not often looked up to anyone, but Craig McCormick would like the chance to look his opponents in the eye. When he heard that a 6-foot-9 center had gained his eligibility at Austin Peay, McCormick smiled. "That's good," he said. "I remember they had a 6-5 or 6-6 center last year." McCormick is 6-9, the starting center at Western Kentucky and the tallest starting center in the Ohio Valley Conference.

When he was growing up in Oakland, a neighborhood buddy was an inch taller, but McCormick has stood out in his crowd ever since the 10th grade. He wishes he did not stand out quite so much. "I sure wish everybody had two or three big guys," McCormick said yesterday before Western's game with Murray State. "It makes it hard for Rick (Wray, his 6-8 backup) and me. When we play other teams, they have centers who are 6-5 or 6-6 or 6-7.

They'll go outside and use their quickness. "But then, again, we can take them inside." Inside is where McCormick likes to play. Inside is where he can use the 15 pounds he has added since last season, when he was a 200-pound freshman his teammates called "Noodle." Inside is where he can bump and grind as much as the law allows. "This year I've put on weight, and I feel a lot better about my body," McCormick said. "I can go inside now and pound away.

I couldn't last year. "It helps you most of all on offense. When you bump a little here and there, it throws your man off balance. This year, instead of getting pushed around, I'm doing a little pushing." He learned how a big center pushes almost as quickly as he learned his teammates' names. When Western opened its 1978-79 season, it played Duke, and McCormick played Mike Gminski.

"He's a mammoth on offense," McCormick said. "He's so good on offense and so strong he probably had 50 pounds on me. He just moved me out of there." McCormick never exchanged elbows With another center of Gminski's size or stature; the OVC is not the Land of the Giants. "The OVC has always had good See McCORMICK PAGE 12, col. 1, this section ureat vv nisKy ade Like Great Wine.

Craig McCormick, the 6-foot-9V4 center for Western Kentucky, is the Ohio Valley Conference's tallest player at that position. He wishes there were more OVC centers his size, though, because he likes to play inside, where he can "pound away" and "do a little pushing." The Oakland, product says smaller, faster rivals tend go to the outside. Assumption routs Leslie Franklin and Pulaski advance No other whisky in the world is made like Old Forester. That's why no other whisky in the world tastes like Old Forester. It gets its flavor and color solely from the maturation process itself.

It's made naturally, like Great Wine. Slow and natural. That's how some wines become Great Wines. And how Old Forester becomes Great Whisky. SCii i.vp, --a I PULASKI COUNTY 72, SHELDON CLARK 59 Pulaski County scored a bucket with 1:58 left in the second quarter to take a lead it never lost in subduing Sheldon Clark.

After the winners had taken a 38-28 halftime lead, Sheldon Clark (12-5) out-scored Pulaski County 19-11 in the third quarter to edge within 49-47. But Pulaski County (13-2) led by double-figure scoring from four players, never let Sheldon Clark get on top and pulled away steadily in the fourth period. There were six ties in the first quarter before the winners went on top to build a 17-14 margin at the end of the period. Lori Hlnes, a 5-6 junior guard, led Pulaski County with a game-high 22 points most of them on 15- to 18-foot jump shots. Others in double figures for the winners were Sheila Sutton, a 5-9 junior forward, 16 points; forward-center Debbie Dixon (12); and forward Pam Phipps (11).

Martha Goble, a 5-5 sophomore guard, topped Sheldon Clark with 16 points. Her running mate, senior Karen Blackburn, chipped in 11, and Angie Fields another guard added 10. Franklin County and Pulaski County will meet in today's 1 p.m. opener. Special, to The Courier-Journal LEXINGTON, Ky.

Forwards Ann Cullen and Anne Ford combined for 37 points to lead Louisville Assumption to a 65-31 romp over Leslie County in a first-round game of the Lady Kat Invitational Tournament at Memorial Coliseum last night Assumption, ranked third in The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, joined other first-round winners Franklin County and Pulaski County in advancing to today's semifinals. Assumption jumped out to a 6-0 lead en route to building a 14-point advantage at the end of the first quarter. The winners were on top at the half 36-17 and by the end of the third quarter had doubled the score 48-24. Leslie County, the defending 13th Region champion, shot a dismal 19 percent from the floor in absorbing its seventh loss in 16 games. The losers were further hampered by poor ballhandling, committing 37 turnovers.

Assumption (11-2) also turned over the ball 37 times, but shot 41.8 percent The winners, much taller than their opponent, also controlled the boards 59-24, led by Ford's 17 rebounds and Marsha Thomas' 15. Cullen added 14. Cullen scored a game-high 19 points ajtd Ford contributed 18. Leslie County was led by Nita Valentine, who scored eight points. Teammate Sandy Sizemore added seven points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

FRANKLIN COUNTY 58, MIDDLES-BORO 20 Franklin County sophomore Connie Coins equaled Middles-boro's entire output of 20 points to lead her team to victory in the tourney opener. Goins, a 5-8 forward, scored eight points in a decisive second quarter that saw Franklin County (10-3) outscore Middlesboro 20-3. The spurt enabled the winners to go on top 29-13 at the half after trailing 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. Franklin County put the game away by scoring the first seven points of the third quarter a period in which Middlesboro (4-9) mustered only two points. The key to the spurt was a full-court press employed by Franklin County.

Second to Goins for the winners was Sally Zimmerman, who scored seven points. Franklin County so dominated the game that Middlesboro's top scorer 6-foot senior guard Julie Stogner, produced only seven points. Her twin sister, 0Lisa, who fouled out, was next with six. Keituc, S'roqff Boido-wh. Qo iqc cc frow" Fo'-xr Disc's Gyp K.

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