Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 6

Dally Sitka Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Monday, December 22,1984 Sentine NFL Season Ending Eight of 10 Playoff Berths Set Sitka Girls Gain Experience, Fourth By Sentinel Staff Coach Michael Hirai is hoping that the experience of playing larger Division 4A schools during a fourth-place finish in a six-team tournament at East Anchorage over the weekend will help his Sitka High School girls basketball team upset Juneau when the Wolves resume play in January. After an opening-round 72-43 loss to ninth-ranked East Anchorage Thursday, Sitka rolled over Anchorage Bartlett 65-44 Friday. Then Saturday, defending state champion and 10th- ranked Palmer downed the Wolves 5038. "Overall, I thought the tournament was good for us," said Hirai, whose team had won three straight games against smaller Division 3A schools before leaving for Anchorage. "We needed to play stronger teams." The tournament made the Wolves "mentally stronger," continued the coach.

"We came out (against East) very intimidated, just (by) their size. Once we started playing, the girls knew we could play with them. "It's like playing Juneau. We always seem to be hestitant" Juneau topped Sitka by one-sided scores in a pair of season-opening games that did not count in the South- eat 4A conference standings. Hirai said he believes Sitka can beat Juneau when the Wolves return to the capital city for a Jan.

9 and 10 rematch, "but we can't play a mediocre game. We have to play good basketball to beat Juneau. "The exposure (in Anchorage) was probably more important for us than the way we played. As far as playing is concerned, we played pretty good basketball, but we are capable of playing a whole lot East Anchorage went on to win the tournament, upsetting third-ranked Lathrop in the championship. Palmer was third, and behind fourth- place finish was Homer in the No.

5 slot and Bartiett in sixth. One Sitka player 5-9 sophomore Karen Rocheleau, was named to a player all-tournament team. She scored 48 points and pulled down 24 rebounds in the three games. Sitka's record stands at 6-5 overall. Sitka 65, Bartiett 44 Sitka jumped out to 17-9 and 41-19 leads after the first two periods on the strength of the Wolves' inside game and full-court press.

"We thought we could get the ball inside to Karen (Rocheleau), and she had probably her best game of the season scoring," said Hirai. 'She was pouring the points in." Rocheleau hit 10 of 14 shots from the field and seven of eight free throws to finish with 27 points, her highest in two seasons as a varsity starter. She also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds. "We thought we could press them, which we did, and we gave them some problems with the press," said Hirai about another aspect of the Wolves' game. But while Sitka scored some baskets after steals, Hirai expressed disappointment that the Wolves blew many other scoring opportunities that had been set up by the full-court press.

"That's been our problem all year," said the coach. "We work hard to get the ball, then give it up on a turnover. "I told our girls we won fairly easily, but didn't play a good basketball game." Bartiett is winless in a down season, noted the Sitka coach. Peggy Clark, a 5-8 junior, pulled down eight rebounds and scored 12 points for Sitka, followed by Jenny Briggs and Melody Aitken with eight points each. Briggs led the Wolves with five steals, while Carrie Mayo dished out a team-high five assists.

Bartiett was led by 5-4 Natasha Schmitz with 15 points. Palmer 50, Sitka 38 The Wolves' cold shooting was their worst enemy in the loss to the defending state champions, said Hirai. "The ony problem we had was offense and making the basket," said the coach. "We didn't shoot well at all." Sitka sank 17 of 62 field-goal tries for a cool 27 percent, and was four of nine for 44 percent from the free- throw line. "I was pleased with the way we were moving the ball around and getting the open shot," said Hirai.

"The only problem was the open shot wasn't going in." Hirai noted that much of the Wolves' shooting was from outside, with Palmer controlling inside play with its taller front line, led by returning 5-11 all-state performer Erica Cordy with 19 points. Sitka trailed 18-10 after one quarter and 30-15 at halftime, before playing Palmer even the rest of the way. At one point, the Wolves cut the margin to 10 before Palmer quickly scored twice in a row following turnovers. Clark led the Wolves with 14 points and six rebounds, followed by Rocheleau with seven points and Kara Hunsucker with six. Mayo was tops in steals with three.

Sitka 65, Bartiett 44 Sitka girls (FG-FT-F-TP) Rocheleau, 10-7-1-27; Clark, 4-4-3-12; Briggs, 4-0-5-8; Mayo, 0-0-0-0; Hunsucker, 2-0-5-4; Robinson, 1-1-3-3; Aitken, Mattson, 1-1-4-3. Totals: 26-13 (of 29)-23-65. Bartiett girls (FG-FT-F-TP) Emenderfer; 0-1-5-1; Covey, Evans, 2-0-1-4; Carey, 1-0-2-2; Miernyk, 4-3-2-11: Long, 4-0-3-8; Schmitz, 5-5-315; Raferty, 0-1-3-1. Totals: 17-10 (of By BARRY W1LNER AP Sports Writer The NFL playoff lineup is set. Almost.

With just one game remaining in the regular season, eight of the 10 qualifiers for the race to the Super Bowl are set, including all five in the NFC. Tonight's game at Miami between the defending AFC champion Patriots and Dolphins will determine the other two teams. A New England victory or tie gives the Patriots the AFC East crown, making the New York Jets and Kansas City the wild-card teams. A Miami win knocks the Patriots but and puts Cincinnati at Kansas City for the wild-card game, with the Jets taking the AFC East. Things became slightly less scrambled Sunday as the Chiefs beat Pittsburgh 24-19 to earn their first playoff spot since 1971, and the Bengals routed the Jets 52-21.

Kansas City, by virtue of its conference record, clinched a wild card, something the Jets had done last week, even though the Jets now have lost their last five games. Cleveland, which romped past San Diego 47-17, took the AFC Central and has the conference's best record at 12-4, giving it the home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Denver, which was a 41-16 loser in Seattle on Saturday, nevertheless is the AFC West winner at 11-5. The Seahawks, who won their last five games and were the hottest team in the AFC, won't be in the playoffs. In the NFC, the 49ers clinched the West title on Friday night with a 24-14 decision over the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams will play at Washington, a 2114 winner over Philadelphia on Sunday, in the wild-card game next Sunday, The Giants, who closed with nine consecutive victories, earned the home field edge throughout the NFC playoffs with a 55-24 rout of Green Bay on Saturday. They finished 14-2, the same as the Bears, who won their last seven, including a 24-10 win at Dallas on Sunday. Also ofi Sunday, it was St. Louis 21, Tampa Bay 17, giving the Bucs the No. 2 pick in next year's draft; Indianapolis 30, thejxe Angeles Raiders 24; Minnesota 33, New Orleans 17; Houston 16, Buffalo and Atlanta 20, Detroit 6.

Chiefs 24, Steelers 19 Special teams did it all for the Chiefs, whose 10-6 record represented only their second winning season in 13 years. Boyce Green ran a kickof 97 yards for a score, Lloyd Burrus picked up a blocked field goal and scooted 78 yards for another touchdown, and Deron Cherry pounced on a blocked punt in the end zone. The Chiefs were outgained 515 yards to 171, but held on. Gary Anderson had four field goals for Pittsburgh, which finished 6-10. Bengals 52, Jets 21 Late in November, the Jets were 10-1, riding a nine-game winning streak to the best record in the league.

Since then, it's been nothing but disaster, as they've been outscored 183-61. Meanwhile, the Bengals' potent offense, which scored 409 points this season, was sparked by Boomer Esiason's five touchdown passes, three to Cris Collinsworth. The Bengals trailed 21-17 at halftime before turning the game into a rout on the arm of Esiason, who completed 23 of 30 passes for a personal-high 425 yards. He set a team single-season passing record of 3,959 yards. Browns 47, Chargers 17 Bernie Kosar capped his sensational second season in the NFL with 21 completions in 28 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns, including a 57- yarder to Brian Brennan.

He finished the season with only 10 interceptions in 531 attempts this year, the best mark in the league. Brennan caught seven passes Sunday for a career-high 176 yards. It was the most points in a game for the Browns since 1968. Bears 24, Cowboys 10 Doug Flutie threw two touchdown passes in his first NFL start as visiting Chicago, the defending Super Bowl champion, won its seventh straight game and finished the regular season at 14-2 tied with the New York Giants for the best record in the league. Dallas lost seven of its final eight games and wound up 7-9, its worst mark since going 5-8-1 in 1964.

The Bears set an NFL record for a 16- game season by allowing just 187 points, breaking Pittsburgh's mark of 195 in 1978. Chicago's Walter Payton rushed for his 106th career touchdown, tying the all-time mark set by Jim Brown. Cardinals 21, Buccaneers 17 Rookie Vai Sikahema, a Pro Bowl selection as a kick returner, returned punts 71 and 60 yards for second- quarter touchdowns as St. Louis beat visiting Tampa Bay. Sikahema finished with 145 yards on four punt returns and became only the sixth NFL player to return two punts for touchdowns in one game.

Redskins 21, Eagles 14 George Rogers ran 5 yards for-the tiebreaking touchdown with two minutes remaining as Washington rallied for 21 points in the fourth quarter and won in Philadelphia. Vikings 33, Saints 17 Wade Wilson, subbing for injured Tommy Kramer, threw three touchdown passes as Minnesota sent New Orleans to its 18th losing season in 20 years. The Vikings finished 9-7 under first- year Coach Jerry Burns, the first time since 1980 they have won at least nine games. Minnesota also set a team record by scoring 396 points in a season, breaking the mark of 383 in 1965. Wilson completed 24 of 39 passes for a career-high 361 yards.

Falcons 20, Lions 6 Turk Schonert threw a touchdown pass and Gerald Riggs ran for another score as visiting Atlanta beat Detroit. Oilers 16, Bills 7 Tony Zendejas kicked field goals from 51, 26 and 22 yards and Houston ruined the homecoming of Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly. Kelly, who played for the USFL's Houston Gamblers, was sacked six times, lost a fumble and threw an interception. Colts 30, Raiders 24 Gary Hogeboom threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bill Brooks with 7:32 remaining as Indianapolis, which lost its first 13 games under fired Coach Rod Dowhower, won its final three for Coach Ron Meyer. The host Raiders lost their final four games of the season.

Los Angeles finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1981, the last year in Oakland. Saturday Giants 55, Packers 21 Phil Simms threw three touchdown passes and New York assured itself of the home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs by stomping visiting Green Bay. The Giants won their ninth straight game and'finished 14-2, the most regular-season victories in their 61-year history. Simms completed 18 of 25 passes for 245 yards, including touchdown passes of 24 and 4 yards to All-Pro tight end Mark Bavaro and a 22-yard strike to reserve tight end Zeke Mowatt. Seahawks Win But Miss Playoff Berth Palmer 50, Sitka 38 ttm Palmer girls (FG-FT-F-TP) Vanderweele, 3-0-1-6: Ghigleri, 0-2-0-2; Barry, 1-0-0-2; Cordy, 9-1-2-19; McKechnie, 1-0-4-2; Butler, 2-0-2-4; Russell, 4-0-0-8; Pozzi, 2-3-4-7.

Totals: Sitka girls" (FG-FT-F-TP) Rocheleau; 3-1-5-7; Clark, 6-2-3-14; Hunsucker, 3-0-2-6; Mayo, 2-0-0-4; Briggs, 2-0-3-4; Robinson, 1-0-O-2; Aitken, 0-1-0-1. Totals: 17-4 (of 9M3-38. Sitka JVs Topped by Small-School Powers By Sentinel Staff Sitka High School's boys and girls junior varsity basketball teams lost three of four games over the weekend while playing against some of the top small school varsity competition in Alaska. The Sitka JV boys, playing with some varsity underclassmen, lost to the Hydaburg varsity Friday but defeated Klawock varsity Saturday. Meanwhile, the Sitka JV girls lost to both opposing schools' varsity squads.

All four games were played in Sitka. Hydaburg topped the Sitka JV boys 71-60. Hydaburg is the defending state champion in Division 1 the smallest of Alaska's four enrollment classes. The visitors returned four starters this year and are 17-1, losing only in City Basketball Results of games played Sunday were Frank's Plumbing by forfeit over SJC; American Legion 103, Pioneer Bar 94; Channel Club 82, Air Station 63; SCA 83, Service Transfer 78; Marina Pizzeria 87, Presbyterian 74; SE Glass 69, Sitka Medical 51; Wood- rush by forfeit over Stedman Insurance; Legion Oldtimers 97, ANS Nile Hawks 40; ANB 72, Christian Center Playing tonight will be Stedman Insurance and Marina Pizzeria, 6:45 p.m.; Sitka Gems and Sitka Medical, 8:15 p.m.; SE Glass and Presbyterian, 9:45 p.m. Metlakatla in overtime.

Sitka was within three points, 61-58, headed into the final stanza. "There was a lid on it," said Wolves Coach Bob Potrzuski about Sitka's meager two points in the decisive fourth period. "We just couldn't put the ball in the basket" Mitch Martin and Jay Fleeman led Sitka with 12 points each, followed by Chris Neros with II and Joey Winger with 10. Hydaburg post MattHelgeson led all scorers with 25. Sitka's JV boys rolled over the Klawock varsity 59-36 Saturday, with Brent Denkinger leading the Wolves with nine points.

Neros and Winger scored eight each, followed by Martin and Fleeman with seven each and Gar Henning with six. Klawock is also a 1A school. Meanwhile, the Klawock varsity girls, second in the state 1A tournament a year ago, downed the Sitka JV 66-55 Saturday. Klawock is 12-1 and has not lost a 1A conference game against a Southeast school in four years. Its loss was to a Glenwood, team that recently toured Southeast Twin sisters Jean and Joyce Moore led Klawock with 21 points each.

Heather Hagerman led Sitka with 18, followed by Janet Abbott and Cindy Luchinetti with 12 each. Sitka's JV girls led 6-5 over Hydaburg's varsity after one quarter Friday before losing 41-36. Hagerman led the Wolves with 13 points, followed by Abbott with 10. Michelle Carle led Hydaburg with 13, followed by Bonnie Morris with 12. SEATTLE (AP) Despite a regular season-ending 41-16 romp over the AFC West champion Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks will miss the NFL playoffs for the second straight year.

"We're a pretty good football team right now," Seattle Coach Chuck Knox said Sunday. "We really are. We're a very good offensive football team." But, unfortunately for Knox and the Seahawks, that won't do them any good. After they did everything right beat the Broncos by 25 points in the Kingdome Saturday, they were eliminated from contention for a wildcard berth Sunday when things didn't go right. The Seahawks, who wound, up their llth season with a 10-6 record, saw their playoff hopes ended by Kansas City's 24-19 victory over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati's 52-21 romp over the New York.

Knox noted the Seahawks won their last five games in a row after being 5-6 with a four-game losing streak. "I'm very proud of these players and I'm very proud of this coaching staff being able to turn around a situation that five weeks ago was flat on its back, "he said. "But we stayed the course and we didn't push the panic button as far as making a lot of changes and trying to do a lot of different things. We just concentrated on doing a better job at what we were doing." He spoke at a late morning news conference before the Seahawks officially knew their fate. The Seahawks missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record last season after making them in Knox's first two coaching seasons in Seattle.

Knox said he never had any doubts about his team's ability because it was just a matter of the Seahawks executing their plays. "I can't be distressed about it because that's the game," he said. "Those things happen unless you are a super, super football team." Against Denver, the Seahawks' offense was at its best. Curt Warner ran for three touchdowns and Dave Krieg passed for two more. The 41 points and 536 yards on offense were season highs.

They had a team- record 298 yards rushing. And the Seahawks did it without getting an interception or recovering a fumble. The Broncos had some waiting to do themselves. Denver needed a victory by Cincinnati or New England in order to get the home field advantage for its first playoff game. The Bengals accommodated Denver Sunday.

Denver will be at Mile High Stadium on either Jan. 3 or Jan. 4 against either the Jets or the Patriots. After a 6-0 start, the Broncos ended the regular season at 11-5. "If you had 41 points scored against you, wouldn't you be worried about your confidence?" Denver Coach Dan Reeves asked after Saturday's game.

"I've never been more aggravated. "But if we have the type of players that I think we are, we'll bounce back." Warner had touchdown runs of 60, six and two yards, carrying the ball 24 times for 192 yards. His 60-yard run equaled the longest ran of his four-year professional career, and the 192-yard effort was his second best game in the NFL. Warner's performance allowed him to finish the regular season with 1,481 yards and 13 touchdowns on 319 carries, better even than his brilliant rookie season in 1983 when he ran for 1,449 yards and 13 TDs on 335 carries. Statistically, Dave Krieg outperformed Elway, completing 17 of 24 passes for 238 yards, including touchdown passes of 16 and seven yards to Daryl Turner.

Elway was 17 of 37 for 186 yards with one touchdown. Neither was intercepted. Steve Largent caught six of Krieg's passes for yards and that gave him eighth receiving season in his 11 NFL years, a league record. He went into the game tied for the record with Lance Alworth. He extended his NFL record of catching a pass in a regular season game to 139 contests.

Seahawks' strong safety Paul Moyer underwent surgery in Seattle's Swedish Hospital Sunday after suffering a ruptured testicle against Denver. Moyer, who took over as Seattle's starting strong safety after Ken Easley underwent ankle surgery, returned to the game after he was injured. Moyer's injury initially was described by the Seahawks as strained abdominal muscles. "What Paul Moyer did was un- believable," Knox said. "Nobody knew the extent of his injury." Knox said Moyer's injured testicle was hemorrhaging but did not have to be removed.

Seahawks' kicker Norm Johnson also underwent an operation Sunday after suffering a broken left hand- while making a tackle in a kickoff against the Broncos. Offensive tackles iarid Curt Singer had to leave Saturday's game with strained knee ligaments, but their injuries did not require surgery. Mississippi Wins Independence Bowl SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) --During a roller coaster season, nothing came easy for the University of Mississippi football team. And the Rebels lived up to the script in their season-ending Independence Bowl victory.

"That's about the way the season went good times, bad times and in the end we had our backs to the wall," senior safety Jeff Noblin said after his last-minute interception preserved a 2017 victory over Texas Tech in the llth Independence Bowl Saturday night. The bowl victory topped off an 8-3-1 season, Mississippi's best since 1971, and put a happy ending to a season that saw the Rebels break into the Top 20 for the first time in a decade and then get slapped with a two-year NCAA probation for recruiting violations. An emotional Coach Billy Brewer broke down in tears in the Rebel dressing room after presenting game balls to assistants Mickey Merritt and George Smith, who were released in the wake of the NCAA-ordered sanctions. "This victory means so, so much to all of us. It was a very emotional game.

I think we won it in part for George and Mickey," Brewer said. "But this team has shown great determination and depth all season." Record-setting sophomore quarterback Mark Young and a big goal-line stand made the difference as Ole Miss spoiled the coaching debut of Texas Tech's Spike Dykes. "We showed people we could play. We made some believers tonight," Young said after smashing several Independence and Ole Miss bowl records by completing 31 of 50 passes for 343 yards. "We won't be on TV or get to come back to a place like this for another year, but we're not going to quit next year.

We'll still be a good team," he said. Only seven of Ole Miss' top 46 players are seniors. Carson-Newman Wins Grid Title JEFFERSuN CITY, Tenn. (AP) -Carson-Newman's Pat Johnson returned a punt 80 yards for one touchdown and tailback Kenneth Tyson dove 1 yard for another as the Eagles beat Cameron 17-0 Saturday for the NAIA Division I national football championship. Louis Reveiz added a 45-yard field goal in the second half as Carson- Newman captured its third National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship in four years.

It was Texas Tech's first postseason trip in nine years. And the Red Raiders had their share of adversity, too. Coach David McWilliams was hired away two weeks ago by the University of Texas. Defensive coordinator Dykes got a five- year contract as McWilliams' successor and became the first head coach to debut in a bowl game and lose. Tech finished 7-5.

Like top-ranked Miami and Texas AM had earlier, Ole Miss victimized the Red Raiders' pass defense. Although Young didn't throw a touch- down pass, his completions set up all the Ole Miss scoring touchdown runs of one yard by tailback Willie Goodloe and nine yards by fullback Joe Mickles and field goals of 21 and 48 yards by Bryan Owen. Owen's 48-yarder with 12:16 left to play snapped a 17-17 tie. Another winner was the Independence Bowl itself, which drew a record crowd of 46,369. The bowl had been trying for a long time to match teams from the Southeastern and Southwest conferences.

Lakers Topple Houston Without Abdul-Jabbar By The Associated Press The Los Angeles Lakers' em- -barrassing loss to the Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs last season is becoming a distant memory. With Magic Johnson collecting a season-high 38 points and 16 assists, the Lakers outscored Houston 17-5 down the stretch for a 103-96 victory Sunday night. Houston, with Twin Towers Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, appeared to be the dominant power in the Western Conference just a few months ago. Today, however, Los Angeles is 196 and the injury-plagued Rockets 9-15. The Lakers outrebounded the Rockets 48-37 despite the absence of center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, due loan eye problem.

Forward A.C. Green had a career-high 16 rebounds and 18 points. In other games, it was Cleveland 104, Indiana 94; Portland 128, Washington 101; and Golden State 121, Seattle 112. Warriors 121, Sonics 112 Golden State forced 32 turnovers, most in the NBA this season, and Eric Floyd scored 27 points against Seattle. After leading by 10 points early in the second quarter, the SuperSonics wilted under the Warriors' trapping defense, turning the ball over 13 times in the period.

A 22-6 Golden State run turned the game around. Cavaliers 104, Pacers 94 Ron Harper scored 21 points and fellow rookie Brad Daughterly added 16 for Cleveland against Indiana. The Cavaliers led 86-82 with 6:17 remaining before another rookie, Mark Price, hit a three-point shot and Harper added a pair of free throws to give them a nine-point advantage with 5:07 left. The Cavaliers led by at least seven the rest of the way, Blazers 128, Bullets 101 Like the Lakers, Portland also had a big night against a much bigger op- ponent, outrebounding Washington 5948 en route to its llth consecutive home "victory. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 29 points for the Trail Blazers, Jim Paxson added 20 off the bench and Kenny Carr had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Moses Malone topped the Bullets with 19 points, but managed only five rebounds, sever, under his average. Soccer Fans Blamed in Death SCARBOROUGH, England (AP) -The notoriously hostile fans of Leeds United partially were blamed Sunday for the death of a soccer club chairman who went to help police quell a riot in the stands of his semi-professional team. Barry Adamson, chairman of Scarborough, a part-time team from outside England's 92-club professional league, was butted on the head by a fan Saturday as he tried to break up a fight during a cup match between his team and Morecambe. Adamson, 47, was giving a statement to detectives 15 minutes later when he collapsed. He died on the way to the hospital, apparently from a heart attack.

Bowling News Team standings are Sunde's, Sitka Bottling, 3-1; First Bank, Sollars Court, 0-4. High game, Linda Lee and Carolyn Hammack, 192; high series, Linda Lee, 543. Splits converted by Penny Locke and Lucy Washburn, 3-10; Linda Lee, 3-9-10. 4-0; 1-3;.