The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 29

Confidence the Key And Nicklaus Has It Back very happy to see. All in all, he's turned things around." Grout is the man who has been mechanic to the finest golfing machine of our time, and it is through some tinkering with the Nicklaus' swing that confidence and enthusiasm have replaced concern and doubt It was such a small thing that it seems almost insignificant, but the tiny flaw was preventing one of the greatest strikers of the ball in history from striking the ball. "His setup was the main thing that was giving him problems," Grout said. "His backswing was too vertical. It was so vertical that the club was over the top of his neck instead of behind his neck and in back of his shoulder." Tiny adjustment and, bingo, out comes Nicklaus and leads the Crosby, his first event of the year, in the final round until he lets things get away from him.

"I finished that tournament like a guy who hadn't played tournament golf in six months," Nicklaus said yesterday before leaving home for a practice round at Inver-rary for the upcoming Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic. Toss out his opening round 73 in the LA. Open (one week after Crosby), and you have the makings of a pretty good tournament He followed it with rounds of 69, 70 and 71 and finished the tournament seven shots behind Tom Watson. By Larry Dorman Ptt Staff writer The vacation is now officially ended. Jack Nicklaus is ready to go back to work, and if you don't believe it then listen to the man who has been the only golf teacher Nicklaus has ever had Jack Grout "I would think that primarily Jack just wanted to take some time off last year, but be didn't," Grout said yesterday.

"His interest just wasn't there, and golf is not a thing you can force. "Everything gets boring after awhile, and I think that's what happened to Jack. But now, he's got his enthusiasm back and that's something that all of us are Tinkering with his game during that tournament, Nicklaus took some chipping pointers from Phil Rodg-ers and "though changing my chipping around cost me some shots during the last two rounds at L.A., it made me sacrifice what was left of the tournament but it can only help." Over the long haul, that is, and Nicklaus seems now to have the unique mental toughness back. At least, like his game, it is beginning to come back. "I think the hardest obstacle to overcome now," he said, "since I haven't won in so long, is that instead of expecting to win I now have to convince myself that I' can win.

It's a very difficult thing to do." Turn to NICKLAUS, B4 Clipboard, B6 SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1980 JD L.i pAGE B3 ThePost Hi -n m.i -i n. T-, iiiiti i-imn r.i- miimimi mil i mm, ni iMiiiinin i 7" i 11111,11,111 1 V'iurn Rams, Lancers To Meet Again -mm A year's district final before being eliminated by eventual state champion Martin County. "So at halftime we changed our offense a little bit and got George (Jackson) running up and down the baseline where he could pop the ball off to Jay (Daniels) and make Thorpe make the plays. "Our kids really fought back. I think we worried too much about Thorpe early in the game.

Johnny (Madison) hit some key foul shots down the stretch but one of the other keys was the way George (Jackson) took control and refused to be defensed whether they went to a zone or man coverage." Turn to DIST. 11-AAAA, BS 29 deficit with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter before coach Ernie Bell had the opportunity to think about a rematch with Twin Lakes. Lake Worth, which finished the season 17-10, led 31-25 at halftime but lost its advantage when 6-foot-9 center Otis Thorpe picked up his fourth foul with 6:22 left in the third quarter and went to the bench until about 5:00 remained in the game. Thorpe scored 11 points in the first half and teamed with guard Joe Patterson and forward Richard Rathell to help the Trojans rattle the Lancers much the way they did in a 69-47 win over Leonard Feb. 1.

"One of our game plans was to go inside with the ball and make Thorpe play defense," said Bell, who made it to last By Dave George Pest Staff Writer LAKE WORTH George Jackson scored 21 points and Johnny Madison sealed the win with three free throws in the final 24 seconds as Leonard beat Lake Worth 54-48 last night and advanced to meet No. 10 Twin Lakes in the District 11-AAAA high school basketball championship game. Twin Lakes dismantled Boca Raton 85-44 in last night's other semifinal at Leonard. The Rams and Lancers last met eight days ago with Leonard winning 48-46 to tie the season series at 1-1. The Lancers had to fight back from a 37- kenKl-.

-tV- I V' Glades Central, Mustangs Win 7 floh "7 I Jjt (I r-- I Ln4m Mrl.t.ll uvfnatimmMtmihtrrtini Mm- ml lirijl iu a WMlJj it i i ByPeteEbel Peit Staff writer DELRAY BEACH North Shore, the fourth-ranked team in Class AAA high school basketball, used the brilliant passing and 27 points by Derek Harper to decide its 79-45 victory over Cardinal Newman early in last night's Dsitrict 14-AAA tournament at Pompey Gym. But Glades Central needed a 26-point fourth quarter to expand a five-point third-quarter lead and gain a 70-52 win over Atlantic. The teams meet in tonight's final at 8 p.m. at Pompey Gym. Last year, in the regional championship, Glades Central defeated the Mustangs with a bank shot in the final second.

Harper's first-quarter performance in the first game of last night's round seemed to assure a long night for the Crusaders. The senior guard scored eight points in that quarter nothing unusual for him but his superb passing and defense riddled Newman, holding it to just two points. After the teams traded several baskets and the Crusaders managed to pull within six points of the 24-2 Mustangs, Harper took only one shot in a surge that saw North Shore score 11 unanswered points for a 31-10 halftime lead. Harper made the shot a short jumper but his steals and subsequent feeds to teammates Cedric Andrews and Harry Gosier accounted for 16 of the Mustangs' 21 second-quarter points. Newman's efforts to slow the game down, according to Mustang coach Floyd Andrews, may have been more detrimental to itself.

"They tried to slow it down play a spoil game," Andrews said. "But we had to be patient with it. We Turn to DIST. 14-AAA, B5 Staff Photo by George Millener North Shore's Derek Harper glides for another basket Kentucky, LSU in Title Rematch I Vfl ft Vi point lead twice, the last at 50-44 with 12:33 left in the game. With Bowie leading the way, Kentucky finally reclaimed the lead on a Bowie layup 8:40 from the finish and, after three lead exchanges, Kyle Macy put the 'Cats ahead to stay on a 10-foot shot with 6:18 to play for a 60-59 lead.

Two straight layups by Bowie near the four minute and three minute marks stretched the lead to 64-59 during a period in which Stroud missed the first shot on a pair of 1-and-l free throw situations. The Wildcats iced the game at the free throw line in the final two minutes when Macy and Dirk Minnifield each hit two and Chuck Ver-derber and Charles Hurt one apiece. The victory lifted Kentucky to 28-4 for the season. It was the Wildcats' 14th consecutive BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Freshman Sam Bowie scored 27 points and second-ranked Kentucky held off determined Mississippi 70-67 last night to advance to the championship game of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament.

The Wildcats, recording their 11th consecutive victory, face No. 5 Louisiana State in the championship game in a rematch of their showdown Sunday for the conference title which Kentucky won in overtime 76-74. LSU earned its berth with a 73-66 victory over Alabama in which DeWayne Scales led the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Kentucky blew a 10-point lead in the first half and faced an uphill struggle when the inside scoring of John Stroud and the outside shooting of Elston Turner helped the Rebels build a six- victory over Ole Miss and stretched their series, advantage to 56-4. Stroud finished with a game-high 29 points, increasing his career total to 2,291, second best in SEC history.

Ole Miss, 16-12, overcame a 26-16 first half. lead by the Wildcats and went into the locker-room at halftime with a 33-33 tie on a tip-in by Tim Thomas with 21 seconds remaining. Macy, hampered by an illness during the SEC tournament, missed a halftime shot at the buzzer, saw little action in the second half, and finished with only six points. Tonight's championship clash will mark the third time the two nationally-ranked powers have met in the tournament finals, with Kentucky winning the previous ones in 1946 and to SEC, B4 The Associated Press ON A ROLLE FSU's Elvis Rolle, who played high school ball at Fort Pierce Central, blocked a shot with six seconds left and the score tied to send the game into a second overtime, and the Seminoles went on to beat Cincinnati 76-69 and advance to the Metro Conference final. Rolle also contributed 18 points.

Story, B4 'No. 5' Relaxed, Ready for Big Year Inside 'I feel very relaxed now I missed a lot last year by missing training. Now I'm getting to know all the players and how they will react in certain situations. It's been Bob Horner Leading Dave Eichelberger takes a one-stroke lead over first-round leader Dan Pohl at the midway point of the Bay Hill Golf classic in Orlando. Scores, B6 By Karl Gulbronsen Post Staff Writer It seemed incredible yet realistic.

As Atlanta Brave third baseman Bob Horner was ripping balls over the left-field fence during batting practice someone among the handful of fans at Municipal Stadium yelled out, 'Who's No. That's a very unceremonious greeting for a guy who led the team in hitting, home runs and RBI last season. But it's hard to blame the lone fan since Horner sjfc is all but a stranger to spring training despite the fact he is starting his third major-league season. While he may be a "who's that" around this area for a few more days, the 22-year-old former Rookie of the Year is all but a household word around Atlanta and the National League. In his first year, Horner left the c'ampus of Arizona State as the nation's No.

1 pick in the June draft and went right into the Braves' starting lineup. Then came last year's salary dispute and subsequent holdout that deprived Horner of all but a few days of training before he suffered a foot injury in the opener against Houston. He missed five weeks with bone chips, finally got back in the groove and went on to hit .314 with 33 homers and 98 RBI. This spring, for the first time, Horner is a relaxed man. "I have felt pressure the last two years but I feel very relaxed now," Horner said yesterday in the middle oiihe Braves' workjut.

"My contract hassles aretover. of information and throw it back in someone's face, but Horner isn't quite ready to predict what he might do over the course of a full season. "People always like to compare," said Horner, who has a better home run per at-bat ratio than Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays had after two seasons. "People just like to talk. I never set any goals because once you set them, it sometimes is all you can think about.

"I think the team expects something out of me. And I do expect to do well. But I cannot really say what or how many I will produce. There are too many intangibles." Goals or no goals, Horner is a hitter. He says he has never geared his swing to hit home runs but is "pleased the way things have turned out." Some feel that he is a hitter and not much else.

But manager Bobby Cox, along with Horner, feels otherwise. "I think some scouts think that Bobby can't field, but we don't," Cox said. "He has great hands and feel for the game. He played second base in college and then we made him a third baseman. "Last year, he played both third and first.

And most of his errors were at first, a position he had never played. I think he'll prove to everyone he is a complete ballplayer." "Ever since I came into the big leagues I've been expected to hit," Horner said. "Maybe I just put too much emphasis on hitting and not the whole part of the game." I Turn to HORNER, B4 ft? fi A Fixing I have a three-year contract so I can just forget about that. "It's a whole new experience for me. I missed a lot last year by missing training.

Now I'm getting to know all the players and how they will react in certain situations. It's been great." Greatness is a label which has been hung around Horner's neck since he was a high school star who was drafted by the Oakland A's. He hit 25 home runs at Arizona State his final season in Tempe and since becoming a major leaguer, has hit 56 homers and driven in 161 runs in 210 games. And since he has been an instant success he homered in his very first major-league game the ill-fated "projections" have entered the p'cture. If Horner were to play a whole season, say the projectionists, it would project to 43 home runs and 133 RBI.

Some fans certainly will gobble up that little tidbit Threats of murder and possibly murder itself were part of a widespread scheme to fix horse races across the United States, star government witness Anthony Ciulla testifies. Sports Roundup, B7.