The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 14

1 1 SPORTS Section March 17, 1990 Dana Fregia Harvesting the fruit of journalism ou probably think that writing sports for a newspaper is pretty much of a picnic, don't you? Well, you are right. Sports writing is a picnic except by the time the bills are paid, very few of us sports writers can afford to eat anything at this picnic. Therefore, we must reap our rewards in other ways. All of my now rich friends I grew up with are always consoling me in this way. They say, "yeah, you don't make very much money, but you like what you're doing and that's what's important." I say, "Yeah, you're right.

How 'bout that hundred you were gonna loan me?" I reap my "non- depositable" rewards by talking to people. You meet some very colorful people in my line of work, my line of work being sports and not news. Earlier in my career, I worked as a general assignment reporter. As a news reporter, I did not meet nearly as many colorful, interesting, funny people as I do now that I am in sports. Unless of course, you happen to think that people like sewage treatment plant employees are all that colorful, interesting or funny.

Ask a stupid question No, I'll stick to coaches, athletes and fans for my entertainment. A year or so ago, I interviewed a kid for a story. He was a shot putter who was about to take his first trip to the state track meet. He was just a freshman, though he failed a year somewhere down the line. I asked him what grade he failed.

He said, "Kindergarten." I said, "Come on, nobody fails kindergarten. How'd you fail kindergarten?" He replied with a straight face, "I wouldn't color." A little later, I talked to this kid's father. I asked him, "Say, were you surprised that your boy is going to the state track meet in just his freshman year?" The father replied with a straight face, "No. I wouldn't say that I was surprised. He's usually pretty good about telling us where he's gonna be." Coaches are generally what I consider to be the best interviews.

Coaches are so accustomed to talking that we as reporters scarcely have to do more than grunt to get them going. I think that a true test of a coach's potential is determining just how good he is at making excuses. Creative comebacks Ask them, "What happened out there tonight, coach?" and the really creative ones can ramble on 'till the cows come home. I've never had a coach just flat out tell me the real reason his team lost. I guess, the truth does not always look.

good in the paper. Just once, I'd like to "Well, the fact is we are no good. The other team is much better than us. Any team is much better than us. The only decent athletes we have at this school are ineligible because their small-brained parents don't care whether they go to school or not.

Our kids are, slow. They can't dribble, shoot, pass, play defense, rebound, hit free throws, shoot 3-pointers, hit jump shots, hit set shots, check in, call time out or behave in a restaurant. We will not win a game this season, so you might as well tell your readers that there is no use in their even coming to any more of our games." Nope, I don't think we'll ever hear a coach be THAT SM FREQIA, 2-8 'Horns run away from Georgia Mays pumps in 41 points as Texas moves into second round Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS The only way Georgia could hope to stop Travis Mays was to foul him and pray he was as poor a free throw shooter as the rest of his Texas teammates. He wasn't. The 6-foot-2 senior scored a ca- reer-high 44 points Friday night, tying NCAA tourney records with 23 free throws and 27 attempts.

He became the Southwest Conference's all-time scoring leader in the Longhorns' 100-88 victory in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional. "I was happy with the free throws because our team was real- ly struggling," said Mays. "At that point, it was getting scary." His teammates managed only three free throws in 18 attempts. But Mays had one streak of making 16 straight in the second half, when the Longhorns took control. "I was in a groove," he said, insisting a hyperextended finger he suffered on his shooting hand in January did not bother him.

"Every time they fouled me, I was fortunate to knock 'em down." Mays raised his career total to 2,211 points, breaking the former conference record of 2,189 by Baylor's Terry Teagle in 1982. His 27 free throw attempts tied the NCAA tourney record set by Navy's David Robinson against Syracuse in 1986. His 23 made tied the record set by Bradley's Bob Carney against Colorado in 1954. Texas (22-8) advanced to Sunday's second round against the Purdue-Northeast Louisiana winner. Georgia (20-9) rallied from 12 See TEXAS, 2-B Fr Ida EAST REGIONAL Friday, March 16 Duke 31, Richmond 46 Si.

Jotm'i 81, Temple UCLA 68, Alabama-Birmingham 56 Kamoi79, Robert Morrii 71 Second Round Today's garrnt ComiKticul (29-5) vi. California 11:17 a.m. Clemson vs. La Salle (30-1), 30 minutes ofler comp. orfirsl game Sunday's gamut St.

John's (24-9) vs. Duke (25-6), 11:15 p.m. UCLA vs. Kansas (30.4), 30 minutes alter comp. of first gome SOUTHEAST REGIONAL Friday's games Northern Iowa 74, Missouri 71 Minnesota 64, PQJO 61, OT Syracuse 70, Coppin Slate 48 Virginia 75, Notre Dame 67 Stxortd Round Today's Michigan Slate (27-5) vs.

UC Santo Barbara (21-8), 3:50 p.m. Louiiano State 123-8) vs. Georgia Tech 30 minutes after comp. arfirst gome Sunday's garni! Virginia (20-11) vs. Syracuse 1:20 p.m.

Minnesota (21-8) vs. Northern bwa (23-8), 30 minutes after comp. of h'rft game MIDWEST REGIONAL Friday's games Georgelown 70, Texas Southern 52 Xavier, Ohio 87, Kansas Stale 79 Texas 100, Georgia 88 Purdue 75, Northwst Louisiana 63 Saturday's games Oklahoma (27.4) vs. North Carolina (20-12), 3:40 p.m. Dayton (22-9) vs.

Arkansas (27-4), 30 minutes alter comp. of first game Sunday's Xavier, Ohio (27-4) vs. Georgetown 1:25 p.m. Texas (22-8) vs. Purdue (22-7), 30 minutes after comp.

of Rrst game WEST REGIONAL Friday's games Arizona 79, South Florida 67 Alabama 71, Colorado Slate 54 Michigan 76, Illinois State 70 New Mexico State (26-4) vs. Loyola Morymoun! (23-51, (n) Saturday's games Nevada-los Vegas (30-5) vs. Ohio Si. (17-12), 1:25 p.m. Ball State vs.

Louisville (27-7), 30 minutes alter comp. of Rrst game Sunday's games New Mexico winner vs. Michigan (23-7), 3:55 p.m. Alabama (25-8) vs. Arizona 30 minutes after comp.

of first game Texas Southern guard Ray Younger beats out Georgetown guard Mark Tillmon for possession of the ball dur- ingFirst-round Midwest Regional action in Indianapolis Friday. The favored Hoyas won the game, 70-52. Hoyas dispose of TSU, 70-52 Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS Mark Tillmon scored 22 points and 7-foot-2 Dikembe Motumbo had 18 points and 16 rebounds as Georgetown beat cold-shooting Texas Southern 70-52 in the first round of the NCAA Midwest tournament Friday. Georgetown (24-6), seeded third in the Midwest, advanced to Sunday's second round at the Hoosier Dome against the Xavier-Kansas State winner. Motumbo, five inches taller than the tallest Texas Southern player, dominated the inside, along with 6-10 teammate Alonzo Mourning, a second-team Ail- American, who had 12 points and 8 rebounds.

The Hoyas, who led the nation in defensive field goal percentage, held the Tigers to 27 percent shooting, built a 9-point halftime lead to as many as 18 in the second half and coasted the rest of the way. Dwayne Bryant added 16 points for the Hoyas. The Tigers (19-12), the 14th seed, were led by Fred West with 17 points and Ray Younger with 12. Texas Southern's Darrion Applewhite had to be carried from the floor on a stretcher after suffering a cut above his left eye with 2:52 to go. He received five stitches, but otherwise appeared to be OK.

The Hoyas, who survived a 1-point, first-round victory over Princeton last year, never were threatened by the Tigers, making their first NCAA appearance. Northern Iowa shocks Missouri Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. Maurice Newby hit a 3-pointer with one second left and Northern Iowa shocked No. 11 Missouri 74-71 in Friday's first round of the NCAA tournament's Southeast Regional. Troy Muilenburg and Brad Hill provided the outside shooting and Jason Reese added inside scoring and defensive rebounds as the 14th-seeded Panthers built a 12-point lead with 4:49 to play.

But the Tigers, seeded No. 3, used an 8-0 run to get back in it and Nathan Buntin tied the game at 71-71 when he sank a layup with 29 seconds remaining, was fouled by Reese and made the free throw. It was the fifth personal for Reese, who finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds, 11 of them off the defensive boards. Northern Iowa brought the ball up the court and called time with 10 seconds left. Newby, who finished with nine points, worked himself free on the left wing and put up the winning 20-footer.

BUGS 3-0 in district, beat Mt. Carmel By DAN A JOE FREGIA The Daily News HOUSTON The O'Connell Buccaneer baseball team stretched its TAPS 3-3A district record to 3-0 Friday with an 8-4 win overMt. Carmel. The Bucs, 6-1 on the season, used three costly Mt. Carmel errors and just five hits to rally from an early 3-0 deficit.

Peter Maddox (2-0) scored the win on the mound, allowing just three hits on the night. The game was called because of darkness just after the Bucs got their bat in the seventh inning. O'Connell picked up two more hits and three more runs in the inning that eventually didn't count. After the game, O'Connell coach Harry Treybig said he was pleased with the comeback win. "We played mentally tough tonight," Treybig said.

"We could have folded up our tents when were down 3-0 and things weren't going our way, but we didn't. O'Connell players picking up base hits included Mitch Holzer, John Doherty, and Buddy Vo. "We didn't tear the cover off of the ball," Treybig noted. "But they (Mt. Carmel) helped us out with three errors in crucial situations." Today, O'Connell travels to East Bernard for a two games, the first against East Bernard, the second against Sealy.

East Bernard comes into today's action undefeated at 6-0. The Bucs' only loss this season came when they tangled with Class 5A island neighbor, Ball High. Johnny DiBartolo (2-1) will start on the mound for O'Connell in game 1 today. Sammy Parks, a sophomore, will pitch for the first time this season in Game 2. Vo, who started the district season with a no-hitter, has been unable to pitch lately because of a nagging shoulder injury.

O'Connell's next home game is Tuesday when the Bucs host Lutheran South at 5 p.m. Shepherd 7, Hitchcock 3 The Hitchcock Bulldogs failed in See BUCS, 2-B Clark, Gators cruise past Indians, 7-1 By HOMER JACOBS The Daily News SANTA FE Last season, the Dickinson Gators dropped two one- run decisions to the Santa Fe Indians. In the first meeting between the District 19-4A rivals this season, Dickinson made up for those two losses in high style. Dickinson, behind the pitching of junior Kevin Clark, rolled past Santa Fe, 7-1, Friday night at Behringer Field. The win evened both schools' district record at 1-1.

Dickinson is 3-4 overall, while Santa Fe fell to 6-3. Clark gave up one run on five hits and struck out eight Santa Fe batters en route to the win. His only.real mistake in the game came when he hung a curve ball for the Indians' Art Corbett, who blasted the pitch over the right- field fence for his team's only run. "When you coach a kid like that, there are two things you do," Dick- inson coach Glen McWhorter said of Clark. "One is you make sure he gets on the bus and the other is you make sure he gets the ball." While Clark had total command on the mound, the Gators were also in charge at the plate as they finished with 10 hits, including four off losing pitcher Mike Vitek.

The Gators tagged Vitek for five runs in the first innings of play. Dickinson's big inning came in the top of the fifth as the Gators pounded out three hits to score four runs. Clark, leftfielder Jimmy Martin and first baseman Eric Poston each had a base" hit in the rally, while a wild pitch scored Josh Hudson from third for the Gators' fourth run. McWhorter said the game was a refreshing change from his team's up-and-down play in the early season. "The inconsistency we've had is more due to the weather," he said.

GATORS, 2-B Start photo by Vines Stiglich Jr. HR congratulations Santa Fe's Art Corbett (14) is congratulated by teammate Mike McLawchlin Friday for a second-inning home run. BUG netter out with chest muscle inflammation By MIKE BAILEY The Daily News GALVESTON The O'Connell boys tennis team has lost one half of its state runner- up doubles team indefinitely, Coach Manuel Moreno said Friday. John Bannister, who joins Kevin Kampe on the Buccaneers' top-seeded doubles team, was diagnosed as having an inflamed chest muscle on his left side. Bannister has been in considerable pain since the condition was aggravated last Sunday during a practice match.

Bannister saw a cardiologist earlier this week and was cleared of any heart trouble. Friday, he learned it was' i-n- flammation of the chest muscle and has kept his left arm in a sling. "I can hardly breath," said Bannister, who has missed school all week. "I've had a lot of pulled muscles, but they never hurt this bad." Bannister believes he may have injured the muscle during a doubles match a little over week ago in Beaumont. He said he first noticed the pain after hitting a series of overheads.

"They gave me tons of medicine to take, but it doesn't seem to help," Bannister said. Moreno is hoping to have Bannister back in time for regional play in early April..