Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 43

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1999 ASBURY PARK PRESS PAGE Cll RALLY EXTRA WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Nothing Normal about regional site for Scarlet Knights NJSIAA BOYS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS FIRST ROUND HOLMDEL 77, PARSIPPANY 55 Hornets put on show Sparkling 2 second half By GREG TUFARO STAFF WRITER NORMAL, IU. Of all the regional sites for the NCAA women's basketball tournament, most of the players from Rutgers University would have preferred to be shipped any place but this small town in the middle of nowhere. About the only Scarlet Knights looking forward to the trip because it gives them a chance to play in front of family and friends were Illinois residents Tasha Pointer and LaTana Lillard. But teammates dreading a sojourn to the Midwest Region may have changed their tune had they seen the heroes' welcome awaiting them at tiny Bloomington-Normal Airport, where two landing strips and one baggage carousel accommodate all travelers. Students from a nearby elementary school were waiting at the terminal with posters and banners to greet the Scarlet Knights, who received a similar sendoff from the Cagers Club at the Louis Brown Athletic Center before departing for Newark International Airport yesterday.

But the players boarded a bus right on the tarmac and never saw the students nor the posters until they came down for dinner at their hotel, where the students had come and hung the signs. A different school from the town was responsible for greeting each of the semifinalists at the airport as part of a contest sponsored by the local newspaper in conjunction with regional host Illinois State University. "We are obviously a little bit of a smaller town than the other regional sites, so we wanted to be folksy about the way we do things," said Kenny Mossman, assistant athletic director at Illinois State University and a resident of Normal. "It may sound corny, but that was a goal of ours." Mossman said he expects a record crowd at Redbird Arena for the semifinals, which will be held as a doubleheader beginning at 8 p.m. A crowd of 3,721 for a 1996 game between Illinois State and Northern Iowa was the largest for a women's game at Redbird Arena.

More than 8,000 tickets have been sold for tomorrow's event, which Mossman says will be a sellout for the venue. Top-seeded Purdue (30-1) plays fourth-seeded North Carolina (28-7) in the opener. Thirty minutes after the completion of that game, third-seeded Rutgers (28-5) battles second-seeded Texas Tech (30-3). The winners play for the regional championship at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

All games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2. Win or lose, as a parting gift from the folks of Normal, each player will receive a Eureka miniature vacuum cleaner, which was designed and is manufactured here in town. It is customary for regional sites to give players gifts, but few award household appliances. "It's not a compact disc player," said Mossman, "but we wanted to give them something that was a part of us." Illinois State University, two hours west of Indianapolis and three hours north of St. Louis, may not have the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles or the waterfront appeal of Cincinnati other regional sites but it is not without charm.

A two-hour drive from downtown Chicago across a flat, lonely stretch of Interstate 55, the landscape surrounding Normal is seemingly two-dimensional. Stick-figure silos and an occasional cow break up the monotony. And while Normal may not have the basketball tradition of North Carolina, site of the Mideast Regional, it is not devoid of history. The first AIAW national championship was played at Illinois State's Horton Field House in 1972. Redbird Arena replaced the building in 1989 and drew a single-season record 114,778 fans for 13 home games, surpassing the Bloomington-Normal population of 90,000.

"People love their basketball around here," said Mossman, noting that the NCAA tournament was not a tough sell. But as a precaution, Illinois State marketing director Leanna Bordner promoted the event by mailing fliers to high school girls basketball coaches in seven states. Mossman said she received a good response locally. Teams from nearby Normal, West and University high schools are attending the game. The elementary school children who comprised the welcoming committee will be in the stands for today's practice sessions, which are open to the public.

Rutgers takes the floor from 2:10 to 2:40 p.m. "We should get a decent crowd at practice," said Mossman, who will have his hands full dealing with throngs of media. "Not including volunteers and all the people from ESPN, we'll have 200-plus." Reporters passing through To-wanda and Old Town are led into Normal by newly erected signs proclaiming it host of the Midwest Regional. Once on Veterans Parkway, the main drag into town, there is a buzz in the air about the tournament. "This has definitely been the talk of the town," Mossman said.

At a Bob Evans Family Restaurant, a patron told the waitress he was in Normal for the women's basketball tournament. She asked who was playing. He listed the teams, all but one of with which she was familiar. "Where's Rutgers from?" she asked. "New Jersey," he replied.

"Oh," she said, unimpressed. Holmdel's Brian Snodgrass tries to pass to the open hands of a teammate as Parsippany's Jeremy Phillips tries to stop him. Snodgrass had 14 points, 1 1 in the Hornets' second-half surge. Perhaps they play like Princeton, but the Hornets can run wild, too T2 puts Holmdel 110 in semifinals 3d By BOB JORDAN STAFF WRITER ELIZABETH The idea of the Tournament of Champions is to bring together the six state group champions and play down to a winner. It's assumed that most of the games will tie evenly matched.

I Holmdel blew that assumption out of the water last night in its quarterfinal meeting with Parsippany at Hie Dunn Center. '2 In a second half jaw-dropping display of pinpoint passing, defens-shredding drives and uncanny shooting accuracy from the field, Holmdel put on a clinic in running off td la 77-55 victory, the largest margm rnf victory in the TOC since the 1S96 quarterfinals. rn "That's probably the best half of basketball we've played," said senior guard David Klatsky, who had(J7 points to go with 10 mostly gorgeous assists. -ira "It was our defense that turned, it around," he said. "They missed a Jot of shots because our defense made them take a lot of bad shots, and that gives us the chance to run the ball in transition." () The victory allowed Holmdel to become the second Shore Conference boys team to win a TOC game in the 11 years of the tournament Long Branch won quarterfinal games to 1997 and 1998.

The fourth-seeded Hornets will face top-seeded Seton Hall Prep, No. 4 hi the USA Today Super 25, in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Sunday at Rutgers University. Holmdel (23-7) did not trail Parsippany (20-7) after Klatsky made a pair of foul shots to make the score 9-9 with 3:30 left in the first quarter, hut it wasn't until senior swingman Brian Snodgrass got hot that the game got out of hand. Hn Snodgrass finished with 14 poirits, 11 in the second half, and his five ijf nine shooting was about par on 'a team that shot the lights out wiuY57 percent accuracy.

Center Adam Fleischner (11 'rebounds), a 6-foot-3 senior, made nine of 14 shots for 18 points, as he consistently outmuscled 66 Damian KoH) and 6-5 Jason Roberts in battles for second-chance points. Klatsky hit 7 of 11 shots and junior guard John Donovan connected onj of 11 shots in scoring 16 points, 3 But once Snodgrass got on board in the second half, Parsippany was nearly helpless. "(Coach Tom Stead) was all over me in the first half, yelling that jl wasn't shooting enough," Snodgrass said. "I thought I got some better looks in the second half." 0 Said Stead: "We wanted to get him into the flow of the game, but that's how it is for shooters sometimes. He was a little gun-shy at the start He wasn't pulling the trigger." Snodgrass came up with eight points in a five-minute span in the third quarter and Holmdel which led 29-26 at the break took a 53-38 lead after three quarters.

0 Then came the blitz. With Donovan scoring nine of Hie points, Holmdel went on an 184 Wad to max out its lead at 71-42. i 0 There was no stopping the teafii that one year ago, took Long Brarich to overtime before dropping a TOC quarterfinaL 'd "It's very important to us to get this game in this building," Snodgrass said. "Last year we just fell short" f'i "Long Branch was our rival and we wanted that bad last year," KlatsKy said. "We didn't want to have any regrets tonight" 'T '4 PARSIPPANY (55): Curry 5 00 13, Smith 0 3-4 3.

Ward 2 00 5. Riberts 8 0-0 16. Kolb 4 00 8. Phillips 1 3-3 5. DellaFave 1 1-2 3, Gerardo 1 00 2 Totals: 22 7-10 55.

HOIMDEL (77): Klatsky 7 2-2 17, Donovan 7 00 16, Snodgrass 5 00 14, Fleischner 9 0-2 18, McKeever 0 00 0, Craparo 3 0-2 6. Murrell 0 00 0, Ahmad'O 00 0, Santiago 1 00 2, Ivers 10-0 2, Buccash 0-0 2. Stein 0 0-0 0. Totals: 34-59 2-6 77. i'l Parsippany (20-7) 11 15 12 17 55 Holmdel (23-7) 16 13 24 24 77 3-pomt goals: (P) Curry 3.

Ward (H) Klatsky, Donovan 2, Snodgrass 4. Fouled out: (P) Roberts. SCHEDULE TOMORROW NJSIAA ORIS TOUtNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS Semifinals at Dm Seerts Ceater, ElttaaetJi 1:, East Brunswick vs. Mendharn 1 fa fn. St John Vianney vs.

Ewing 3 in. SUNOAY NJSIAA BOYS TOURNAMENT Of CHAMPIONS SeMrflaals at Rvters Unrverslty Teaneck vs. St. Augustine 1 p.m. Holmdel vs.

Seton Hall Prep 3 m. TUESDAY 1)1 NJSIAA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS at Rirtfert Unhwsrty 13 Girls final 6 p.m. Boys final 8 p.m. MARCH 21 fli ICE HOCKEY lit WSiAA CtUHKtwnJiit at Ceatjneirtal AirHMS Arena Brick vs. Seton Hall Prep 6 p.fn.

with a big center like they had, that can't stick with Adam full court, Fm just going to throw it up to him because I know he's going to outrun the guards and then he gets layups. We've been doing that since fourth grade. 'Tf we see a weakness like that well exploit it and keep going at it" The 6-foot-3 Fleischner was also terrific on the boards against the taller Redskins, yanking down 11 rebounds, seven off the offense glass vs. the likes of Parsippany's 66 Damian Kolb and 65 Jason Roberts. "Most of them (offensive boards) were off my own shots," said Fleischner.

"We know we're always going to be outsized, so it doesn't bother us." Holmdel outrebounded Parsippany 24-23. The game marked a rude return to the Dunn Center for Parsippany coach Joe Flanagan. As a player, Flanagan was a reserve on the 1979 Middletown South team that played at Dunn when it defeated Franklin Township in the Central Jersey Group rV final "We beat Roy Hinson," said Flanagan, referring to the Franklin star who went on to Rutgers and a career in the NBA. Last night the Redskins had their hands full with guys named Fleischner and Klatsky, among others. "What really hurt us in the third quarter was their zone press," said Flanagan, who saw one turnover after another lead to the parade of Holmdel baskets.

Parsippany suffered through 21 turnovers compared with just 11 for ELIZABETH lond hair flying, Holmdel center Adam Fleischner ran the floor. He gathered in the long pass from point guard David Klatsky and sank the driving layup. Then it was Klatsky whirling down court in the wake of a Parsippany turnover, snaring the pass from Damien Murrell and hitting another layup. TONY GRAHAM Holmdel, the team known for its Princeton approach, its savvy passing, its possession offense, at times last night turned into a Neptune or Lakewood as it ran with abandon. In the third quarter of the Tournament of Champions quarterfinal at the Dunn Center, it broke away from Parsippany with a blitz of fast-break baskets en route to a 77-55 victory.

"People think all we do is set picks like Princeton and shoot 3s," said Fleischner after Holmdel became just the third Shore boys team (Long Branch and CBA are the others) to reach the TOC semifinals. "But a big part of our game is running. That's how we get open looks." "Adam never gets tired," said Klatsky, who finished with 10 assists. "He'll keep running up and down the entire game. When we play someone Will women's tourney finally produce upsets? I PETER ACKER KANStaff Photographer Holmdel.

"First they caught us off guard and then we weren't real strong with the ball" Flanagan said. "They're perceived kind of as a Princeton-type team because they use the 3. "But we knew Dave would get the ball at three-quarter court and always look up and make that diagonal pass. We talked about that quite a bit," Flanagan added. "The problem is they have four guys out on the perimeter and we have two or three big guys blocking out.

"They were sending Fleischner long and our big guy (Kolb), who was guarding Fleischner, wasn't rotating back because he was rebounding. We're used to guards going long, and Tom (Holmdel coach Tom Stead) does a good job of sending a four guy (power forward) or a five (center) guy long." Flanagan said he has seen Seton Hall Prep play several times this year and, with his body language, you could tell he feels Holmdel doesn't have a prayer against the 28-1 Pirates. But diplomatically he said, "They do have a prayer. But I've seen Seton Hall play a few times and they're loaded." Unhappy Parsippany fans chanted, "Let's go Seton Hall," near the end of the game. Whatever the odds Sunday, look for Holmdel to play its game.

While its style may be like that of Princeton, when they can the Hornets will try to run. And they won't hide. Ton Graham is an Asbury Park Press staff writer. good," Powell said. "Their defense made us do things we didn't want to do and they drew a lot of fouls.

I think we have to play much better to compete with St Augustine." Powell had a big impact with his play on the boards. "Everything that went up, I went after. That's the way I play," he said. NEW PROVIDENCE (40): Todd Simo 4 0-0 10, Tim Simo 3 00 Mikt Piccolo 4 00 10. Kyle Rust 2 04 4.

Mike Machin 3 3-5 9. Totals: 16 3-5 40. TEANECK (47): Kasib Powell 6 2-3 14. Ade Edwards 1 2-2 4, Marcell Williams 3 7-7 13. Daryl Baldwin 4 0-1 10, Maurice Gadson 3 0-16.

Totals: 17 11-14 47. New Providence (21-6) 10 911 10-40 Teaneck (29-1) 10 9 14 14 47 3-polnt goals: (N) Todd Simo 2, Piccolo 2. Tim Simo: (T) Baldwin. Powell's play powers Teaneck win especially when you have Cinder-ellas like College of Charleston or UT-Chattanooga in men's basketball." In the East at Greensboro, N.C., top-seeded Tennessee (30-2) continues its quest for a fourth consecutive national championship against No. 4 seed Virginia Tech (28-2), which won its first 18 games and made the round of 16 for the first time.

The other game at Greensboro has second-seeded Old Dominion (28-3), a Final Four team two years ago, against No. 3 seed Duke (26-6), a well-balanced team that won the regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Top-ranked and No. 1 seed Purdue (30-1) heads the field in the Midwest at Normal, 111. The Boilermakers will take a 28-game winning streak against fourth-seeded North Carolina (28-7), a quick team that almost beat Tennessee in the regional finals last year.

Second-seeded Texas Tech (30-3) meets No. 3 seed Rutgers (28-5), one of the nation's best defensive teams, in the other Midwest game. In the West at Los Angeles, top-seeded Louisiana Tech (28-2), bent on making amends for a lopsided loss to Tennessee in last year's national championship game, travels halfway across the country to meet nearby rival LSU (22-7), the No. 4 seed. All-American Becky Hammon leads No.

2 seed Colorado State (33-2) against third-seeded UCLA (25-7). THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MAYBE, just maybe, the NCAA women's" basketball tournament will get something new this weekend: an upset that breaks' the form that has been followed so closely so far. While a handful of higher-seeded teams lost in the first round, the 16 teams that will play in the regional semifinals tomorrow are the top 16 seeds, all of whom advanced by winning twice at home. Now that the games are at neutral sites, shouldn't there be a little better chance for something unpredictable to happen? "I don't think there's any question about that," Clemson coach Jim Davis said. "I just hope it doesn't happen in the Mideast until the championship game." An upset in that game would mean Davis' No.

2-seeded Clemson team defeating top-seeded Connecticut to advance to the Final Four. Clemson (26-5) plays third-seeded Georgia (25-6) in the Mideast semifinals in Cincinnati. Connecticut (29-4) meets fourth-seeded Iowa State (24-7) in the other game there. Only five lower-seeded teams have won in the tournament. A few more upsets along the way wouldn't hurt, Davis said.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with upsets," he said. "I think that's good for basketball, By BOB JORDAN STAFF WRITER ELIZABETH Only once in the 11-year history of the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions has a bottom-seeded team advanced, and Kasib Powell of third-seeded Teaneck was determined to not let it happen again. Powell, a 6-foot-4 senior, scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds last night in leading the Highwaymen to a 47-40 victory over upset-minded New Providence at the Dunn Center. Teaneck (29-1) will face No. 2 St Augustine in the TOC semifinals at Rutgers University Sunday at 1 p.m.

Powell scored six of his points during a game-turning run early in the third quarter. New Providence (21-6), seeded last in the field of six and attempting to duplicate the feat of the bottom-seeded Eastern Regional team in TEANECK NEW PR0V. 47 40 the 1989 quarterfinals when Eastern beat Haddon-field, had scrapped its way back into the game late in the second quarter. The state Group I champions, down 19-13, tied the game at the break on baskets by Mike Machin (nine points) and Todd Simo (10 points) and a pair of foul shots by Simo. But the Powell-led rally gave Group rv champion Teaneck a 37-30 lead, and Marcell Williams (13 points) canned six foul shots in the final 1:30 to ice the game.

"They were the No. 6 team in the tournament but they were very.