Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 21

Kpicks fall to rediscovered Rocket offense The Associated Press Knicks In National Basketball Association action. Houston guard Calvin Murphy says his team will be winning most of the close ones from now on, however. "We are really going now," he said. "The entire team has the confidence that we can go out and win any time we play." With the offense hitting on all cylinders, he said, It makes it hard for the opposing team to get close in the final minutes. "One thing about getting way abed," Murphy said.

"Even if they come back, they normally have a very long way to come." With the Rockets up 98-81 with 4:15 left in the third quarter, the Knicks did Just that, however, as Ray Williams led a comeback in which New York outscored Houston 174 and closed to 104-96 by the end of the period. The Rockets stopped the surge momen tarily by scoring eight straight points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the Knicks took control once again and cut the score to 132-130 with 40 seconds left Houston's defense tightened up, however, holding the Knicks scoreless the rest of the way while rookie Rockets guard Alan Leavell added a tree throw to ice the game. There were offensive fireworks all over the court. For New York, most of the pyro technics came from Williams and Toby Knight, who scored 38 and 31 points, respectively. Moses Malone and Rudy Tomjanovich led five Rockets in double figures.

Malone finished with 37 points and 17 rebounds, while Tomjanovich hit 27 points. While the Rockets were winning their sixth game in a row, New York was taking its fifth consecutive loss, and Williams said the Knicks seem to be losing something in the locker room. "In the last games we have lost, we were behind by only two or three points," he said. "We're going to have to start off playing better in the second half and gain some consistency." Williams and Cartwright combined for 22 of the Knicks' 37 first quarter points as New York shot 63 percent from the Door. Houston Rockets have rediscovered the potent offense that is their trademark and won six games in a row.

But the lack o( a killer Instinct that lost them several close games early in the season almost cost them again last night as they eked out a 133-130 victory over the New York Classified 8 Sports In Brief 3 NHL 2 Scholastic 3 NBA 2 Recreation 6 Jimmy the Greek Asbury Park Press Sat: Nov. 17, 1979 I if 1 Tf 7H: I Jekyll Hyde Nets blow hugeiead, lose it 34 51 half. "We were bleep-bleep on offense, but that's no excuse for not working hard on the defensive end." Led by Greg Ballard's sharp shooting, Washington opened the third period by hitting 13 of 21 attempts from the field. Still, it wasn't enough to cut into the Nets' lead because Kelley (22 points) was scoring from the inside, and Newlin (starting for John Williamson, benched for missing practice) was connecting from the outside. At the end of three, New Jersey was in control, 79-67.

Then all sorts of crazy things began to happen. Roger Phegley (20 points) bombed away from the outside, nailing one long jumper after another; household names like Gus Bailey and Dave Corzine hauled in rebounds under the boards; and Larry Wright, normally a helter-skelter figure on the fast break, directed the offense with deft passes. Presto! Washington went ahead on two Phegley free throws, 84-83. "We lost our aggressiveness on defense," said Loughery of the turn of events, "and our shots just weren't dropping on offense. They were good shots but they just weren't going Baskets by Natt and Newlin pushed New Jersey back in front, 87-84, but Phegley dropped in two free throws to bring the margin down to one.

Then Van Breda Kolff answered with a 15-footer, followed by a Natt rejection (of Ballard) on the defensive end, giving New Jersey possession and a three-point edge. When Natt drove the lane for a twisting one-hander, up-ping New Jersey's margin to five with 2:43 left to play, the verdict seemed sealed. But the excitement, and the drama, was just beginning. Phegley, showing remarkable poise, bit two 20-foot jumpers the last with 32 seconds left to bring Washington to within a point, 91-90. The Nets worked a few ticks off the clock, but Kelley's 15-foot corner Jumper went awry, and Bailey yanked down the rebound with 10 seconds left to play, setting up a final attempt at victory.

"I wasn't displeased with Kelley's shot there," said Loughery, with a straight face. "Not at all." Here Unseld inbounded to Ballard, who passed the ball off to Wright. The whippet guard drove to the basket, faked, then dropped off a bounce pass to Unseld. Unseld spun and dropped in a sweeping hook shot, bringing an eerie sort of silence to the arena. See BULLETS page B2 TV hXP'- By MICHAEL AMSEL Press Staff Writer PISCATAWAY TOWNSHIP Rutgers Athletic Center turned into The House of Horror for the New Jersey Nets last night.

Up by 20 points in the third quarter, playing some of their best basketball of the year, the schizophrenic Nets traded in their Doctor Jekyll uniforms for Mr. Hyde outfits. Tick went the clock. Down went their lead. Once approaching romp-like numbers, the margin began to dwindle and dwindle and dwindle.

Until a Wes Un-seld hook shot, with Just two seconds left to play, gave the Washington Bullets an amazing 92-91 victory. "One very difficult loss," said Nets' coach Kevin Lough-ery, after the shock had subsided. "It's tough, very tough for me to take." Loughery and 6,165 partisan fans watched in disbelief as Washington, without star forward Bobby Dandridge, surged from behind to win. The Bullets led just twice in the game once for 13 seconds in the last quarter, once at the finish. "They Just crept up and stole it away from us," mumbled Nets' rookie Calvin Natt, a sub-par 6 for 23 from the field.

"Man, I've never seen anything like it before and I hope I never see anything like it again." oyj. game all the way," said New Jersey guard Eddie Jordan, "and then that (Unseld) ball goes in the bucket and bam! It's their game. Amazing, Just amazing," New Jersey, playing text-book basketball, raced to a 32-17 first-quarter lead. Rich Kelley, Jan van Breda Kolff, and Mike Newlin each scored eight points in the period helped by five Jordan assists and the Nets were in high gear, rolling like a runaway freight train. Loughery went to his bench to begin the second quarter, inserting a makeshift team of George Johnson, Cliff Robinson, Natt, Bobby Smith, and Winford Boynes, and the unit produced Just four points in six minutes, opening the door for a Washington comeback.

But the Bullets were misfiring from everywhere. In close. Down deep. From In the corners. When the Nets' starters returned; and closed the second quarter with 10 straight points, Washington was down, 51-33, and looking hopelessly Dandridge (sore neck) resting back in Washington, the Bullets' chances seemed limited to none, and less than none.

"It sure wasn't an encouraging situation," said Bullets' Coach Dick Motta, whose team shot 27 per cent in the first Don Bosco ends CBA, state hopes Associated Press Elvin Hayes of the Washington Ballets (left) charges past Jan van Breda Kolff of the Nets during first quarter action. State title eludes gamely Freehold Harris happy in CFL home By BOB SANSEVERE Press Staff Writer DICKIE HARRIS says he could play in the NFL. JBIW MIS, If If Could make a name for himself. All-Pro, he says. No WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP For about 10 and one-half minutes of the third quarter, last night's NJSIAA Group II championship matchup at Mercer County Park took on the aura of a wild west shootout.

When the smoke cleared, Freehold and Berkeley Heights had scored two goals apiece. The final difference, then, became a first-half goal the only first-half goal by Berkeley striker Roger Norman at 18:48 on a shot deflected off the shoulder of a Colonial defender. And with that, Berkeley won the state title, 3-2. Peter Hess got the Colonials on the scoreboard at 6:27 of the second quarter. But the winners came back with a vengeance, scoring twice before Freehold scored its final goal of the match.

Steve Anderson scored Just 10 seconds after Hess' goal, putting in a breakaway chance that left goalie Rich Schlentz helpless. Tim Harrigan, who assisted on Anderson's goal, booted home the last of Berkeley Heights' goals on a feed from Norman. Hess converted a penalty kick at 17:05 of the quarter to conclude the scoring for the evening. In the moments following Anderson's goal, Freehold put on perhaps its best sustained offensive show of the evening. First, Stu Shilling fed Tom Howe on a crossing pass that led to a shot from close range.

Joe Cerullo managed to smother the low, line drive and cover up. Just seconds later, Joe Howe fired a bullet from the left side of Freehold's attack, but Cerullo deflected the attempt out of harm's way. Berkeley Heights, which was known as Governor Livingston High School until last year, began marking extremely closely for the remainder of the game. For safety's sake, they kept dumping the ball out of their zone. In a post-game huddle, Freehold coach Ed Shakespeare refused to let his players dwell on the defeat they had suffered.

He told them to be proud of the season they'd had, not to let one loss ruin their memories. By bill Mclaughlin Press Staff Writer WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP It was Christian Brothers Academy vs. Don Bosco Tech two all-boys prep schools battling for the NJSIAA Parochial A soccer championship. It was also a matchup of two of the top goal scorers in New Jersey this season. CBA's Tom Rafferty entered the game with 25 goals and six assists, and his opposite number, Chris Tolomeo of Don Bosco had 29 goals.

Tolomeo did his share with the first two goals of the game, but in the end, Don Bosco earned a 4-0 victory because of the work turned in by a handful of lesser-known Ironmen. Defenders such as Hector Farbrisker, Sal Sprolfera, Jerry Lynch and Kevin Fitzgerald took turns marking Rafferty, denying him the ball and wrapping themselves around him when he was in control. "They beat us with their backline," offered Dan Keane, coach of the CBA Colts. "They marked Tommy well, and they marked all of us well. On the other hand, they burned our backline.

I give Don Boscc all the credit in the world, they played well tonight, better than we did. They deserved this victory." Tolomeo, a genuine magician with the ball, scored his 30th and 31st goals of the season in the first half, giving the Ironmen a 24 lead at half time, and virtually wrapping up the title at that point Things were not going well for Rafferty under the lights at Mercer County Park. He had difficulty picking up the flight of the ball in the glare of the vapor lamps. But neither he nor anyone connected with CBA offered it as an excuse. "He didn't see the ball well," said Keane.

"But that doesn't diminish the game (Don Bosco Tech) played. They're an outstanding team and we Just weren't as good as they were." "I could see we were in trouble at halftlme," admitted Keane. "You come this far in the state tournament and you don't want to fall behind like that. "I could feel it in the locker room, I could see the worried looks on the kids' faces. But you can't play soccer that way.

You've got to be loose and relaxed. We weren't and It showed." The Colts didn't quit when they were down two goals, and they didn't quit after Don Bosco had scored two back- Steve Scolf ieldAsbary Park Press Steve Vuolo of Don Bosco out-maneuvers CBA's Blaik Johnson in last night's NJSIAA Parochial A championship soccer match won by Don Bosco. breakers to put it out of reach. But try as they might, the Colts never did get a prolonged attack mounted against Brian Jozwiak, the Tech goalie, who was recording his 11th shutout of the season. Jozwiak had problems in the first few minutes of the game, when both Rafferty and Larry Ferrone had good scoring chances.

But this was not to be Rafferty's night as he hit the post on two cannon shots early in the second half that could have turned the game completely around. Tolomeo broke the scoreless tie at 19:58 of the first quarter and scored again at the 12:00 minute mark of the first half. Both goals came on the same setup. The Colts' defense allowed Don Bosco attackers to work free in the corner, then tee up a centering pass to Tolomeo. The other goals of the game were scored by Steve Vuolo, who had assists on both of Tolomeo's goals, and by Mark doubt about it.

Kids in vacant lots would be yelling, "I'm Dickie Harris, try throwing into my zone." But Dickie Harris Is not playing in the National Football League. Like he says, he could have. The New York Jets drafted him in the fifth round out of the University of South Carolina in 1972. They wanted him, but not enough. The Jets offered, the bigtime and little money.

A guy with glass knees and a golden arm was getting most of the Jets' money, so Harris packed his bags, packed his hopes for a football career, said goodbye to his friends and family in Point Pleasant Beach, and headed up north. Way up north. As far north as Montreal. 1 "I still think I can do the Job in the NFL," Harris said the other day. "I never doubted that as far as ability.

But the Jets were one of the lowest paying teams In the league. A "I knew guys drafted In the ninth round by other ms making more than I was offered. Joe Namath was getting most of the money. Montreal treated me better, much better than the Jets." So Harris went to the Montreal Alouettes eight years ago to play in the Canadian Football League, the CFL, the league NFL draftees threaten to flee to when their contracts don't include enough commas and zeroes to suit them. Fame and fortune in the NFL be damned, Harris said, I'm going full speed ahead into the CFL.

He hasn't regretted it. See HARRIS page B2 Asbury Park Press Coach Ed Shakespeare's visions of an NJSIAA championship for his Freehold soccer team were wiped out last; night at Mercer County Park. f. "I'm proud of my kids," said Shakespeare. "Proud of the way they played tonight, proud of the way they played all season." He broke off his post-game discourse with reporters to "work the fence." The Freehold coach shook hands with a dozen or so well-wishers, who congratulated him for a Job well-done.

"I think we should be happy to be here Don Bosco Tech 4, CBA 0 I I .1 1 1 1 I At Wmr County Park Don Snora i ii GOALS Rooor Norman (B) IM PW How (F) 1 111 4 0 0 CBA. GOAL Or ToKmo (SNv Vuolo) Ittti Tolomoo (Vuolo) IHbj Mil stov Andorton (Tim Horrlgon) (B) 4S Honnoan (Mormon) (B) 30j Hoot (F) 1741. SAVES Rich SoNonti (F) 17; Jo CaruOO (B) IX SHOTS Borkottv 30-17. Toom Rooordc Freehold 14-1, Borkottv tMhn VI. 0 1 Vuolo felt) Mort SloHnnoocI fcsi.

SAVES OBT: Brian Jaw () CBA: Joi Raymond (11). SHOTS DBT tt-10. Toon RooordK CBA lt-4- DBT 17-S-t.