Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 10

BEST tMMl COPY Uht Arizona Haifa Slar Tucson, Thursday, March 3, 1988 NBA 3C High schools 4C Classified ads 7C STATE EOIII 1 Trip to desert: is vital foo sixth-place Cougars TONIGHT'S GAME WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS Record 11-14 League Pacific-10 Conference League record 6-10 Coach Kelvin Sampson ARIZONA WILDCATS Record 26-2 League Pacific-10 Conference League Record 15-1 Coach Lute Olson Tentative starters Tentative starters Ht. Vr. result to get the sixth seed in the tournament and a bye into the quarterfinals. The seventh seed has a first-round game next Thursday at p.m. Washington State Coach Kelvin Sampson said a problem he sees Sunday's game is the Cougars' layover in Tucson and their rematch third-ranked Arizona, which dealt WSU a 34-point home loss in December.

Arizona, 26-2 and 15-1, has already clinched the conference championship and the No. 1 seed in tournament. "We want to play as well as we can (tonight) because if you don't go have to play that first night. To slip by that first night would be a tremendous achievement for our kids and for our program." The Cougars were eliminated by Arizona State in the first round of last year's tournament at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Arizona Coach Lute Olson said he expects to see a Washington State starting lineup slightly different from what was on the floor at the start of the Dec.

22 game. Sophomore forward Neil Evans has moved into the lineup for 6-6 junior John Hodges. Regardless of who starts, Olson figures to see plenty of reserve guards David Sanders, an outside shooting threat and the second-leading scorer on the team, and Harold Wright. Both average more minutes per game than the starting back-court of Anthony Kidd and Reco Rowe. Olson said 6-4 junior Brian Wright, no relation to Harold, gives the Cougars a three-guard offense, with two who can hit the three-point basket.

Brian Wright is averaging 13.3 points per game and is second in the Pac-10 in three-point field-goal accuracy at 48.6 percent. UA guard Steve Kerr leads the league at 59.9 See VITAL, Page 2C Anthony Kidd Reco Rowe Brian Wright Neil Evans Todd Anderson Pts. Rbs. Ht. Yr.

6-3 6-5 6-4 6- 7 7- 0 Jr. So. Jr. So. Sr.

2.3 1.6 Steve Kerr Craig McMillan Sean Elliott Anthony Cook Tom Tolbert 63 6-6 6-8 6-9 6-8 4.0 1.5 4.2 3.8 4.2 13.3 5.5 11.6 Tickets Sold out. Television Live on KMSB, Radio Live on KNST, 940-AM. Sr. Sr. Jr.

Jr. Sr. Pts. 12.8 6.8 18.6 13.3 14.4 Rbs. 2.1 1.6 6.1 7.3 5.0 Channel 1 1 Game Time 7:35 p.m.

Site McKale Center, University of Arizonj campus. Capacity 1 3, 1 24. awful well against Arizona. "We've got to win Sunday. It would be a tremendous shot in the arm for our program for us not to down there mentally prepared to play Arizona, you get embarrassed," Sampson said.

"We know we've got to go in and play awful hard and play Club hockey tourney begins today at TCC A I 1 for Loose ball Ramon Rivas, left, of top-ranked Temple reaches for the ball against St. Jo- -V piling a 1-11 record. The victory was a 7-5 victory over Kent State last month. Arizona is 6-3-2 against club teams. The losses came against Colorado, Penn State and Ohio.

Colorado and Penn State tied the Icecats. The other three losses came against Sweden, Canada and Czechoslovakia in the Viking Cup International Tournament in Camrose, Alberta, in January. Although the Icecats dropped out of the club team Pacific Intercollegiate Hockey Conference this season to play more Division I teams, Golembiewski said the national club tournament is still important to the program. "The Division I schedule was the most important part of the season because it gives us national recognition in the hockey world," he said. "But the national tournament gives you something to shoot at, at the end of the season." The Icecats won the national club crown in 1985.

But North Dakota State won the title in 1986 at TCC and again last year at home in Fargo. "To win we have to have good goaltend-ing and defense," Golembiewski said. Goaltenders Randy Johnson, who will start tonight, and Jarett Goodkin often have been left virtually alone in front of the net. Golembiewski has criticized the defense for non-support, which is reflected in the goal-tending statistics. Johnson has an 8.07 goals-against average and Goodkin's is 6.30.

Three of the 16 Icecats who will play in the tournament are less than 100 percent healthy, Golembiewski said. Winger Ernie Baxter is nursing an injured thigh, winger Allen Miller has an injured wrist, and defen- See ICECATS, Page 2C By Jay Gonzales The Arizona Daily Star Through the miracle of conference basketball tournaments, Washington State University still has a mission this weekend despite being in a sixth-place tie with Arizona State in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Cougars, 11-14 overall, 6-10 in the Pac-10, are coming to the desert for the last weekend of the regular season intent on cutting their work load for their return trip for next week's Pac-10 Tournament in Tucson. To do that, Washington State needs a victory over Arizona State on Sunday regardless of tonight's Why isn't The Lip in the Hall? For 10 years now I've been spending my springs standing by the batting cages at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, and at Hi Corbett Field here.

I apologize if I stare. It's not like a Greg Hansen July afternoon in Cooperstown, but it's the best I can do. Stan Musial, Cool Papa Bell, Carl Hubbell, Lefty Gomez I consider whatever ground they walk upon hallowed. But I'm not sure if any or all of the former ballplayers I've run across have inspired the same feelings of awe as The Lip, Leo Durocher. The first time I saw Durocher out at Hi Corbett Field, three years ago, I almost froze.

Instinct told me to cancel my plans for the next two days. Where would I begin with Leo Durocher? Did you really steal Babe Ruth's watch? Did you really slug him in the nose? Was it really you that named the Cardinals "The Gas House Gang?" What was Jackie Robinson's first season in Brooklyn like? Was Mays' catch in the '54 Series as great as legend has it? Was Lou Gehrig as much a gentleman as they say? What did Bobby Thomson do the night after he hit The Shot Heard Round the World? Were the Miracle Mets of '69 that good or that lucky? Were all the old ballparks as magical as Wrigley Field? Did you really know Al Capone? Was Lucky Luciano your drinking buddy? Could Miller Huggins manage today's player? Could Casey Stengel play a lick? Who was best: Mantle, Mays or Snider? But most of all, Leo, why can't you be 40 years old again? I missed it the first time. In six different decades Leo Durocher was always at the center of baseball's biggest stories. He managed for 24 years and played 17 more. It's almost as if the Lord made a baseball and then made Leo Durocher to go with it.

Or vice-versa. Any man who took 5,350 at-bats and managed 2,019 victories spanning 50 years is a man of superior dedication, perseverance, patience, fortitude and ability. It's not a burst of short brilliance. So I have just one question: Why isn't Leo Durocher in the Hall of Fame? I bring this to your attention because Tuesday night the Veterans Committee decided against electing any old-timers into the Hall of Fame. Leo Durocher, who will be 83 years old in July, was deemed not worthy enough.

Can you believe it? I mean, Wilbert Robinson is in the Hall of Fame, and in 19 years of managing the Dodgers he is 622 victories behind Durocher. Harry Wright is in the Hall of Fame. He managed from 1876-93 and is 981 victories behind Durocher. And what about Bill McKechnie? He had a lifetime batting average of .251, played in half the games Durocher played in, and managed 121 fewer victories than Durocher. Yet McKechnie is in the Hall of Fame.

If you could pick a man to go into the Hall of Fame with Willie Stargell this summer, you couldn't make a better choice than The Lip. Durocher was an instinctive showman. He was a baseball genius like Babe Ruth, a character like Ruth, and with a special radiance that made people react to him. He is not in the Hall of Fame, and it's a shame because even a guy like Don Drysdale is. You know, in nine of Drysdale's 14 years in the majors, he wasn't more than two games over .500.

Drysdale was outstanding, but he may not have been Hall of Fame caliber. Eppa Rixey is in the Hall of Fame. See HANSEN, Page 2C 10 with with the The Associated Press seph's Ivan Brown during last night's game. Temple won, 75-62. Story Page 3C.

Pueblo advances in Division II state tourney Bulletin By Ron Somers The Arizona Dally Star The focus of the Arizona Icecats this year has been on playing NCAA Division I teams in hopes of building a varsity program. But for the next four days, the focus will return to club hockey. Arizona plays host to the National Collegiate Club Hockey Tournament today through Sunday at Tucson Convention Center. Icecat Hockey Inc. has invited seven other teams.

Two-time defending champion North Dakota State plays Ohio University at 11 a.m. today, and Iowa State plays Wisconsin-Whitewater at 4:30 p.m. in Bracket A games. In Bracket Penn State plays West Chester (Pa.) State at 2 p.m., and Colorado plays Arizona at 7:30 p.m. Bracket round-robin winners play for the championship Sunday at 3 p.m.

Arizona plays West Chester State tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and Penn State on Saturday night at 7:30. All of Arizona's games will be televised live by Cooke Cable Channel 12, as will the championship game, regardless of who is in it. Arizona has more experience against Division I opponents this year than other tournament teams, Icecats Coach Leo Golem-biewski said. "From the psychological standpoint that might help us, but we can't get cozy or comfortable," he said.

"We can hobnob and play a great schedule, but we have to go out and work for 60 minutes. We have to go out there and play the games." The Icecats, 7-17-2 overall, have played 12 games against Division I opponents or the Canadian equivalent this season, com Iowa and, eventually, Wichita. The Omaha house had a large, fenced back yard, as older Midwestern houses do. A gravel road separated the Devereaux property from a vacant lot. An apple tree provided shade, and batting practice.

"Todd would go out with his little bat and hit the apples. He did it by the hours," Barb said. "Or he'd pick up pieces of gravel and hit them. He was an only child then, and there wasn't much else to do." Baseball was not young Todd's only game. When Todd was 4, Carl and Barb sawed a 3-wood down to size and took Todd to an Omaha municipal golf course.

They would sneak onto the course near the end of a day, so their round might consist of only a couple of boles. But Barb said it was evident even there: Todd could hit "He always was well-coordinated. He always had good hand-eye coordination," Barb said. "He was such a quiet kid. He'd do anything to please you.

He expects a lot of himself, and he believes in working hard. He enjoys it so much it's not really work. "We always told him it's so easy to do something you like. So many people have mainly because points through the buzzer to In the drive on the scored on a Pueblo a Fernandez layup, and steal to give Flagstaff's with 4:31 left Eagles got. In another Casa Grande win, 64-54, at Casa with 2:12 left.

Casa quarter to Casa 2:45 p.m. at of Schneider. He had eigi: rebounds and 1 1 three quarters, including a three-pointer at end the third. final period, Eagle Shannon Sims scored on a left baseline with 6:50 left. Pueblo's Billy Powe 22-foot jump shot from the right side to give 42-38 lead before Schneider made two free throws.

made two free throws and scored on a driving Monarrez scored on another layup following a Pueblo a 48-40 lead with 5:10 left. Doug Daugherty scored on a 15-foot jumper to cut the lead to 48-42. It was the closest the Pueblo scored the next 18 points. Class AAA, Division II first-round boys game, held off a fourth-quarter rally by Prescott to Gilbert. Grande led, 45-35, but Prescott cut it to 57-54 Grande hit 11 of its 16 free throws In the final ensure the victory.

Grande advanced to face Kingman today at Mesa Mountain View. By Danny White The Arizona Daily Star TOLLESON Pueblo High School used a 30-point fourth quarter last night to beat Flagstaff, 69-45, in the first round of the Class AAA, Division II state boys basketball playoffs. Pueblo advanced to tonight's quarterfinal against Phoenix Sunnyslope, 19-5. The Warriors will play at Mesa Mountain View High School at 6:15 p.m. Nogales, 21-3 and the AAA-South champion, will play Glendale Cactus, which beat Avondale Agua Fria last night 52-43, tonight at 8 at Mountain View.

The Warriors led, 42-40, with 6:11 left in the game before Eagle Rory Schneider converted two free throws to tie it at 42. Pueblo scored 24 of the next 26 points as Flagstaff committed 10 turnovers. Flagstaff had 25 turnovers in the game. "In the second half we played with a lot of intensity," Pueblo Coach Barry O'Rourke said. "We played Pueblo basketball." O'Rourke said his team was tentative in the first half.

The Cholla High School boys basketball team defeated Coconino, 59-56, last night in the first round of the Class AAA state tournament. "What with coming up here and everything, it was some of these kids' first time going to state." Rene Fernandez, a senior forward, scored 20 points and had seven rebounds last night. He had six points in the final period. Rudy Monarrez scored 15 points and had seven rebounds. Ricky Cardenas scored 12 points and had six steals, three in the final period.

O'Rourke said he wanted to change defenses against Flagstaff in an effort to stop Schneider, a 6-foot-6 center. "I heard he was supposed to be a super ball player," O'Rourke said. "So we wanted to change up our defenses. We started in a 1-2-2 zone to see what they would do. Then we changed up, from a man to a zone, each time down the court." Flagstaff stayed in the game in the first three quarters Arizona's Devereaux 'was born with a bat in his hands' jobs they don't like.

We told him if he enjoyed baseball, go for it." The going got tough in high school. Kansas weather limited his senior season at Wichita Northwest High to 50 at-bats. Devereaux batted .400 that year, but pro scouts stayed away. Even hometown Wichita State said no thanks. Pima Coach Rich Alday got a tip on Devereaux from then Emporia (Kan.) State Coach Dave Bingham, a Tucsonan, and was sold.

So was Devereaux. "I wanted to get out of Kansas," Devereaux said. "I didn't want to spend four years at an NAIA school. I felt I could play at a Division I school. I thought I'd go to a JC and see." But when fall practice began at Pima, be said he did not like what he saw.

"The first couple of days, I didn't think I was going to make the team," Devereaux said. "Baseball was so much different in Kansas. Everyone here knew so much more: overall fielding techniques, or how to hit with runners on base. "All I'd ever done was hit it as hard as I could and throw it as hard as I could. "I just tried not to fall behind until I got it See DEVEREAUX, Page 2C By Jack Magruder The Arizona Dally Star Todd Devereaux was about 18 months old when the picture was taken.

It is a chilly, early spring day in Omaha, Neb. Toddler Todd peers at the camera, his face framed by a hooded sweatshirt. "AH you can see is two eyes, two big fat cheeks and a kid holding a baseball bat," Barb Devereaux said. "It's my favorite picture." Todd Devereaux That picture has a place on the family room mantle at Carl and Barb Devereaux's house in Wichita, Kan. There are others.

In one, Devereaux is in diapers, lugging his ever-present bat "It seems like Todd was born with a bat in his hands," Barb said. And it seems Devereaux has gotten the feel of it too. Devereaux, a junior transfer from Pima Community College, is batting .437 in his first season at the University of Arizona. He leads the UA in almost every offensive category, including hits (38), runs (29), RBIs (32), doubles (12) and home runs (seven). The jump from junior college to arguably the best conference in the NCAA was so difficult that Devereaux hit safely in his first 17 games.

Devereaux's average was not below .500 until his hitting streak was broken when he went 0-for-three against Arkansas at home Feb. 20. "If you told me I would start the season like that, I would have laughed," Devereaux said. Not that his start surprised others. "He has a picture swing," UA Coach Jerry Kindall.

"He has a compact swing and a quick baL I could tell the first time I saw him." "He's a hard, hard worker," UA batting coach Jerry Stitt said. Still, the streak was something special, Devereaux said. "I felt I could hit any pitch a guy threw, anywhere I wanted to. I never thought it would be like that," Devereaux said. "But I've always liked to hit I figured that was the only thing to do.

No one wants to go out and field the ball, do they? Just hit" Devereaux, 21, grew up in Omaha before his father, a lumberman, was transferred to.