The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 5

2Kb liilabfiia Inquirer south jersey sports 10-C J. Sunday, Dec. 30, 1984 Camden win streak is ended N.Y. team takes tournament final in 1 I8iss i 1 Hurry Special to The Inquirer STEVEN ZERBY Gloucester County coach Ron Mitchell instructs his players; he wants them to improve their college grades as well as their basketball skills Gloucester County builds a power "Coach Fang pushes me in the class and on the court. I like it here.

I'm learning how to be on my own. I see myself playing at a Division I school in two years." The third Roadrunners Division I prospect is freshman Jody Johnson, a 6-1 guard from South Philadelphia High, where he was an all-Public League performer last season. Johnson, who played on the same high school team as Temple's Nate Blackwell during his junior year, had originally opted to attend another junior college. "I went to junior college in West Palm Beach, in mid-August," said Johnson, who leads the team with a 19.2 scoring average. "I didn't like the school, so I left in a week.

I remembered Fang when he was recruiting me in April. He said if he could ever help me, to give him a call, so I did. He's a good coach. He hollers a lot, but it's for our own good." Gloucester County doesn't shun the local talent. This season, four South Jersey players Nick Loscalzo (Camden Catholic), Dave Burgis (Pennsauken Tech), Rich Clifford (Ossi Tech) and Curtis Chance (Overbrook) are on the team.

Chance, a sophomore, was a walk-on who found out that talent in junior college was much better than he thought. "In junior college, the kids can play; they don't have the grades," he said. "Lots of these kids can play." Mitchell, who a few years ago turned down an assistant-coaching job at Boston College, feels that the program is comparable to a "low Division I or high Division II school. We've beaten Division I schools in scrimmages." Mitchell credits his assistant, Derek Brown, for much of the team's success. "Derek complements me well," said Mitchell.

"He's laid back and I'm not. He takes care of coaching the offensive in practice, I coach the defense. He's what helps make the program successful." The program looks to stay successful as Mitchell's reputation grows, not only around South Jersey, but throughout the country. County was "close to home and close to Temple," a school that he hints he may attend one day. Mitchell said UCLA, Missouri and St.

John's have inquired about Washington, as have several other Division I schools. Although his team often plays to less-than-capacity crowds, Washington has enjoyed his stay at Gloucester County. "I like it very much here," he said. "Coach Fang is easy to get along with, once you get to know him. I've learned a lot from him in two years." Gloucester County has had two players drafted by NBA teams in the last two seasons.

This past year, the 76ers selected former South Jersey star Earl Harrison, formerly of Overbrook, on the fourth round. The year before, ex-Roadrunner Joe Brown was selected in the ninth round by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last year's team produced all-American Trevor Gordon, who was recruited heavily before he signed with Boston College. Despite the recent basketball achievements, Gloucester County had received about as much publicity around here, as, say, the Cleveland Cavaliers. "We are probably better known in other areas than we are here," Mitchell said.

"When we played against Allegheny County College Ian 80-68 loss this yearl, they showed the game on live TV," said Mitchell. "And there was a full-page article on us in the local paper. Junior colleges aren't looked on in the positive sense as in other areas." If the fans don't read much about the Roadrunners' program, the word filters out to promising prospects from around the country. The most recent example is 6-10 freshman center Marvin Branch. Last year, Branch averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds for Detroit's Murray High.

Upon graduation, Branch, a Division I prospect, needed to go the junior-college route to improve his grades. "My AAU coach knew coach Fang," said Branch. "My coach told me coach Fang had a good program and the reputation of a winner. that Mitchell doesn't attend. "I felt that when I took over, if I established a solid program, then maybe people would start sending us players," he said.

Three years ago, a high school junior from Philadelphia's Frankford High captivated a Spectrum crowd by scoring 37 points in the Pepsi Classic against eventual Group 4 state champion Camden, led by Billy Thompson. The player's effort couldn't keep his team from losing, but 6-6 Rico Washington gained increasing admiration for winning the battle despite losing the war. Three years later, Washington, now in his second year at Gloucester County College, is attempting to' win a battle that gives him more trouble than a fluid 6-8 power forward. Washington is attempting to improve his academic standing in order to qualify for the many four-year schools that are drooling for his services. Last season, Washington attended Gloucester County, but he hit the books instead of the boards.

Washington, who transferred to Philadelphia's Ben Franklin High his senior year and was selected all-Public League, was told by Mitchell to forget basketball and concentrate on the grades. "With Rico last year, we "probably could've been in the nationals or won the national title," Mitchell said. "All he had to do was pass his Graduate Equivalency Diploma test to qualify, but we wanted him to get his books together. It's important for our kids to be a success, not just on the court." So the closest Washington got to playing last season was in the Roadrunners' practices. "It was hard," said Washington, "practicing with the team and not being able to play.

But the coach stresses academics first and basketball second." Washington, who is averaging 17.7 points and eight rebounds a game, chose Gloucester County over San Jacinto (Tex.) Junior College because Gloucester By Marc Narducci Special 10 The Inquirer Over the last few years, Gloucester County College has become a haven for aspiring men's basketball players with storied pasts, uncertain futures and big-time dreams. A number of hopefuls, many from big cities, have flocked to the campus in rural Sewell in hopes of honing their skills while improving their grades. In the relative obscurity of junior-college athletics, Gloucester County College has quietly produced a stunning success rate of high-quality teams and players. The architect of the once-fading program is Ron "Fang" Mitchell, a former Woodrow Wilson High star, now in his seventh year at the college. Mitchell has produced a 176-38 record, including an 11-1 start this year that has his team No.

15 in the junior-college national rankings. The statistics, however, don't begin to jump out at you unless you realize that the program was on the edge of disaster before Mitchell's arrival. In 1977 the year before Mitchell took over the team forfeited its final game after being able to dress only four players. Mitchell, who was a volunteer assistant at the time, called the situation a "shambles" because of the student-athletes' lack of interest. Since that time, Mitchell has turned out five all-Americans, 24 players who have gone on to play at four-year schools, two Garden State Athletic Conference championships, two Region 19 titles and a trip to the national tournament as one of the 16 finalists in 1981.

It seems a far cry from the lean years. "Before, we had trouble recruiting," said Mitchell, who is employed by the college as a job developer for the cooperative education department. "I have a degree in business administrationmarketing. I have a philosophy that if you can't get them players! here, go out and get them." So Mitchell went on a nonstop recruiting search that is still under way. Rarely is there a high school all-star game, summer league contest or tournament game By Kevin Tatum Inquirer Stall Writer Sporting a gaudy 12-0 record entering the title game of the Camden Christmas Tournament yesterday afternoon, the Andrew Jackson High basketball squad from Queens, N.Y., was not awed about having to face host Camden, winners of 35 straight games over the last two seasons.

"They were stronger than the teams we've played at home, so knew we had to play hard and prove ourselves," said Jackson guard Greg Harvey. "We were the underdogs and we had to play above that." With the 6-foot Harvey finishing with 24 points and exciting the packed house with a repertoire of passes and moves to the basket, Jackson took control of the game late in the second quarter, and went back to Queens with the championship trophies and a 61-58 victory. "Maturity is what won the game for them," said Camden coach Clarence Turner. "We had our opportun-ites to win just as they did. But you have to look at the end score." As it turned out, a late second-period cold spell was what cost Camden (4-1) the most.

Even more than 16 for 30 free-throw shooting, which included seven misses on the front ends of one-and-ones. Camden, No. 1 in The Inquirer's South Jersey ratings, held a 15-13 lead after the first period. And the second quarter was nip-and-tuck until Harvey and fellow guard Alfonso Cover (11 points) combined for Jackson's last 14 points of the half all of which followed misses and turnovers by Camden at the other end. By intermission, Jackson led, 34-27.

No stopping "We weren't stopping their guards," said Camden's Louis Banks. "They had no inside game. It was their guards." "They played nice team ball," said Panthers forward Shawn Turner. "We didn't play up our ability. We didn't play good defense." Harvey had 10 points in the second period, including six straight that gave Jackson a 31-23 lead with 2 minutes, 36 seconds left in the half.

"I was taking what they gave me," said Harvey, who actually was given very little and who created several shots while in mid-air. "I was just reading the defense while I was running." After three periods, Jackson held a 46-41 lead. However, Camden tied the game late in the fourth quarter. But the Panthers couldn't completely subdue opportunistic Jackson. "We came down here last year and got beat by 30 points," said Jackson coach Chuck Gramby.

"I told the kids that if they got in front, they'd be on a roll. So we sagged inside and wanted to make them beat us from outside." With the visitors leading, 5043, early in the fourth quarter, Banks scored five straight points to bring Camden within a basket of the lead with 6 minutes, 14 seconds left. Turner, a Camden forward, closed the gap to 5049 with a free throw. And after Edwards hit a free throw for Jackson, Tyrone Gilliams sank two for Camden, and the game was tied, 51-51, with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left. And another Another free thow by Edwards gave Jackson the lead again before Harvey, voted the tournament's MVP, drove to the basket and was fouled.

Harvey, who converted 12 of 13 free throws in the contest, was good on two attempts to put Jackson ahead, 54-51. Camden kept battling, and with 7 seconds remaining, was down by only 59-58. But the Panthers sent Harvey back to the line with 5 seconds showing on the clock. He gave Jackson a safe, 61-58 advantage. In the fifth-place game, Woodrow Wilson (2-2) reached 100 points for the second straight game in whipping Free Enterprise Sports Academy of New York, 103-74.

Tyrone Berringer and Ron Damon scored 27 points each for the Tigers, and Dwight Thompson came off the bench to score 23, filling in for Henry Tuten. Wilson converted 35 of 40 free throws 21 more successful foul shots than FES. Boys High of Brooklyn, N.Y., won the third-place game, surprising Wilbur Cross of New Haven, 64-54. In the seventh-place game, St. John of New York defeated Bronx (N.Y.) High School of Science, 5445.

Andrew Jackson 13 21 12 IS el Camden 15 12 14 17 SI AJ Greg Harvey 24, Ron Edwards 12, Trevor Portwlne 3, Roval Miller 2, Anmony Jonnson 7, Arfunio Gover 11, Alban Brown 2. Louis Banks 14, Victor Carstarphen 4, Tyrone Gilliams 12, Leonard Moody 9, Ken Smitn 10, Donnie Walker Shawn Turner 3. A high-scoring squad leaves bad feelings BY SAM CARCHIDI never get that opportunity again." McColgan added, "We're trying to build our program from the ground up. We have a freshman team for the first time, and we're trying to build interest. But something like this can't help.

There's a lot of peer pressure: 'Hey, you got beat 98-6, what's going They heard a lot about that. It doesn't help the morale, I know that." "Time," said Savage, "is our biggest asset we're a young team and we're going to get better but it's also our biggest enemy, because we're going to take some hard knocks along the way. "We have to deal with it and build from there. I'm not bitter; that's not the right word. But what comes across is their Washington Township's! arrogance.

They were trying to send a message to the rest of the league at our expense." Washington Township coach Dawn Shilling disagreed. "For me to tell the girls not to play their game, I don't believe in that," she said yesterday. "I had reserves that played half the game. And we went with four or five passes before we shot. "It's embarrassing to be in a game like that.

I feel helpless. I can't tell them not to play. "There was no 'message' to send." The facts do not seem to support Shilling. Washington Township held a 26-0 lead after the first quarter. By half- Washington Township High is ranked No.

1 in The Inquirer's South Jersey girls' basketball ratings. It is ranked 22d in the nation by USA Today. Why, then, are the Minutemaids one of South Jersey's most unpopular teams? Well, consider: Washington Township 98, Woodrow Wilson 6. That was the final score of a recent Olympic Conference interdivision noncontest. It gave more than a few area coaches a case of agita indigestion.

"When you have someone down," said one, who asked to remain mous, "you don't rub their nose in it." "I was kind of numb," Carey Savage, the second-year Wilson coach, said of his team's season-opening destruction. "You kind of sit back in disbelief when it's happening. Then you call a timeout and see blank looks on the kids' faces they're numb. "I don't think they made a conscious effort to run up the score, but I think they made a conscious effort to get to 100. "At least we held them under 100." Since the loss at Township, Wilson which has had as many as three freshmen in its starting lineup this season has lost four more games.

In its second game, Wilson lost a two-point halftime lead and bowed to Highland, 61-36. Losses to Pennsau- time, it was 55-4. Yet all five Township starters played in the fourth quarter. Karen Healey, one of South Jersey's best players, scored 19 of her game-high 31 points in the second half, including six in the fourth quarter. Charlie Earling, Township's AD, said the game "shouldn't have been played." Wilson, he said, "was so poor, they couldn't get the ball in-bounds and that was without a press.

I'm not knocking them Wilson. They tried and hustled the whole game, but there should really be some kind of rule when a game gets out of hand. Maybe the game should be stopped. "About the only thing we could have done would have been to freeze the ball. But what do you teach them by freezing it? It turns the game into a farce." "It's my fault for putting them on the schedule.

The only other thing we could have done is play our whole JV team against them. Township soccer coach Tom Patterson did that against Camden. He didn't want to make a mockery out of it. It's just tough when you're making out the schedule, trying to know who's going to be competitive and who's not." Earling said there was a reason that the Minutemaid starters were given so much playing time: "We only had eight varsity players dressed, and six from the JV. So we only had 14 players available." Only eight of those 4 players scored.

"We don't have a large varsity or JV, and three of our JV players were hurt that day," Earling said. "And the JV played first, so those six players were only allowed to play a combined total of five quarters in both games" because of an NJSIAA rule. "Figure the math out; there just weren't many people available." Well, Township's three varsity subs could have played the entire second half. That leaves six JV players all of whom were eligible to play at least one quarter in the second half, provided they hadn't been used in the first half. Then there would have been no need for Township's famed Big Three Jeanine Reynolds, Sharon Ross and Healey to be playing in the second half, or for much of the first half.

All this brings to mind a statement Shilling made before the season. Asked about the criticism leveled at her last year for her team's one-sided victories for example, a 114-37 win over Camden Shilling replied: "I tell my kids to go but and play. We don't press or run the whole game if we're up Iby a lot, but some of the teams we play skill-wise are no match at all. With everyone conscious of what the girls are averaging, I think I owe it to them to at least keep up their averages. And Karen Healey can maybe score 2,000 points." That kind of thinking makes players' milestones meaningless.

ken (6041), Camden Catholic (55-23) and Bishop Eustace (55-20) followed. "No, I'm not bitter about Washington Township," said Savage, good-natured despite a 0-27 career record. "Some people call me the eternal optimist, but I figure, what goes around, comes around, and I look forward to the day when we can do it to them. And believe me, I will, if I get the chance." "We didn't have to schedule them," said Joe McColgan, the Wilson athletic director. "We agreed to the game three weeks ago, just to fill out our schedule.

Obviously, we didn't belong on the same court as them. But I thought it was a chance for Washington Township to build some depth and for us to gain some experience." Some experience. "Some people say I'm crazy for accepting to play the game," said Savage, whose team dropped a 104-19 decision to Township last year, "but I wanted to see how we would play against a nationally ranked team. We have a couple of seniors who will Free Enlerorlse 14 24 15 21 74 Woodrow Wilson 26 23 31 23 103 FES Mark Brown II, Anthony Joseoh 23, Lonnie Haves 9, Kevin Coleman 4, Lavont O'Neil 4, Cedric Hoboood 10, Raymond Jackson a. WW Tyrone Berringer 27, Ron Damon 27, Dwavne Reed 5, Eric Tavior 12, Mike Haditv 3, Owighl Thompson 23, Junes Inge 4, Darren Regin I.