The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 24

D4 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1998 SPORTS THE SALINA JOURNAj- SUPER BOWL XXXII Elway's future unclear Denver officials expect veteran quarterback to return next season By JOHN NADEL Tlic Associated Press SAN DIEGO John Elway says the outcome of Sunday's Super Bowl probably will influence his decision on whether he'll return to the Denver Broncos for a 16th season. "When it's over, I just want to get away for a little while and then make the best decision I can," he said Tuesday. "I can't figure out whether the effect will be positive or negative, win or lose." The 37-year-old quarterback is trying for his first Super Bowl win after one-sided losses by the Broncos to the New York Giants 11 years ago, the Washington Redskins 10 years ago in San Diego, and the San Francisco 49ers eight years ago. Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said he expects Elway to be back next year, and coach Mike Shanahan said he'd be surprised if his quarterback calls it quits. "I hope he (comes back), he's playing better than I've ever seen him," Denver offensive line coach Alex Gibbs said.

And if he doesn't? "I'd be heartbroken, I'd be disappointed, I'd live with it," Gibbs said. Packers not pulling for Elway A lot of football fans are pulling for the Broncos and Elway to finally win a Super Bowl. Not the Packers. "People ask me, 'Don't you really want Elway to win It's the most frequent question I get asked," Packers safety Eugene Robinson said. "Sure, he's been a great quarterback, and you'd like to see him win.

But this is not Pop Warner, where you have to get everyone in the game. I'm greedy, I've been there, but I want to do it again." Said linebacker Seth Joyner, a 12-year veteran playing in his first season with the Packers: "At least he's been there three times. This is my first go-around. No dis'- respect to him, but he's been there." However, Packers quarterback Brett Favre said that if he can't win the game, he'll be happy if Elway does. Big subject of conversation One of the most talked-about Super Bowl participants is Green Bay defensive tackle Gilbert Brown, who is listed at 6-foot-2, 345 pounds, but probably weighs more.

"He is bigger than big," Packers coach Mike Holmgren said. "He's a quick man for that size. That combination is difficult to deal with." Broncos guard Brian Habib, a 67, 293-pounder, remembers having a difficult time against Brown during the 1996 season when the Packers beat the Broncos 41-6 in Green Bay. "He's one of those guys who can walk you back and get pressure on the quarterback and stop the run because you can't move him," Habib said. "He's a tough guy to block one- on-one." No Lambeau leap Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman and his friends won't be jumping into the stands at Qual- comm Stadium, the way they do at Lambeau Field in Green Bay no matter how many touchdowns they score.

"Coach said we can't jump in the stands because we're not in Green Bay," Freeman said. "They (the Broncos) can salute, fine. They've got to score to salute." The Broncos have used what they call the "Mile High Salute" after they score. Introducing: Duckman Antonio Freeman admitted with a sheepish grin that he has a nickname. "Duckman," he said.

"They said I run like a duck." Mr. Unselfish After Gary Zimmerman came out of retirement early in the season, he played right tackle for the Broncos, but eventually switched to left tackle with Tony Jones moving to the right side. Offensive line coach Alex Gibbs said the switch by Jones was "one of the most unselfish things I've ever seen." Gibbs said Jones will go back to left tackle when the 36-year-old Zimmerman retires for good, perhaps after the Super Bowl. COLLEGE BASKETBALL Fort Hays State tops Kearney By ARNE GREEN The Saliiia lournal HAYS Fort Hays State lost one winning streak to Nebraska-Kearney last year, but the Tigers weren't about to let it happen again. Not at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

The No. 14-ranked Tigers came back from a two-point halftime deficit and pulled away down the stretch for an 87-73 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory in front 73 of 3,626 screaming fans. Fort Hays St, 87 The victory was the 47th straight at home for the Tigers, who improved to 14-2 overall and took sole possession of first place in the RMAC East at 9-1. No. 24 Kearney fell to 13-3 and 8-2.

The Fort Hays State women also picked up a big victory, handing No. 7-ranked Kearney its first loss of the season, 66-65. In the men's game, the Tigers never trailed in the last 14 minutes, 30 seconds, but had to hold off one more Kearney rally to preserve the victory. "We finally started getting a few stops in our zone (defense) and that triggered our fast break," Fort Hays coach Chad Wintz said of the Tigers' fast finish. "We got some easy ones and that got the crowd behind us.

"They (Kearney) are a very good basketball team. They can hurt you in a number of different situations. They've got good shooters and drivers and one of the best players in the conference in Eric Strand." Strand led four Antelope scorers in double figures with 16 points, but Fort Hays matched it with four. Aaron Owens led the way with 24 points, followed by Chris Danner with 22 in the second half. Gerard Coops scored 10 of his 15 points after intermission and Donnie Collins added 12.

"We're a team that relies a lot on the 3-point shot and they didn't go in the first half," said Wintz, whose 65 Tigers were 3 for 11 from be- Fort Hays St. 86 hind the arc in the first half but hit 5 of 8 in the second." A technical foul on Kearney's Greg Hain with 11:27 left and the score tied at 51 helped get Danner on track. First he converted a one-and-one from the line, then buried the technical free throws. He followed that shortly with a 3-pointer. "I'd heard coach say to substitute somebody else in (to shoot the technicals)," said Danner, who less than a minute earlier had missed the front end of a one-and-one.

"I like to consider myself as the guy to be on the line. "Luckily, I shot the one-and-one first and coach said for me to stay in there and hit them. That bulit my confidence." The Tigers also got possession after the free throws and Owens scored to give Fort Hays a six-point lead. Kearney came back to tie it at 61 on a Matt Kaminski 3-pointer with 9:15 left, but the Tigers answered with a 9-2 run to pull away for good. FHSU women 66, Nebraska-Kearney 65 Freshman guard Maisha Prewitt scored a career-high 24 points and center Megan Ryan hit two free throws with 8.5 seconds left to give Fort Hays a four-point lead on the way to the upset victory.

The victory put the Tigers, 12-4 overall, into a first-place tie with Kearney atop the RMAC West standings at 9-1. Kearney fell to 15-1 overall. "I told the players, just give us a chance to win," said Fort Hays coach Tom Mahon. "I'm proud of our team. Kearney is a very good basketball team and very deserving of its ranking in the top 10 in the country." Fort Hays, which squandered a 10-point first-half lead, trailed by 59-53 with 4:24 left in the game when Jessica Kedrowski's three- point play capped a 10-2 Kearney run.

But Prewitt, a reserve who came in averaging 6.5 points, had five points as Fort Hays answered with a 7-1 spurt and tied it at 60 on a 3- pointer With 1:57 left. Shauna Porter then twice put the Tigers in front, with two free throws and a basket, before Ryan hit her free, throws. Kedrowski, who led Kearney with 24 points, hit a long 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left and the Lopers got the ball back for one final shot, but Kara Graham's 3-'pointer missed at the buzzer. Fort Hays scored the game's first eight points and led 15-5 on Ryan's 3-point play with 10:31 left in the half. But Kearney answered with an 11-0 run.

Brown Mackie sweeps Haskell By BOB DAVIDSON The Salina Journal i. Mackie 111 B. Mackie Brown Mackie coach Francis Flax couldn't point to one specific key to his team's victory Tuesday night. When a team wins by 48 points, everything is working well. Led by the double-figure scoring of six players and a defensive effort that forced 34 turnovers, Brown Mackie overwhelmed an outmanned Haskell team 111- 63 at Muir Gymnasium.

"It all worked," Flax said. Haskell 63 "There was no one key. We're playing well. We've been playing well the last four games." The Lions (14-6. overall, 2-0 in the Great Plains Junior College Conference) are, indeed, playing well of late.

They are averaging 105 points over their last four games and have won five in a row. Sophomore point guard David Carson led the Lions' balanced attack with 18 points, most of them on layups. Backup point guard Antonio Mason had 13 and reserve center Derek Jones 12. Bo Brezak, Dennis Robinson and Matt Oswald had 10 each. The Lions shot 55.4 percent from the field (46 of 83) while Haskell shot 39.1 percent (25 of 64).

Brown Mackie ended any lingering suspense with a 14-0 run midway through the first half to take a 31-10 lead with nine minutes left. The Lions led 53-28 at intermission and continued the onslaught in the second half. Brown Mackie reached the century mark on a Mason with 4 minutes left in the game. imM Haskell (6-11) was playing without its top two scorers, Haskell 51 who were declared academi- gY cally ineligible over the break, one of them 6-8 center Carl Mullen. "When they lost Mullen and (Russell) Dennis, they lost a lot of basketball skills," Flax said.

"Our defense was real good and the boards weren't really a contest. We had too much bench. "This game helped us in that it was better than practicing against each other." Jake Hawkins led Haskell with 14 points. Sam Grant added 12. The Lions entertain Wentworth Military Academy at 4 p.m., Friday at Muir Gymnasium.

Brown Mackie women 67, Haskell 51 Brown Mackie scored the last 15 points of the contest to pull away for the GPJCC victory. The game was tied 23-23 at halftime. Brown Mackie took a 46-38 lead with six minutes left, but Haskell pulled within three, 54-51, on Angela Hammer's 3-point basket with 5:17. left. But the Lions pulled away from there, holding the Indians scoreless the rest of the game.

The two teams combined for 76 turnovers 40 by Haskell with their pressure defenses and some frequently ragged play. "Once we got the ball inbounds against their press and started to dribble, we got into some transition and got some easy baskets," Brown Mackie coach Tim Colberg said. "We finally started getting it in before they set up their press. And our defense got us some transition points. We've played better defense the last couple of weeks." Jamie Howell led Brown Mackie with 16 points.

Dyan Bettles had 15, Olga Aguilar 14 and Yakeyda Strozier 11. Robin Shield led Haskell (11-4, 1-1) with 13 points. April Smith scored 10. BRIEFLY Royals sign Pendleton, Smith to minor deals KANSAS CITY, Mo. saves leader Lee Smith and Terry Pendleton agreed Tuesday to minor-league contracts with the Kansas City Royals and were invited to spring training.

Smith, 40, made 25 appearances for the Montreal Expos in 1997, going a 0-1 record with five saves and a 5.82 ERA. The right-hander has 478 career saves in 18 seasons. Pendleton, 37, hit .248 with one homer and 17 RBIs in 50 games for the Reds in 1997, his 14th year. Trinity Valley remains unbeaten, ranked No. 1 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.

Trinity Valley, Texas, won both of its games last week to remain atop the National Junior College Athletic Association's Division I women's basketball rankings released Tuesday. The Cardinals of Coach Kurt Budke are 17-0. Connors State, Okla. (19-0) is ranked second and Central Florida (17-0) third. Cowley County (16-0) remained the top-rated Kansas team at No.

10. Seward County (15-3) moved into this week's poll at No. 24. Indian Hills, Iowa (17-0) moved into the top spot in the NJCAA Division I men's poll after top- ranked Tallahassee, Fla. (21-1) suffered its first loss last week.

FHSU names coach for new softball program Shane Steinkamp has been selected to fill the head coaching duties of the Fort Hays State women's softball squad, when the program is started once again in 1999 after a 12-year absence. Steinkamp has spent the past four years at Butler County Com-. munity College in El Dorado, where he led the Lady Grizzlies to' the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference west division championship in both 1994 and 1996. In four seasons as head coach at Butler County, Steinkamp has a 139-67 record and has twice finished second at the NJCAA Region 6 Tournament. Fort Hays State will be playing women's softball for the first time since 1986, when the program was, discontinued because of financial constraints.

A new softball field is' under construction south of Gun- ningham Hall on the FHSU cam- pus and is slated for completion time for the start of the 1999 season. From Staff and Wire Reports With The Gilbert Boucher, The Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, III..