The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 17

www.theTimesHerald.com TIMES HERALD, PORT HURON, MICHIGAN 1 Living -page sc Popular energy bars pack punch but no taste Classified Ads id ram CW: FOR SPORTS SCORES PORTS I Jim Whymer, sports editor (810) 989-6267 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2003 Pistons down Magic, creep closer to Pacers Division and Eastern Conference. Detroit is a game ahead of the Atlantic New Jersey Nets. "A lot of Richard Hamilton people are still doubting us," Hamilton said. "When people talk about the East, they only talk about Indiana and New Jersey. That gives us motivation to keep striving to win." The Pistons also won six straight from Dec.

11-20. Hamilton made 10-18 shots and 9-12 free throws. "One of our plans was to try to stop Rip Hamilton," Orlando Coach Doc Rivers said. "He had another big game. I thought he should have been on the All-Star team." The Magic have lost six of eight and might have to compete with Washington for the final playoff spot in the conference over their last 30 games.

Orlando's Tracy McGrady, the NBAs leading scorer, had 35 points on 13-31 shooting, 11 rebounds and six assists. McGrady was among the first four players chosen Thursday for the 2004 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team. "He is just a phenomenal, phenomenal player," Detroit Coach Rick Carlisle said. Detroit's Cliff Robinson scored 18 points, Chauncey Billups had 12 and Michael Curry tied a season-high with 11.

Ben Wallace, the NBAs leading rebounder, pulled down 18 rebounds. Orlando, which trailed by 15 points late in the third quarter, cut the deficit to three for a fourth time in the final period with 4:22 left. But Robinson made a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and Billups scored inside to put Detroit ahead by eight with 3:13 left. "It is just really tough when you get down against a team like this," McGrady said. "You use all your ener- The Associated Press AUBURN HILLS It's motivating the Detroit Pis tons that few seem to mention them as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Richard Hamilton scored 29 points as Detroit matched its best streak of the season, beating the Orlando Magic 98-88 Thursday night for its sixth straight victory. The Pistons pulled with in a game of Indiana for the best record in the Central Huskies fall short vs. top-ranked Shamrocks as Fedorav mt dump Forward scores 2 goals in 4-2 victory vs. Sabres PISTCrJS WATCH THURSDAY: Pistons 98, Orlando Magic 88 RECORD: 34-15 STANDINGS: Second place in the Central Division, one game behind Indiana NEXT GAME: 8:30 p.m. today at Milwaukee TV: Channel 50 gy fighting hard to get back, and then once you get back, it just seems tough to try to get over the hump." WINGS WATCH THURSDAY: Wings 4, Buffalo Sabres 2 RECORD: 29-17-9-2 STANDINGS: Second place in the Central Division, four points behind St.

Louis NEXT GAME: 7 p.m.Saturday at Atlanta n't let him down." His first goal came 53 seconds into the period when he rifled in a slap shot from the slot. And 3:29 later, Fedorov's slap shot from just inside the blue line went through Buffalo goal-tender Ryan Miller's pads. "Maybe if I had a little thicker legs, it wouldn't have gone in," said Miller, who is 6-2 and 166 pounds. "It hit me right in the pants. Maybe I'd better bulk up in the summer." It was also Fedorov's first goals at Joe Louis Arena and first two-goal game since Dec.

14. He has 22 goals for the season, but only five in his last 27. "I think what he did was sort of draw attention to himself, and he had two goals," said Lewis. "He hadn't scored two goals in a long time." The Sabres got going just 40 seconds later when Connolly beat Joseph high to the stick side from the inside edge of the left circle. Larionov added a power-play goal early in the third period for the Red Wings, and Hamel scored for Buffalo.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Wool-ley, a former Sabre, scored a power-play goal. He put in the rebound of Brett Hull's shot from the bottom of the left circle. BEACONS WATCH RECORD: 24-24-5 STANDINGS: Fifth place in the Eastern Conference, 13 points behind Fort Wayne NEXT GAME: 7 p.m. today at Elmira RADIO: WHLS 1450-AM, WHLX 1590-AM "On the other side, you always show a little bit of rust when you don't play in 10 days." The game is the first of three this weekend for the Beacons (24-24-5), who are at Muskegon on Saturday before playing the Flint Generals on Sunday at McMorran Arena. The focus, however, is on See BEACONS, 30 ECKERT OUTDOORS Kids benefit most from fishing event Spring is coming.

The first sure sign of it arrived this week with the announcement of the details of this year's Salmon Stakes fishing tournament. The tournament, sponsored by the River Crab restaurant in St. Clair and the Blue Water Sportfishing Association, is one of the oldest and largest on the Great Lakes. It's also the best, because it raises money about a million and a half dollars so far for child and family mental health services. "There are a lot of people out there who we might not think about every day who need our help," Ruth Rhoad-es, a manager of the River Crab, said at the tournament press conference this week.

Much of the money raised goes to the Blue Water Clinic in Fort Gratiot, which has been helping families for more than half a century. The clinic used to get government funding to help support its work with families who couldn't afford to pay. Now, it has to rely on fund-raising to cover the community's needs. "A lot of times we have people who have a need for services but don't have a way to pay for it," Jim Gilan, the clinic's director, said. "That's where the donated dollars come in." He said the stumbling economy and the worldwide worries about war and terrorism have raised demands for the clinic's services.

Blue Water Clinic has 200 more families on its client lists this year than last. It is helping them with problems ranging from school issues to domestic violence and suicide. Bonnie Barrett is a social worker at the clinic. She described the clinic's involvement in some of the area's most heart-wrenching incidents, including allegations of child molestation in Yale and the murder near Croswell. The clinic has provided counseling to the families involved, including some families who did not have insurance and could not have otherwise afforded treatment.

Without the money raised through the Salmon Stakes, she said, it would have been a difficult to find a way to help those people. But the Salmon Stakes makes helping easy. To participate, all anyone has to do is buy a $10 raffle ticket, which is available at the River Crab and other Muer Restaurants, from many area tackle stores, from the clinic and from Blue Water Sportfishing Association members. The $10 ticket is good for $10 off dinner for two at a Muer restaurant. It's also good for a chance to win prizes ranging from a four-nirfit trip for two to Disney World in Florida, to a week end on Mackinac Island to $300 in Muer Restaurants gift certificates.

For tickets, you can also try calling Rhoades at the River Crab, (800) 468-3727. The fishing tournament, which annually attracts more than 250 boats and more than 1,000 anglers, is Saturday, April 26. Fishing prizes include tro phies, club prizes and more than $7,500 in cash awards. For details on the fishing tournament, try calling Jeff Parker at 984-5743 or check out the Sportfishing Associ ation's Web site at www.bluewatersportfish- ing.net. Contact Michael Eckert at 989-6264 or at eckertk.net The Associated Press DETROIT Maybe Sergei Fedorov just wanted to get himself going.

In his second impressive game since complaining he wasn't getting enough ice time, Fedorov scored two goals as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Thursday night. It is the first time Detroit has won two in a row since Dec. 28. Buffalo is win-less in eight games (0-6-0-2). Jason Woolley and Igor Lari- onov scored Sergei dan Shanahan and Nicklas Lidstrom each had two assists and Curtis Joseph made 31 saves.

Tim Connolly and Denis Hamel got the Sabres' goals. Fedorov, who broke a sev en-game goal drought, scored twice in the tirst 4:22 of the second period to give Detroit a 3-0 lead. After playing just 14:59 in the 5-3 loss in Colorado on Saturday, Fedorov said he was frustrated he wasn't playing more as the team struggled. He is averaging 21 minutes per game this season. He played 21:30 on Monday night and had two assists in a 5-4 victory over San Jose, and 21:11 on Thursday.

"What happened in Colorado, I guess, stays in Colorado," said Fedorov. "I talked to Dave (coach Dave Lewis) twice and he kind of handed me the torch. I wanted to make sure I did- If I Itomm'S SOLID CHECK: Port Huron Northern's Chad Williams decks Detroit Catholic Central's the boards Thursday night during a Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League game at PHN's mistakes prove costly in 6-3 setback By RICK JAKACKI Times Herald Daryel McCarrel didn't like that his Port Huron Northern hockey team committed several costly mistakes against Detroit Catholic Central on Thursday night. But the veteran coach knows it's better to see them now than in the state tournament. Catholic Central, ranked No.

1 in the state, made the Huskies pay for their errors en route to a 6-3 victory in Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League action at McMorran Arena. "Four of their six goals, we know exactly where they came from," McCarrel said, referring to his team's mistakes. "The fifth, we'll find out, and the sixth was an empty-netter. "We're OK. The kids worked hard and gave a good effort, and we'll By build off this.

We're not going to hang our heads and say if we lose Feb. 13, we're not going to win a state championship." The loss eliminates the Huskies (4-3-2, 14-6-2) from league-title contention. They return to play Thursday when they play Marysville at McMorran. The Shamrocks, who beat the Huskies 2-0 earlier this season, are 7-0 in the MIHL and 17-3 bined eight points. Port Huron faces Chippewa Valley in regional action Wednesday at Chippewa Valley.

Romeo meets Stevenson in the other semifinal. Chippewa Valley beat Port Huron by four points earlier in the season. Anchor Bay Coach Jim Morisette was impressed with the Big Reds. "I really have to say that the best team hasn't always won the past five years," said Morisette, whose team advanced to the final by beating Port Huron Northern, 50-20. "Today, the best team won.

There was no DOUG BROOKS, Times Herald Nathan Perkovich along McMorran Arena. overall. All of their losses came to out-of-state teams. Brian Ward, Justin Guske and Devin Smith each had a goal in the loss; Eric Quinn, Tyler Laws and Brett Wille each earned an assist. Losing goaltender Andrew Smith made 12 saves.

Nathan Perkovich scored twice for the Shamrocks while Travis See PHN.3C mi DIVISION 1 DISTRICTS SEMIFINALS Anchor Bay 50, Port Huron Northern 20 FINALS Port Huron High 48, Anchor Bay 13 doubt about this one." Port Huron Coach Dave Reno said his team's quick start gave it momentum. "When we first started, we knew the wewht classes between 145 and 215 pounds were going to be important." he said. "The hh (weight classes) turned out to be the ditterence. winning those right off the bat See BIG REDS, 40 Well-rested Beacons ready for weekend Riff Rerte nin rlnwn crown mwiw wmmmm w- By RICK JAKACKI Times Herald One thing the Port Huron Beacons don't have to worry about tonight is fatigue. When the Beacons take the ice against the Elmira Jackals at the Coach USA Center, it will be their first game in 10 days.

It also will be their first game under coach Bruce Ramsay, who took over when Brad Jones resigned last week. "The rest could be good in the way that the guys who were hurt could rest up," Ramsay said after Thursday's practice. "It's also good we could implement my systems and that I could meet the guys and talk to them all and tell them what I expect. senior James Farver, who pinned T.J. Green at 171 pounds.

"Hopefully, it will continue for a long time." Added 125-pound senior Jor Jordan Combs dan Combs: "We're building a tradition and we're going to try and keep it going." Port Huron beat the Tars in the finals for the fifth straight year. The previous four matches, however, were decided by a com i Port Huron High wins 6th straight Division 1 district By TOM MOOR Times Herald NEW BALTIMORE Port Huron High's wrestling team has grown accustomed to winning district titles. That doesn't mean the Big Reds have grown tired of it. Port Huron captured its sixth straight Division 1 district title Thursday by beating Anchor Bay, 48-13, at Anchor Bay High School. "This never gets old," said.