The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 19

THE COURIER-NEWSSaturday, March 9, 1985 C-3 By STEVE SMITH Courier-News Sports Writer EAST BRUNSWICK Pete Catanese breathed a long sigh of relief. "We're very fortunate," the North Hunterdon High girls basketball coach said. "Defense was the game. No one for us had an offensive night and that was a nightmare. If it wasn't for the The Lady Lions overcame an inept first half with excellent full court traps and matchup zone combinations to break open a close game in the third quarter and defeat Long Branch 43-28 last night to capture their second straight Central Jersey Group 3 sectional title.

In winning their third Central Jersey crown in four years, North Hunterdon, the top-ranked team in the state, improved its record to 26-0. The Lions will play in the state semifinals Wednesday at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville. Yesterday's contest was a rematch of last year's sectional championship, but both teams struggled early and often in the first half, Long Branch (21-6) played without starters Lynn Williams and Roxanne Turpin, who were both out with sprained ankles, but used superior offensive rebounding and some fine outside shooting from guard Michelle Adams to take a suprising 12-8 lead after one quarter. Both teams were suffering through a poor shooting first half, as was evidenced by the Lady Lions' 27 percent effort (9-33). However, the winners began to use their press and traps effectively to run off 11 straight points, including six from Pam Balogh, to take a 19-12 lead with 1:44 remaining in the first half.

Long Branch closed the deficit to 19-16 at halftime and had Catanese scratching his head for ways to help his girls break the game open. He found them. North Hunterdon stayed with what had worked effectively during its only spurt in the second quarter trapping defenses. After Long Branch drew to within one at 19-18 early in the period, Balogh took over and ran the floor beautifully, netting six of her game-high 18 points to lead her team on a 13-2 spree that put the game out of reach. "Pam took over and made some great passes when it came down to it," praised Catanese.

"She's just super, she's an All-State player." Another key in the second half for North Hunterdon was the way they controlled six-foot-three Long Branch center Sherl Bouldin. Bouldin, who had a four-inch height advantage over the tallest North Hunterdon player, was held to Just two points in the second half, and had just eight overall. "We are used to playing against good people, and I thought the kids did an excellent job on her (Bouldin)," said Catanese. The Lady Lions continued to cause numerous Long Branch turnovers in the final quarter and took their biggest lead at 40-22 with 6:23 remaining on Allison Greene's layup. After that, North Hunterdon went into their delay game and the only suspense left was to see how big their winning margin would be.

Despite the loss of two of his starters, Long Branch coach Paul Weinstein was quite impressed with the state's top-ranked team. "They have a fine club," he said. "They are one of the best passing teams we've seen this year. We tried as hard as we could, so we haven't got anything to be ashamed of. We're proud of our girls." Now Catanese must hope that his squad doesn't have a repeat shooting performance like this one in the state semifinals.

He just couldn't put his finger on what the problem was. "We just had no offense tonight," he lamented. "Maybe they were tense, I don't know." Lori Kuchman and Allison Greene added 10 points apiece for North Hunterdon, while Michelle Adams and Roxanne Davis paced Long Branch with nine points each. LONG BRANCH (28) 1 Adami 4-1-9; Turpin 1-0-2; Bouldin 4-0-1; Davlj 4-1-9; Mundell 0-0-0. TOTALS 13-2-28.

NO. HUNT (43) Balogh 8-2-18; Green 5-0-10; Lenlo 1-0-2; Kuchman 5-0-10; Andrew 1-0-2; Gromlowlci 0-1-1. TOTALS 20-3-43. Long Branch 8 8 4 8 28 No. Hurrt 12 7 13 11 43 I rs entral goiis ffaDi to ft mlp IFpaDnCilDim KINNELON (52) Bolte 4-0-8; Struble 3-4-10; Racquet 3-0-6; Melllne 7-3-17; Walsh 1-0-2; Strane 2-1-5; Huber 1-0-2; Bohte 1-0-2.

TOTALS 22-8-52. NEW PROVIDENCE (55) Klachko 5-7-17; Kino 6-6-18; Morgan 4-3-11; Lelti 0-1-1; Rlchel 1-1-3; Messina 2-1-5. TOTALS 18-19-55. Kinnelon 12 12 12 16 52 New Providence It 10 It 13 55 Hoffman 62 Bernards 43 Lynn Ust scored 25 points and Mary Anne Lewis added 14 as Hoffman won the Central Jersey Group 1 sectional final at Sayreville. Bernards, which finished the season at 15-6, was led by Kristen Sikora's 12 points.

Hoffman's record improved to 26-2. HOFFMAN (62) Schaber 0-1-1; Waher 2-0-4; Ust 10-5-25; Lewis 4-6-14; Reick 1-0-2; DeFort 2-0-4; Popowskl 2-2-6; Croddlck 1-2-4; Stegwav 1-0-2. TOTALS 23-16-62. BERNARDS (43) Hart 4-0-8; Kertesi 3-0-6; Pederson 4-1-9; Slkora 3-6-12; Stratton 3-2-8. TOTALS 17-9-43.

Hoffmen 17 19 16 10 62 Bernard! 11 10 It 43 and was underneath for an uncontested layup that would have given Franklin a three-point lead with time running out. But Thompson was whistled for a traveling violation and Colonia had one last chance. After a hurried shot by Colonia, Haines grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Haines cooly sank the one-and-one free throws, giving Colonia a 52-51 lead. Roberts, who scored 17 points came flying down court and put up a floater in the lane that bounced off the backboard and into the hands of Urbanik.

Urbanik hit one of two free throws. Gorrell's desperation 30-footer was no good at the buzzer. Franklin took a commanding 30-17 halftime lead, sparked by a 17-1 spurt at the end of the second quarter. Colonia was held scoreless for the last five minutes of the period. Gorrell had 15 of his game high 23 in the period.

Franklin ends the season with a 24-3 mark. By FERDINANDA TAYLOR Courier-News Sports Writer EAST BRUNSWICK- Robert Haines hit two clutch free throws in the waning seconds last night to propel Colonia High to a 53 -51 victory over Franklin Township in the Central Jersey Group 3 boys basketball final. "I think this is the most exciting victory I've had here," said Colonia coach Bill Tisdale. "Both teams' defenses were effective against the other team's offense. I think the offenses played cautiously tonight." Colonia, which had trailed for most of the game, took its first lead when Marc Kleiman scored on a three-point play inside to make the score 48-46 with 2:04 left.

Franklin point guard Anthony Gor-rell came right back to tie it on two free throws. Then, after a Colonia turnover, Lamar Fair put in a rebound off of a Darrin Roberts miss and converted the three-point play to give Franklin a 51-48 lead with 1:50 left. Bob Urbanik, who finished with 18 points, sank two free throws to pull Colonia to within one. Franklin then turned it over on a ten-second violation. But Colonia gave the ball right back to Franklin on an errant pass.

With 25 seconds left, Sylvester Thompson received a full court pass Anoclated Priti Photo Up in the air North Carolina's Dave Popson, 35, tips the ball away from Mark Cline of Wake Forest during last night's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at the Omni In Atlanta. Pro basketball roundup TTpsiSD LBBasecs irDB pasft Metis By JOHN KELLY Courier-News Sports Writer BRIDGEWATER It was close but that was little consolation for Hunterdon Central High's girls basketball team. The sixth-seeded Lady Red Devils gave Trenton Central all It could handle last night yet all Central came away with was a 58-56 loss in the Central Jersey Group 4 championship game at Bridgewater East. Central coach Jennifer Spieker had mixed emotions about her second matchup this season with 19-8 Trenton Central. "We were prepared for this game," Spieker said.

"They blew us out the last time but we kept it close the entire game tonight. We did what we wanted, which was to get them into foul trouble. They sure can jump but were always over our backs, and it was never called. That's a little intimidating after a while." The Lady Red Devils (22-4) grabbed a 7-6 lead midway through the first quarter but, as was to be the pattern for the rest of the game, failed to hold it for very long. Aided by the strong shooting of Tonya Grant and Dale Hodges, Trenton stormed back and gained a 14-9 advantage at the end of the period.

Then, Junior center Sandy Hume and senior forward Beth Wilbor caught fire and kept Central close. Wilbors sank one of her patented jumpers from the left corner with 32 seconds left to pull Central within one point. With eight seconds remaining In the half, Trenton's Deirdre Johnson countered with a nice jumper of her own, giving her team a slightly more comfortable 25-22 advantage. "We had to make some adjustments when Wilbor got hot from the outside," said Trenton coach Elaine Hart. "The trouble was that it left Hume all alone Inside.

We went man-to-man a little later and it worked better. Player for player I think we have a little edge over them. Not to take anything away from them, because they are a great team." The second half picked up with more of the same fast-paced, back and forth play. Wilbor continued to pour in the points and Central relentlessly hammered away at the Trenton lead. Wilbor then converted a layup at 1:30 of the period to tie the game.

Kate Fisher followed with three free throws for Central, which ended the period with a 43-42 lead. "Kate has always been there for us," Spieker said. "We're a second-half team. All our kids played well, and they have class. There's no hot dogs on this team.

Everyone's proud of them and they're proud of themselves. It's a shame that someone has to lose, and it was us." Trenton, which last won the championship three years ago, took the lead again early in the fourth quarter and never relinquished it. Wilbor finished with a game-leading 21 points. HUNTERDON CENTRAL (56) Scheuer 0-2-2; Stettner 1-0-2; Fliher 2-10-14; Wilbor 10-1-21; Hume 6-3-15; McGreevy 1-0-2; TOTALS: 20-16-56. TRENTON CENTRAL (58) Grant 10-0-20; Lacev 2-0-4; McRae 5-2-12; Hodges 7-2-16; Goldware 1-2-4; Johnion 1-0-2; TOTALS: 26-6-58.

Hunterdon 9 13 21 14 56 14 11 17 14 58 New Providence 55 Kinnelon52 Laurie King scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the New Providence girls basketball team to a victory in the North Jersey, Section 2 Group 1 sectional final played last night at Westfield. Darcia Klachko contributed 17 points and blocked 10 shots for New Providence (21-3). Maureen Mellina was high scorer for Kinnelon (19-6). Columbia team tops Princof on NEW YORK (AP) Tom Gwydlr and Chip Adams scored 15 points apiece last night to lead Columbia to a 54-40 Ivy League basketball victory over Princeton and ensure the Tigers' first losing season in 29 years. Columbia, 12-13 overall and 8-5 In the Ivy League, jumped to a 15-5 lead in the game's first 10 minutes as Gwydir and Adams scored two baskets each.

The Lions built a 27-11 halftime lead as Walter Stewart scored nine of his 12 points. Princeton rallied in the second half on the long-range shooting of Joe Scott, who hit six baskets as the Tigers drew within 39-34 with six minutes to play. But Gwydlr scored three basket: during a 10-0 run over the next three minutes as Columbia won going away Scott led the Tigers with his points while John Thompson, son of Georgetown Coach John Thompson, added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Princeton fell to 7-6 in the Ivy League and 11-14 overall. The Tigers' last losing season was an 11-13 mark in 1955-56.

Local scene BBHMBaaaaaaai The Metuchen-Edison YMCA will be holding its Second Annual Bench Press-Dead Lift Competition on April 14. Weigh-in time will be at 8 a.m. and the competition will start at 9 a.m. with the bench press event followed by the dead lift. Trophies will be awarded for first, second and third place for all weight catagories and pre-registration will be accepted at the YMCA.

For more information call 548-2044. Umpire clinic Registation for the Central Jersey ASA Umpire Training Clinic will be open until next Tuesday night's session, according to District Com-misioner Frank Torpey. Those interested In becoming certified ASA officials should report to Bridgewater East High School, room A-l, for the 7 p.m. session. State Umpire-in-Chlef Dick Archer, District Chief Neal Tobin and Assistant Commissioner Bob Ransone will conduct the sessions, which will be held on the next three Tuesdays.

Sabres prevail BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Buffalo left wing Lindy Ruff scored twice to ignite a five-goal second period outburst that led the Sabres to a 7-2 National Hockey League victory over the Chicago Black Hawks yesterday. 1 OTHtl LOCATIONS TMHOUOMOUT IONO ISIAND AND WISICHfSTH COLONIA (53) Urbank 5-8-18; Schllllnger 4-2-10; Halnet 1-4-6; Kleiman 3-0-6, Severlni 1-3-5; Battle 3-0-6; Weltiok 1-0-2. TOTALS 18-17-53. FRANKLIN (51) Roberu 8-1-17; Gorrell 7-9-23; Scoll 2-2-4; Barnes 1-0-2; Afford 0-0-0; Fair 1-1-3.

TOTALS 19-13-51. Colonia 10 7 18 IS 53 Franklin 9 21 12 9 51 the game open early with a 24-7 surge that turned a 6-6 tie into a 30-13 lead with 4:02 left in the first quarter. Dennis Johnson started the rally with three consecutive field goals, and Bird ended It by converting an offensive rebound. Dallas closed the gap to 45-39 with 8:30 left In the first half on a three- Koint play Jay Vincent, who led the lavericks with 35 points. With the score 51-45, the Celtics went on a 1 2-4 run, Including six points by McHale, to open a 63-49 margin with 3:07 left In the second quarter.

Bird's long jumper with 3:53 remaining made the score 60-49 and the lead stayed in double figures the rest of the game. Boston made 62 percent of its field goal attempts to grab a 67-55 halftime lead, and opened it to 105-88 after the third quarter. Its biggest lead was 121-95 with 6:26 left in the game. Mark Agulrre had 32 points for Dallas, which had its two-game winning streak snapped. Boston had six players in double figures, including Scott Wedman with 18 points and Johnson with 14.

Sixers 128, Sonics 114 Moses Malone scored 25 points and Maurice Cheeks added 20 for Philadelphia. Two foul shots by Malone, who also contributed 12 rebounds, gave the Sixers the lead for good at 23-22 with 2:03 left in the first period. The 76ers then outscored the Sonics 11-2 during the first three minutes of the second quarter to take a 15-point lead, 41-26, and went on to increase their advantage to 71-53 at halftime. Jack Sikma scored 12 points in the third quarter to help cut the Sixers' lead to nine, 93-84, going into the final period. But Malone scored seven points during the final four minutes of the game to ensure Philadelphia's victory.

Ricky Sobers scored 26 points and Tom Chambers added 25 to lead the Sonics, who lost their third straight game. because It hurts. 'I am disappointed not Just because I can't compete against Carol, but because I Just wanted to compete." While Thacker was unable to jump during the qualifying for Saturday's final, Lewis had the best performance, soaring 21 feet, 9 inches. Lewis had vowed last year and again less than three weeks ago that she would not compete in this meet because NCAA officials made her change her socks when they displayed a commercial emblem during the 1984 meet. "We're going for the team title that's the reason I'm here," she explained.

Still, she was not satisfied with the only Jump that she needed to maly the Houston a 37-22 advantage going into the second quarter. The Pacers, 19-43, outscored Houston 12-4 In the first three minutes of the second quarter to make the score 41-34. Indiana continued to shave the Rocket lead until a pair of baskets by Vern Fleming tied the score 50-50 with 2:39 left. Houston managed a 61-58 lead at the half. The Rockets outscored Indiana 34-27 in the third quarter behind Hollins' outside sharpshooting to increase its lead to 95-85 going into the fourth quarter.

Houston built a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter. Bucks 127, Kings 114 Sidney Moncrief scored 25 points and Terry Cummings added 23 to lead Milwaukee. The Kings got within five points with 2:20 left to play on a jumper by Mike Woodson. But Moncrief scored a three-point play with 1:25 left to boost the division-leading Bucks to a 43-19 record. Kansas City, its three-game winning streak snapped, is 22-41.

The Bucks took an 8-6 lead on two free throws by Moncrief with 9:47 left in the first quarter and never trailed again. They lncreaed the lead to 38-28 at the end of the first quarter on a dunk by Paul Pressey at the buzzer. It was 70-58 at halftime as Milwaukee outshot and outrebounded Kansas City. The Bucks hit 31 of 47 field shots for 66 percent in the first half and grabbed 20 rebounds while Kansas City hit 50 percent and got only 16 rebounds. The Kings cut the lead to four points in the third quarter on two free throws by Mark Olberding with 6:44 left.

But the Bucks led 93-83 at the end of the period on a dunk by Pressey, again at the buzzer. Woodson had 23 points and LaSalle Thompson added 19 for the Kings. qualifying and semifinals. All of the men's and women's finals will be held today. King, a 21-year-old senior from Stamford, easily cracked the one-year-old mark in the 3,000, clocking 7 minutes, 57.13 seconds in a semifinal heat.

The meet record of 8:04.20 had been set by Washington State's Peter Koech of Kenya last year, the first time the 3,000 was contested in the meet. The seven other qualifiers for today's final all were under Koech's mark, with NCAA cross country champion Ed Eyestone of Brigham Young University (8:00.49) and Clifford Sheehan of Harvard (8:01.87) the other heat winners. At 8:30 of the final period, Frank Brickowski and Clemon Johnson received double technical fouls and were ejected from the game for fighting after a scramble for a rebound. Bulls 117, Lakers 101 Orlando Woolrldge scored 28 points and Michael Jordan added 26 to lead Chicago. The Bulls, falling behind by as many as 11 points in the first quarter, went on to win their third straight game as the Clippers lost for the eighth consecutive time, dropping 19 of their last 22 games and their 12th straight road game.

The Bulls led at halftime 58-51. Early in the third quarter, with the Bulls leading 62-54, Jordan contributed nine points in a 5 'i -minute flurry, as the Bulls outscored the Clippers 14-1 for a 76-55 advantage. Derek Smith, who led the Clippers with 23 points, and Norm Nixon, with 16 points, were the only Los Angeles players who could score as the Bulls outscored Los Angeles 32-20 to take a 90-71 advantage into the fourth quarter. After the Bulls had built a 25-point lead, Bulls Coach Kevin Loughery cleared his bench with 7:25 left. The Bulls' record improved to 30-32, while Los Angeles fell to 22-41.

Rockets 125, Pacers 105 Lionel Hollins scored a season-high of 23 points, including 12 in the third quarter, to lead Houston. Houston snapped a two-game losing streak, while Indiana suffered its third straight loss. The Rockets, now 37-26, were led by Akeem Olajuwon's 22 points, and Ralph Sampson's 19. Steve Stipanovich led the Pacers with 21 points. Houston dominated the early play, taking an 18-4 lead with 6:52 left in the first quarter behind eight Sampson Kints.

Houston led 24-10 with 5:24 ft, but the Pacers scored six straight points to cut their deficit to 24-16. Hollins cinched two baskets to give final. "It was pretty bad actually terrible," said Lewis, who set the American record of 22-3 this year. "I was kind of sluggish." Donovan, one of the standouts on the Arkansas team that Is favored to win the men's title for the second consecutive year, slashed nearly six seconds off the meet record in winning his heat in the men's race. Donovan was timed in 3 minutes, 46.68 seconds, as all eight qualifiers for today's final went under the previous mark of 3:52.83 set by Bob Ver-beeck of Iowa State last year, the first time the event was held in this meet.

The other heat winner was Jim McKeon of Richmond In 3:47.46. Yesterday's program at the Carrier Dome was devoted to preliminaries, By The Associated Press Klki Vandeweghe tallied 11 of his game-high 35 points in the second yesterday when the Portland rail Blazers ran off 19 straight points and went on to register a 128-110 National Basketball Association victory over the New Jersey Nets. Leading 43-41, the Trail Blazers, now 30-34 and winners of three of their last four, held the Nets scoreless for 4:22 while reeling off 19 straight points to break the game open. Vandeweghe, Kenny Carr and Steve Colter each had 4 points in the streak, while Jim Paxson, who finished with 23 points, added a three-point play. During the decisive burst, which boosted Portland into a commanding 62-41 lead, the Trail Blazers tallied seven of their eight baskets on layups.

Portland led 62-48 at the half and never let the Nets, who fell to 32-31, get closer than 10 points in the second half. New Jersey led early, snapping a 16-16 tie with a 10-4 burst that gave the club a 26-20 first period lead. The Nets were still ahead 34-28 when Portland swept into the lead for good, with a 9-1 rally midway through the third quarter. The burst included two baskets by Vandeweghe and two by Paxson, giving the Trail Blazers a 37-35 lead. Mychal Thompson added 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

Dawkins led the Nets with 24 points, Otis Birdsong added 20 while Buck Williams finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Celtics 133, Mavericks 122 By Larry Bird scored 32 points and Kevin McHale had 28 as the Boston Celtics led by at least 10 points the entire second half and rolled to a victory. The loss prevented Dallas Coach Dick Motta from gaining his 700th NBA victory and kept the Mavericks from winning their first game ever over the Celtics. Dallas is 0-10 against Boston in its five-year history. Boston, which never trailed, broke SYRACUSE, N.Y.

(AP) Nebras-ka'a chances to win its third straight women's title in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships were yesterday when injured Angela "hacker withdrew from the long Iump, while meet records were set by 'aul Donovan of Arkansas, Kevin King of Georgetown and Shelly Steely of Florida. Thacker was the long jump winner last year when she upset American record holder Carol Lewis of Houston. She also finished second in the 55-meter dash and ran a leg on the Corn-huskers' team that finished third in the relay. "I tried to do some run-throughs and I couldn't do it," said the disappointed Thacker, an ice pack covering her ailing left knee. "I Just can't Jump Transmission Failure.

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