The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 169

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NAVY BEATS ARMY, 19-9, IN 100TH MEETING, PAGE F-6 Spirts Sunday Courier Neujs -F-l Sunday, December 5, 1999 LEADING OFF SECTIONAL FINALS '00 high school BELVTDERE 6, NEW PROVIDENCE 0 HUNTERDON CENTRAL 42, PISCATAWAY 21 Nets fall to 2-15 Allan Houston leads the Knicks with 24 points. nn rn LM mi i 4 'tr 'tusk Atk I 1 By BOB CONSIDINE Staff Writer EAST RUTHERFORD -New Jersey Nets guard Stephon Marbury was asked Saturday if he was a New York Knicks fan growing up on the Brooklyn playgrounds. "If you weren't a Knick fan, there was something wrong," he said, accompanied by his last laugh of a day on which his Nets lost to the Knicks, 92-82. An adolescence removed, Marbury is now finding being across the river isn't exactly KNICKS 92 NETS 82 INSIDE Stephon Marbury would rather have been traded to Knicks than Nets. PAGE F-5 good for the mind, heart or soul.

The Nets' defeat their fifth in a row and 15th in 17 games encompassed everything that is wrong with the team, starting with Keith Van Horn. Van Horn continued his season-long slump with 6-of-20 shooting for 16 points. Kerry Kittles was 5-of-17 for 11 points, and Marbury made 5-of-18 for a team-high 19 points. The Nets fired a collective 31.1 percent from the floor. Only Jamie Feick's career-high 23 rebounds made life difficult for New York.

Allan Houston led the Knicks with 24 points, and Latrell Sprewell added 20. BOX SCORE, MORE COVERAGE. F-S Rutgers women lose 2nd By GREG TUFARO Staff Writer WASHINGTON It's official. Rutgers University women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer would like to withdraw her team from consideration for any of the national polls.

The Scarlet Knights proved they are not worthy of their No. 7 ranking in a 63-58 loss to George Washington before a crowd of 2,533 at the Charles E. Smith Center on Sat- urday GWU63 night. Despite RUTGERS 58 NBA More coverage, Knicks92 82 76ers77 Boston 74 Seattle 102. L.A.

Clippers 89 Sacramento 114. Wash. 104 Atlanta 112 Detroit 110 Dallas 103 Minnesota 84 Milwaukee 92 Chicago 91 Houston 105 Phoenix 95 Utah Golden St. (n) NHL More coverage, F-4 Calgary 4 Devils 2 Rangers 1 Buffalo 1 Flyers 3 Montreal 2 Chicago 9 Boston 3 Pittsburgh 3 Toronto 2 Dallas 3 Ottawa 1 Atlanta 4 i Islanders 3 Florida 2 Washington 1 St. Louis 4 San Jose 2 Nashville 4 Detroit 1 Colorado 3 Carolina 1 Anaheim 2 Phoenix 1 Vancouver Edmonton (n) Tampa Bay.

Los Angeles (n) College Footbafl More coverage, J-Nebraska 22 12-Texas 6 7-Alabama 34 5-Florida 7 23-Miami 55 Temple 0 Navy 19 Army 9 Men's College Basketball More coverage, F-8 Rutgers 65..., Geo. Wash. 72 Princeton 62. 1-Cincin. 75 Md.

Bait. C. 48 Hall 63 44 25-Gonzaga 68 tN. Carolina 78 4- Arizona 88 9 Texas 81 5- UConn 98 N.C.-Asheville 68 8-Michigan St. 74 E.

Mich. 57 Wake Forest 77. 10-Temple 72 11- Florida 96 Fla. 44 23- Indiana 83 13-Kentucky 75 14- Syracuse 82. St.

Joseph's 60 15- Ohio St. 87 1 Duquesne 55 24- Maryland 69 16-Illinois 67 17- Duke 84 22-DePaul 83 18- Tennessee 76 Pitts. 50 19- Purdue 75 Akron 66 Jl-Okla. St. 66 Women's College Basketball More coverage, F-8 Geo.

Wash. 63 7-Rutgers 58 2-Georgia 78 Alcorn St. 38 U-Notre D. 99. 9-N.

Carolina 86 Texas 87 10-IUinois 84 12- IowaSt. 93 W. Illinois 53 13- Oregon Colorado (n) 18- Kansas 76 15-UCSB 73 16- Texas Tech 63 SMU 47 17- Purdue 68. Indiana St. 66 19- ODU71 Syracuse 46 24-Boston C.

83 Kent 70 Columbine wins state football title With the No. 70 emblazoned on their helmets and the memory of a slain teammate as their 12th man, the Rebels of Columbine High School won their school's first state football title Saturday in Greenwood Village, Colo. This championship victory, 21-14 over Cherry Creek, meant a lot more than bragging rights. It honored Matt Kechter, gunned down April 20 in the worst high school massacre in U.S. history.

Kechter, who wore the No. 70, would have been a senior and hoped to start for the Rebels as a lineman. Player recovering from stab wound An all-state wide receiver at Saginaw (Mich.) High School is recovering from a punctured lung after he was stabbed in the back with a fork during an argument, police said. Charles Rogers went to Covenant Medical Center-Cooper on his own after he was stabbed about 6 p.m. Thursday.

BEST BET NFL bragging rights The New York Giants will play host to the New York Jets at Giants Stadium at 1 p.m. today. The disappointing Giants are 5-6, while the banged-up Jets are 4-7. Sports on TV, F-8 GOT A TIP? You can e-mail us at or call Dave Siminoff, sports editor, at (908) 707-3157. THIS SECTION Pages in this section were designed and copy edited by Dave Siminoff, Mark Lussier, Bill Hronis and Mike Gordon.

Hunterdon Central players celebrate their second straight Central Jersey Group IV sectional title Saturday after a 42-21 victory over Piscataway. Red Devils rally for second consecutive sectional title back Tyshnn Jackson plowed 15 yards before being sandwiched by Central defenders Mike Callanan and Brian Burke. On his way down, Jackson tried to stretch the ball past the goal line a tactic that worked on a first-quarter touchdown but the ball squirted out and rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. "I just came in and did what I had to do," Callanan, a junior, said. "I knew I just had to get into my spot, take a good pursuit angle and get loose." The Red Devils jumped all over the opportunity, marching 80 yards on eight plays for a By JERRY CARINO Staff Writer EAST RUTHERFORD -For the second straight year, Piscataway High School's football team began the Central Jersey Group IV title game playing like champions.

And for the second straight year, the game ended with Hunterdon Central clutching the championship trophy. With their combination of poise and power, Central rebounded from a 15-0 first-quarter deficit to post a 42-21 triumph before a stunned crowd ond-seeded Red Devils rally from a 21-14 halftime deficit when it seemed as though Piscataway, which finished the season 10-2, had better weapons in its arsenal. "We just went after them in the second half," Central standout Mike Carr said. "We knew there was no way we were going to be denied." The game's most critical moment came on the fourth play of the second half. After Piscataway recovered its own kickoff, which was muffed by Central, the Chiefs drove 30 yards on three plays.

On first-and-10 from Central's 16, tail -f A Missed chances cost Pioneers "V' fl7 LVVV STAFF PHOTO BY J.T. GREILICK touchdown. Melvin Hubbert, who rushed for a game-high 191 yards on 27 carries, did the honors from 8 yards. It was the beginning of a 28-point run for Central. The tumultuous play turned what would have been a two-touchdown Piscataway lead into an even game.

"Tyshnn scored like that early, but from what I saw he just let it go and gave them the ball on the 20-yard line," said Piscataway junior Larry Lester, who had 261 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns." See CENTRAL on page F-2 kit. STAFF PHOTO BY KENNY PANO getting hit by Belvidere's Adam game. New Providence lost, 6-0. 1 HUNTERDON CENT. 42 PISCATAWAY 21 of 2,500 at Giants Stadium on Saturday.

It marked the third sectional football crown in Red Devils history and a fitting end to an 11-1 season during which Central always managed to overcome its obstacles. "This is just a tremendous, never-say-die bunch," Central coach Jim Meert said. That attitude helped the sec BELVIDERE 6 NEW PROVIDENCE coach Frank Bottone said after the Pioneers' second straight home sectional title game loss. New Providence fall to Madison, 19-13, last year. "We had our chances, but we just couldn't do it," Bottone added.

Defense was the theme throughout the game, and it was Belvidere's monstrous defensive front a line that held New Providence to 41 yards on 41 plays from scrimmage that earned the County Seaters the six points needed to win the game. After Belvidere was forced to punt on its first possession of the game, the County Seaters defense made quick work of New Providence in its first drive, marching the Pioneers back 12 yards to their own 30. On fourth-and-22, Wes Girnius See PIONEERS on page F-3 -VMS New Providence gains just 41 yards in its sectional final loss. By JEFF WEBER Staff Writer NEW PROVIDENCE With a season and a sectional championship on the line, the New Providence High School football team expected to perform at its best Saturday. Subpar play from the offense overshadowed a strong outing by the defense as the Pioneers' aspirations of a title fell short.

Belvidere scored the only points of the game late in the first quarter on a 55-yard punt "We chances, just ft" Knmk New football holding the Colonials (3-2) without a field goal for an incredible 18:39 and limiting them to a school-record-low 13 percent (3-of-23) shooting in the opening half, Rutgers (3-2) still found a way to lose. "We are not a Top 10 team," Stringer said. "We are not even a Top 20 team. As far as I'm concerned, the pollsters don't even need to write our name down. We've got to grow up and I've got to do a better job.

I intend to do something about it, but I'm not really sure at this point. It's my job to teach our team and find a way to get it done. You just bite, holler, scream, do anything that you can to figure out a way to win." That's exactly what George Washington coach Joe McKeown did to motivate his team after its abysmal first-half performance. Despite their cold touch from the floor, the Colonials only trailed 23-19 at the break thanks to 83-percent shooting (10-of-12) from the foul line. BOX SCORE, RUTGERS MEN WIN.

F-S had our but we couldn't do BotUmc, I'rovldcnct) coach 7,:. Lil. i iSi 'rJH, return by Jeff Kolodziejczyk, ending New Providence's season on a down note and giving the County Seaters (11-1) a 6-0 victory and the North Jersey, Section 2, Group I sectional title in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 2,500 at Lieder Field. "This is the second time we've been snakebitten in the '90s," deflated New Providence New Providence quarterback John Thorns (13) fumbles the ball after Pell during Saturday's North Jersey, Section 2, Group I championship i 1.