Argus-Leader from Sioux Falls, South Dakota • Page 36

nmminii 4D Basketball- Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D. Wednesday, March 16, 1988 Thursday Friday 1p.m. Friday Saturday r- 1 Brookings (19-1) I turday I Sturgis (13-8) 1Pm- 3 p.m. 7 p.m. Mitchell (14-7) I Washington (6-14) 3 p.m.

7 p.m. 9 p.m. i Aberdeen Central (1 4-6) Uncoln(18-3) 3P-m- 9 p.m. 9 p.m. Pierre (10-11) I Fifth Champion gmmmmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmnm.

mti lb i J7 LA Rapid City Stevens (16-4) 1 p.m. 7 p.m. Seventh Third Eric Piatkowski Bob Judson We might pulverize somebody one night, and lose to them the nexf By JOHN EGAN Argus Leader Staff Pierre's Governors know all about the Rapid City Stevens basketball team. They found out three months ago. On the other hand, Stevens doesn't have much of a book on Pierre's team.

Nobody does. That's because Coach Bob Judson's Governors, one of the eight teams entered in the state Class AA boys basketball tournament which begins at the Arena Thursdayj seldom look exactly the same twice. "We might pulverize somebody one night, and lose to them the next," Judson said. Stevens and Pierre meet at 9 p.m. in Thursday's first round.

Both are young teams. The Raiders make liberal use of four juniors Eric Piatkowski, Mike Jones, Tom Doyle and Eric Dahl. Pierre's senior class goes only one deep. He's 6-foot-6 center Doug Mikkonen, who gets nine points and eight rebounds a game for the 10-11 Governors. Beyond that, there are seven underclassmen who rotate in and out often enough to test thoroughly scorers' table buzzers.

Junior starters with Mikkonen are 6-3 Troy Buschbom (11 points and seven rebounds) and 6-foot Steve Schneider (nine points) up front. Schneider, however, is a primal shooter. If he's hot, he stays in; if not, he's out. Guards are juniors Trent Merkwan and Jon Rapp. Merkwan, 6-1, is averaging 11 points a game.

"He's playing the best of all of us right now," Judson said. Heath Schneider, a 6-4 junior, is the first reserve in the front line. Right behind him is 6-1 sophomore Shannon Schaefer, whose brother, Troy, helped the Governors to a state championship in 1982. First reserve at guard is 5-10 junior Terry Nelson. Pierre, last a state tourney entrant in 1984, lost to Stevens 64-59 Dec.

19. "uric Stonecipher hurt us inside," Judson, a Huron College graduate, said. "Piatkowski, of course, did too. But you expect that. "Doyle was injured and didn't play against us." Bob Judson Pierre coach Thursday Friday 1 p.m.

Friday Saturday Midland (19-4) Avon (19-3) 1 Pm- 3 p.m. 7 p.m. S.F. Christian (22-1) Northwestern (17-6) 3 p.m. 7 p.m.

9 p.m. Bridgewater (19-5) I Selby(2l-2) 3pm- 9 pm- 9 p.m. Deubrook(21-2) -Warner (20-3) Fifth Champion Troy Ward, each 6-3, share guard duty with Dahl and 6-3 junior Todd Williamson. Doyle and Ward are returning starters along with Piatkowski. The Raiders use a pressure defense and fast-break offense under Doland native Divich and his assistant coach, Lyle Pagel.

Pierre belongs to the Eastern South Dakota Conference, but Stevens is an independent. "We lost six games early by five points or less," Judson said. "We've been beaten by both Brookings and Pine Ridge by a point and at Mitchell by a last-second shot. So we've lost some games we shouldn't have. "We could have used some of those early wins, if for nothing else but encouragement.

It seems we can play with about everybody but have to struggle to win. I guess you could say that's what makes it exciting." With the large junior contingent, it is difficult for Pierre not to at least think occasionally about next season. Mikkonen's height will be missed, of course. But it will be partly offset when a familiar name moves up from the sophomores. He's Dave Mickelson, 6-3 and growing, and the son of Gov.

George Mickelson. 1 p.m. 7 p.m. Seventh Third For Dick Divich's Raiders, 16-4, going to the tournament for the third consecutive year, Piatkowski, 6-6, is averaging 20 points (for the second straight season) and 13 rebounds. Stonecipher, a 6-5 senior, matches Piatkowski's rebounding.

Doyle is 6-4, Jones 6-2 and Dahl 5-11. Seniors David Petersen and NCAA Parity creates fuzzy icture ournamen Once you get past the first round, most of the 32 teams will have a chance at the national championship. The only easy games will come in the first round, and not many of them. Tom Davis toa coach mmMittfBsmmm team with a freshman guard? Or how about Pittsburgh, with two of them? You like Oklahoma, which gets nervous with any score less than triple figures and has a flamboyant head coach whose head nearly every opponent wants? Or Arizona, which might not be physical enough? Or Purdue, with all those recent March nightmares hanging over its head? North Carolina? Hey, it's been six years since Dean Smith made the Final Four. The Tar Heels lost three times this year to Duke.

"Once you get past the first round, most of the 32 teams will have a chance at the national championship," Iowa coach Tom Davis said. "The only easy games will come in the first round, and not many of them." So let it begin vs. Xavier, Danny Manning's last hurrah might end early if Xavier's high-powered offense is in gear. The Musketeers are led by Byron Larkin (24.9 points a game), who said he "takes being an underdog personal." Sleeper: La Salle, seeded 13th. The Explorers shoot well, make few turnovers and have played tough teams tough this year.

Winner: Purdue, a senior-dominated team starving to make amends for the past, and given a friendly route through the regional. A showdown with Pittsburgh would be one brutal basketball game. SOUTHEAST Best first round game: Auburn vs. Bradley. Bradley has Hersey Hawkins.

Auburn has a knack of playing well in the tournament. Sleeper: North Carolina-Charlotte, which nearly beat Kentucky this year. In Lexington. Winner: Kentucky, exceptional at guard and better than expected up front. Illinois is blazing, though, and would love to get even for a controversial regional final loss to Kentucky in Lexington in 1984, the game that finally convinced the NCAA to eliminate home-court advantages on the regional level.

WEST Best first round game: Wyoming vs. Loyola-Marymount, two exceptionally talented teams who should not have to meet in the first round. Sleeper: Seton Hall. The Pirates beat Big East powers. They can beat powers from anywhere else.

Winner: Arizona, probably the most balanced among the top contenders. Still, the Wildcats are from the West, meaning many suspect they're made of quiche. EAST Best first-round game: Georgetown vs. LSU. First, Dale Brown wants John Thompson.

Then he'll really want Bob Knight, with whom he's been feuding. Then he might want Hitler, Mussolini, Attila, Karl Marx or any of the other guys he mentions when he really gets rolling. 1 Sleeper: North Carolina This is the seventh consecutive NCAA appearance for the Aggies, who play a hard-nosed, match-up zone defense. Winner: Duke, defensive and solid, and Krzyzewski has been there before. But Indiana is on a springtime high as usual and Temple will not go away if freshman Mark Macon keeps playing like a senior.

MIDWEST Best first round game: Kansas irrA career uiud puts you rigm inio me lOOlvlnQ UOOQ; fashion scene with this handsome knit sunt, see una eui-uvei iiuimuiuai stripe in easy care polyester and cotton, looks great with your favorite jeans or slacks, come in today. BSlip mm Mm mm i By MIKE LOPRESTI Gannett News Service i First, we go back a year to the 1987 NCAA Final Four. As tournaments go, this was a pretty pat hand. Indiana was there in the Louisiana Superdome, a No. 1 regional seed that made good on its numbers.

So was No. 1 seed Nevada-Las Vegas. Syracuse was a No. 2 seed. Providence was the one to come out of the rough, a No.

6 seed that grew rich on 3-point shots. But mostly, it was a Final Four many saw coming. Another National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament begins Thursday, and it is unlikely that things will remain so neat. There are favorites who aren't terribly convincing and underdogs who aren't especially hopeless. There are easy reasons to pick for, or nearly anyone.

You like Temple? You mean the NCAA tourney bid surprises women's coach By The Associated Press Villanova women's basketball coach Harry Perretta didn't expect to be in the NCAA tournament. So sure was he that the Wildcats would not be included, Perretta dismissed the squad and went on a recruiting trip. "I came back Sunday and there were all these messages on my answer phone congratulating me," Perretta said. "I've been all over the place trying to round up my players to get ready in three days." The East Regional starts today as Wake Forest, 22-7, plays at Villanova, 20-8, at 6 p.m. Also in the East, Fairfield, 19-9, is at St.

John's 21-9. Auburn, Iowa, defending champion Tennessee and Texas Nos. 1 through 4 in the Associated Press women's Top Twenty basketball poll were made the top regional seeds Sunday for the seventh National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I tournament. Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana Tech and Long Beach State comprised the second half of the eight national seedings, and were also sent to different regions in the interest of competitive balance and geographical location. Iowa, seeded first overall, was placed in the West.

Sioux Falls native Steph Schueler is a reserve point guard for the Hawkeyes. Auburn, the No. 4 team, was put in the Mideast, and the winners of those regions will meet in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, an East-Midwest champion meeting could match Tennessee, placed No. 1 in the East, against Texas, seeded first in the Midwest.

The 40-team tournament opens with eight first-round games tonight night. The 24 teams that were granted first-round byes and first round survivors will meet Saturday and Sunday. After regional semifinals Thursday and finals Saturday, the bracket champions will advance to Tacoma, for the Final Four April 1 and 3. Colorado and Villanova were somewhat surprising inclusions in the field. J- ifiTsrrr.r: 1 1 1 a riiv.viir.L iiiriiir.auir.! a.i 111.1 SEE IT ON PAY-PFR.

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