The Daily Chronicle from Centralia, Washington • Page 6

The Daily Chronicle, 98531, Monday, March 25,1974 Top-rated teams win Garfield, East Bremerton state kings SEATTLE (AP) Larry Griffin, Keith Harrell and Leon Johnson closed out their prep careers with a combined 62 points to lead Garfield's top-ranked Bulldogs to the state Class AAA high school basketball championship. "The best team in the state is taking the trophy home," said elated Coach Fernando Amorteguy after his Bulldogs had beaten second-rated Richland in Saturday's title clash. Garfield's total was the highest scored in a championship game in the tourney's 50 years. Mark Paterson's basket at the buzzer gave Tacoma's Lincoln a 50-48 victory over Ballard for third place. Kentridge hit 23 of 34 free throws to beat Mercer Island 59-48 for fourth and Central Valley, capitalized on the absence of Gary Nelson, to down Anacortes 52-45 and finished fifth.

"This was the best ball team we've ever played against," said Richland Coach Frank Teverbaugh, who declined to confirm rumors some of his players, including scoring star Mike Neill, were not feeling well. "I said it last year (when Roosevelt beat Richland 67-59 for the title) but this one's better," Teverbaugh said. The victory brought Garfield, which finished fourth last year, its first state championship since 1962. They now have won the title four times and, with a 24-0 record, are the first undefeated champions since Ingraham's 1969 team. In addition to their shooting, the trio of Garfield seniors swept the boards, accounting for 38 of the team's 49 rebounds.

Griffin led in both departments with 23 points and 17 rebounds, Harrell had 20 points and 11 boards and Johnson 19 and 11. Garfield came out cold and fell behind 11-6 midway in the first quarter but tied it 12-12 at the break and led 3326 at the half. The Bulldogs tore it open in the third quarter with 29 points to 18 for the Bombers. Johnson and Griffin had eight points each in the period and Harrell contributed six. Neffl, who had averaged 26.1 points a game, was held to six in the first half and finished the game with 21.

Bruce Wallace scored 17 for the Bombers and and Jim Thompson had 16,14 of them in the second half. Lincoln, appearing tired after a hard- fought Friday night loss to Garfield, lost an early lead and trailed Ballard 23-18 at the half. But the Abes finally caught up at 35-all on a Paterson layin early in the fourth quarter. The score was knotted 48-48 with just over a minute to go when two Ballard stalls went awry to set the stage for Paterson's bucket off a missed shot by teammate Eugene Glenn. Glenn had 18 points for Lincoln and Paterson 12.

Kim Stewart led all scorers with 19 for Ballard and Solsten Wims added 13. Kentridge's Chargers, ahead 30-29 late in the third period, scored the next 12 points to beat Mercer Island. The Chargers went to the foul line 21 times in the fourth quarter and Mike Blauman, who puts the ball up without a bounce, hit seven of 11 tries. He led all scorers with 15 points. Matt Vagle topped Mercer Island with 12 points.

Nelson, the 6-foot-8 Anacortes center, picked up three fouls in just over minutes and went to the bench for good with two minutes, 21 seconds left in the third quarter and the Seahawks leading Central Valley 37-32. ClagsAA TACOMA, Wash. (AP) The East Bremerton Knights, behind the record- setting performance of Rick Walker, took home their second straight state Class AA high school basketball championship for their trophy room. Walker had 15 rebounds as the Knights beat the Foster Bulldogs 77-52 in Saturday's title game. That gave him 69 for the tournament and helped earn most valuable player honors.

The old rebounding mark of 68 was set in 1972 by Marysville's Larry Christenson, now a major league pitcher. The Cleveland Eagles, led by the 26 points of reserve Danny Home, took third place with a 73-69 victory over Wapato, Omak downed Stanwood 61-50 for fourth and Mike Hanson's tournament game record 39 points keyed Enumclaw to an 87-78 decision over Sunnyside and fifth place. "No, this isn't as big a thrill as last year, but it still feels good to know you're on top," said Walker, whose top- ranked Knights also set a tournament mark of eight straight victories. "We hope we'll be back again next year," said Knight Coach Les Eathorne, who had vowed after winning last year's title that his team would return. And the Knights will have a chance to come back.

East Bremerton had been scheduled to close because of a levy failure but a compromise was reached that will keep it open. Foster trailed only 32-28 at the half but midway in the third quarter the Knights scored eight straight points, including a 12-footer by Walker, the game's high scorer with 26 points. East scored 28 points in the period to Foster's 10 and it was all over for the Bulldogs. Brad Sterling, the key to Foster's offense, fouled out early in the fourth quarter with 14 points. Kelly Reiners had 16 for the Bulldogs.

Auto Supply We have a complete supply of the following items to fit your auto needs. Delco Batteries, Shocks, Generators, Alternators, Starters, Tune-Up Kits, Fuel, Pumps, and Water Pumps. Hours: 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Monday thru Saturday Call 736-8616 Auto Supply 1202 South Gold, Centralia L-ciiuai vciiicy OI-O, Sport! i 1 1 1 -V------ i Centralia College outfielder Glenn Elliott is safe sliding into third base during first game of Friday doubleheader with Skagit Valley at Fort Borst Park.

Blazers took both ends of twin bill, winning 7-0 and Into third sitting down 9-2. Now with a 3-1 season mark, the surprising Blazers will host potent Everett Friday. ---Chronicle Sports Photo SHOE STORE Downtown Chehalis Sports in brief FRONT- END THIS WEEK'S LOW PRICE THRU SAT. 9.95 On alignment specialists will do all this Inspect complete front end, including springs, shock absorbers, ball Idler armi, tie rod ends and steering wheel paalign front correct umber, caster and toe-in (chief cauin of flit tire Otin In or all for appointment. COME IN OR CALL FOR THIS WEEK'S BIG SPECIAL! (SALE ENDS 3-30-74.) TIRES, INC GOLF HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.

Johnny Miller scored his'fourth victory of the pro golf season by winning the $200,000 Sea Pines Heritage Classic by three strokes tver Gibby Gilbert. TENNIS TUCSON, Ariz. Australian John Newcombe scored a victory over Arthur Ashe to capture the $150,000 Tennis Games championship. JACKSON, Miss. Secondseeded Alex Mayer upset Germany's Karl Meiler 7-6, 7-5 in the finals of the Mississippi International Indoor Tennis Championships.

AKRON, Ohio Billie Jean King won her fourth Women's Professional Tennis Tournament by defeating Nancy Gunter 6-3, 7-5 in the $50,000 Akron Tennis Open. SALT LAKE CITY Jimmy Connors beat Vitas Gcrulaitis 46, 7-6, 6-3 in the finals of an international tennis tour- BOWLING MILWAUKEE Johnny Gunther won the $80,000 Milwaukee tournament with a 225215 victory over Larry Laub for his second consecutive Professional Bowlers Association title. BASEBALL SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. The Chicago Cubs traded veteran outfielder-first baseman Jim Hickman to the St. Louis Cardinals right-handed pitcher Scipio Spinks.

THI MORE YOU THE MORE YOWL WANT DELCO TRADE IN YOUR OLD BATTERY NOW: IT COULD BE WORTH MORE THAN YOU TMNK. If your battery is three years old or older, it might be wise to replace it before it gives you trouble. So have one of us check your battery now. If it needs to be replaced, we'll make you a trade-in offer on a new Delco battery. Stop in and see one of us.

You'll get the battery you need and a good deal loo. a rn Stotn Strait GOODfYEAR CHEHALIS 748-6611 YOUR DELCO DEALER ENTERPRISE ELECTRIC ART COOK -916 Chohalli. 741-3384 Press Box Diary BY CHUCK WILFONG Chronicle Sports Editor no lost EGAD! What a weekend in sports. A third-year draft choice pours in a record-breaking 58 points for the SuperSonics; UCLA is dethroned; Centralia College sweeps a doubleheader; and all three Black Hills League holdons are eliminated from the state class "AA" basketball tournament. UNBELIEVABLE IS THE only word that adequately describes the show put on by Seattle SuperSonics guard Fred Brown against Golden State in Oakland Saturday night.

Shooting 65 per cent from the floor, the 6-3 backcourt performer, previously cloaked in a thin blanket of gossamer anonymity, personally fired the Sonics to a heartstopping 139137 means-nothing decision over the Warriors. His 58 points erased the team-record 51 established by Seattle superstar Spencer Haywood and set a new individual norm for NBA players this season. Brown's explosion represented the most points scored by any NBA suiter since 1969 when Wilt Chamberlain pumped in 66 against Phoenix. In true Cinderella fashion, one of his buckets was the game- clincher, a 20-foot bank shot from the right side with two seconds left. The 26-year-old Brown was a first-round draft pick of the Sonics in 1971 upon his graduation from Iowa.

He averaged 4.2 points his first season and 13.5 last campaign, but has been coming on like gangbusters down the 1974 stretch and threatens to challenge Haywood as Seattle's premier performer. IT WAS INEVITABLE, but still somewhat saddening to see UCLA's demise as the king of collegiate basketball. North Carolina State, an 18-point victim of the Bruins earlier this season, used the clutch shooting of David Thompson and the frantic, friendly environs of its home floor at Greensbo.ro, N.C., to finally halt Wooden's Wonders. The Wolfpack's 80-77 double-overtime victory in Saturday's NCAA semi-final not only meant a new champion, but terminated UCLA's sparkling record of 38 straight tournament victories and denied the Bruins their eighth title in succession. Still, for those who took the time to read it, the hand-writing had been on the wall all year.

At the beginning of the current season, UCLA Coach John Wooden had intimated that a serious flaw existed in what was drummed as another super-team. The Bruins, said Wooden, lacked a killer instinct. As usual, he was right. The instinct was missing when UCLA blew.a substantial second-half lead and suffered its first defeat in 88 games, losing by one point to Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind. It was absent as the Bruins dropped back-to-back road games at Oregon and Oregon State and it almost drifted away again when, the Uclans were forced to go three overtimes before subduing Dayton in the Far West regionals.

1 ''Triei ability to administer the coup d' grace deserted the Westwooders again Saturday. UCLA permitted N.C. State to recover from an 11-point deficit in the second half to tie the game and then failed to take advantage of a seven-point spread in the second overtime. Giving up five inches to 7-4 Wolfpack center Tom Burleson, 611 UCLA super-carrier Bill Walton played his heart out. He scored 29 points over Burleson and gaffed 18 boards, but it wasn't enough.

This year's Bruins just couldn't bring themselves to kick a guy when he was down. And it cost them. ALL LAST YEAR, the Centralia College baseballers had trouble winning both ends of doubleheader outings. In fact, they split every conference twin bill they played. On Friday, the Blazers broke the jinx by sweeping both ends against Skagit Valley and served notice they could be one of the circuit's powers this year.

Coach George Gablehouse's 1974 edition has a strong pitching staff, sports a tight defense and can swing the bat. Centralia hurlers, led by Greg Isaacson and Steve Small, yielded just five enemy hits all afternoon, while Blazer sluggers slammed 19. Ron Maus, a 6-foot, 180-pound first baseman out of Seattle and Gary Beck, a 6-foot, 175-pound third sacker from Olympia, paced the Blazers at the plate, but all of Centralia's batsmen can rip the ball. And it now appears that one of the Trailblazers' possible weak points, catching, may not be so weak. Diminutive (5-9) hustler Bob Gentry, a Tacoma product, has shown a lot of class behind the plate during his pre-season appearances and may be difficult to keep from a starting assignment.

All things considered, the Centralia College baseball outlook is indeed bright. BLACK HILLS LEAGUE basketball experts are asked to mull over the following scores: Sunnyside 94, Elma 74- Omak 68, Timberline 48; Stanwood 74, Tumwater 65. So much for Black Hills entrants in the state class "AA" tournament. If anything, the fortunes of Timberline, Elma and Tumwater proved only that the Black Hills was a weak league this season and doesn't figure to be any stronger next year. Bear in mind that Timberline was the circuit's top "AA" team in 1973-74 and lost by 20 to Omak.

Omak was a class facility a year ago. Tenino Speedway's A Main is almost a three-car photo TENINO Three drivers put on a spectacular display of racing expertise in the Class A main event at the Tenino- Olympia Speedway here Sunday, before Olympia'sSam Darnell won by a whisker in the speedway's stockcar season opener. Darnell, along with Tom Denny and Dave Bulterton, both of Lacey, started at the rear of the pack after recording fast times and had worked their way to the front by the 10th lap. The three ran side-by-side until the noxt-to-last lap, before Darnell won by a bumper-length over Denny. Tacoma's Willie Cooper took the Class main, with Ed Saul of Tacoma second and Lou Merritt of Tacoma third.

Denny won the A trophy dash over Buiterton, with Tenino's Jim Smith carrying home the trophy after out- piloting Doug Rains of Longview. Merritt was the trophy winner, Kent's Vern Huston second. The first heat race result was destined to have an instant replay in the A main, as Darnell, Denny and But- tfirton finished one-two-three, while Centralia's Bill Prothro took the second heat race, finishing ahead of Centralia's Ron Miller and Kenny See of Seattle. Merritt was the third heat victor, over Dick Barkus of Maple Valley and Eddie Saul of Tacoma. Tacoma's Willis Cooper drove to victory in the main, with Saul second and Merritt third.

Mark Bradley of Centralia, the number two points placer a year ago took a main event fifth Sunday. Bulterton, who now drives out of Laccy, is a former Centralia racer..