The Dispatch from Moline, Illinois • 35

I riiluy, January 27, 20O6 Hie DithHnd The Kmk UUvi Aism 5 Sports UT girls' Big 6 loss streak hits 40 Its no close shave as Moline i dunks Rocky Qulncy 58, UTHS 36 or a post player and that's what you do. She's so versatile, she had to learn how to play with her back to the basket and play facing to the basket. So it's probably taken her a while to get comfortable. But she got the job done tonight." Ashby believed her time would come, although it was extra tough late in the game when both teams became especially sloppy. "We just had to be patient," she said.

"Since this is a conference game, we needed this win." QHS also got contributions from junior Cobi Wires and senior Taylor Vollmer, who each had 11 points; United Township struck back. QHS didn't score a bucket until four minutes into the second half. By then, UTHS put together a 14-3 run when Lydia Aceviz canned a trey to make the score 33-26 with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter. Then QMS forward Jessica Ashby scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. UTHS scored just six points in that span.

Ashby also grabbed eight rebounds. "With Jessica, I think that's was something I've been waiting for her to do all year," said QHS coach Sandi Devoe of her first-year starter. "With most players, you're either a guard Big 6 conference standings, cinching another frustrating last-place finish for United Township. And, UTHS basketball coach Ryan Kelly doesn't care to discuss theories behind the skid. "I don't know if we're using (youth) as an excuse," said Kelly 'At some point, we have to start believing we're just as good as the opposition that we're playing.

Until that happens, it's just going to be the same result." Karl Lyphout led the Lady Panthers with 10 points and six rebounds. The Lady Blue Devils started to pull away by shooting 9-for-17 in their 22-7 second quarter, but By Andy Egenet Correspondent QUINCY, HI. For one team, a season filled with potential finally pulled through. On the other bench, the frustration simply continued. The Quincy High School girls basketball team handed United Township a 58-36 loss at Blue Devil Gym Thursday night, pushing the Lady Panthers' conference losing streak to 40 games.

The win puts the Lady Devils (11-10, 2-6 Big 6) in fifth place and two full games ahead of UT (12-12, 0-8 WB6) in the Western (i Alleman edges RI in OT again Moline 101, Rock Island 70 By Dan Tomlin dtomlin4Pqcoriline.com It only happens once a year, so the Moline boys swim team colored their locks to face the Rocks. The Maroons assembled at coach Frank Boothe's house on Wednesday night and decided to shave and dye their heads. "It's tradition to do something crazy for the Rocky meet," Bryce Bohman said. "We got to go to Mr. Boothe's house and tore it up a little; it was a lot of fun." Boothe had no problem with it, and knew if there was a time to use his house as a salon, it was now.

'As long as it's once every 25 years, my wife doesn't mind," Boothe said. "Rock Island is Rock Island no matter what sport you play; you have to get up when you play them." No matter what the style or color, it seemed as though Moline had the right combination as the Maroons won handily 101-70 in the Western Big Six dual. They also celebrated by covertly suckering Boothe to the edge of the pool and tossing the polo shirt-clad coach into the, water. It was swimming's equiv- alent of the Gatorade shower. Leading the way for the Maroons was Bohman, who won the 100-yard butterfly, the 100-yard backstroke, and was on both the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.

In both of the relays, he was forced to come from behind to capture the lead. Both of his wins were by margins of more than 10 seconds, and his 100-yard butterfly win was by nearly 15 seconds. "I swam my hardest," Bohman said. "It's been a lot of fun and we're all dropping times, which is good, and we'll be ready to contend at conference." Another bright spot for the Maroons was Cory Randolph, who won his two events, the 50- and 100- yard freestyle, was on the winning 200-yard relay, and was on Bohman's; Alleman 71, Rock Island 70 (OT) 1 li Briefs QC college men's hoops Black Hawk 66, Carl Sandburg 64: Jeremy Gilbert's layup with :13 loft was the difference on the scoreboard, but the Black Hawk Braves needed a Justin Brim defensive rebound and Cilbert's steal to seal the tough Arrowhead Conference victory. It was BHC's 9th win in its last 11 games and moved the Braves to 13-7.

3-2 in the league. BHC coach Troy Noble said he knew it was going to be a tough game with CSC (10-10, 3-2) having won nine of its last 12 coming into the game. The visiting Chargers sat back in a zone defense and not only slowed BHC's up-tempo attack, but led until the final few minutes of the game. Dejan Sencanski led BHC with 21 points, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers. E.J.

Maul added 15 and Derek Johnson 10. Former Galesburg prep Curtis Kilgore led four Chargers in double-figures with 16. He also hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds. College men's hoops NIU 49, Central Michigan 43: James Hughes tied for game-high scoring honors with a dozen as the 10-7 Northern Illinois Huskies evened their Mid-America Conference mark at 4-4. The United Township graduate also hauled down five rebounds and had two of the Huksies' three blocked shots in just 18 minutes of action.

Central Michigan (3-14, 1-8) was led by Eddie Spencer's 12 points and Chris Keller mann's 11 rebounds. QC college women's hoops Carl Sandburg 79, Black Hawk 56: A busy week and a great opponent caught up with the BHC six in the lopsided home Arrowhead Conference loss the third this week for the Lady Braves. Carl Sandburg, ranked No. 5 in the latest NJCAA Div. II poll, is now 20-2, 5-0 in the league.

Steff Winslow and Katy Boll led the Lady Braves with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Danielle Farrell led CSC with a game-high 19 and had plenty of help from former Galesburg standout Latoya Wright's 13 and Jen Cahill's 12. College women's hoops Illinois St. 71, Creighton 68: Former Alleman prep Megan McCracken tied for team-high scoring honors with 13 and Moline's Holly Hallstrom scored seven to go with nine rebounds as the Illinois State Redbirds won for the first time in 15 trips to Omaha, Neb. ISU moves to 8-9, 3-5 Missouri Valley Conference and Creighton drops to 6-11, 4-4.

Prep wrestling Aledo 61, Monmouth-Roseville 17: The biggest news from Green Dragon-land came with defending Class A state runner-up Clayton Rush's official medical release to compete, and he took advantage, recording one of five Aledo pins with a fall in two minutes and 10 seconds over Luke Babcock at 112 pounds. Rush had been out for Aledo (13-8, 3-2 Olympic) with a right knee ACL tear. Sherrard splits: The Tigers (10-11, 3-2 Olympic) closed out the regular season with a pair of duals at Pleasant Valley, defeating conference rival Rockridge 48-21 but falling to the host Spartans 45-27. Five Sherrard wrestlers won a pair of matches, with Chris Krider (112), Ben Lane (140) and William Wyant it y. By Marc Nesseler mnesselerqconline.com Alleman girls' basketball coach Jay Hatch took a deep breath as he walked off the floor Thursday night at the Rock Island Lady Rocks' gym.

Before he could take a second, he held a pair of fingers to the side of his neck. "Just checking the pulse," he said as he passed Alleman athletic director Steve Smithers on his way to the locker room. "It's about 312." There's certainly reason for the stress. His Pioneers had just stormed back from a eight-point deficit with 2:23 left in regulation against Rock Island, and then survived a pulsating, 71-70 victory in overtime. Thus, Alleman's hopes to stand alone on top of the Western Big 6 are alive and kicking.

The Pioneers, 23-4 overall and 7-1 in the WB6, face the 7-1 Moline Maroons at Wharton Field House next Thursday Given the final 30 seconds of both regulation and overtime, it might have been a good idea to have stethoscopes on standby. After RI's Tia Harvey hit a free throw to give the Rocks a 65-62 lead with :25 left in the fourth quarter, Alleman's Mol-lie Yeargle collected Amanda Clifton's sixth assist and drained a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 ticks left. "I knew I had to go to Mollie's side," said Clifton, Alleman's junior floor leader. "She's such a clutch shooter. I have all the faith in the world in her." The Rocks then threw away the inbound pass.

However, RI coach Rod Leatherman had been granted a timeout with 8.8 seconds left, giving the Rocks new life. Then, after both teams turned the ball over with 1.4 seconds showing, RI's victory hope in regulation evaporated when Vanessa Pullman's fadeaway 3 near the RI bench was on target but short. Dan Videtich staff Alleman's Amanda Clifton, right, knocks a rebound out of the hands of Rock Island's Leigh Gordon during the first quarter of action at Rock Island High School Thursday night. 200-yard freestyle relay Both Bohman and Randolph (sophomore);" are underclassmen, and-; Boothe is impressed with" their progress. "We have a lot of talent that is younger, Randolph had a couple of great freestyle races," Boothe said.

Rock Island was highlighted by Evan Duyvejonck, who won the 200-yard medley, got second to Bohman in the 100-yard and was on two scoring relays. His time of 2:09.90 in the individual medley was more than seven seconds bet- ter than the next swimmer. While delighted with the win, both Boothe and Bohman are looking to keep improving before the end of the season. "I think our medley relay could come up big, if not this year then next year," Bohman said. "Next year we'll win sec- tionals and go to state; we've got everyone coming back." For Boothe, just getting to the end of this season is work enough.

"We had a great meet, but we have to get focused again on the next one against Dav- enport Central," Boothe said. One thing the Maroons lot of strategy on both sides," said RI coach Rod Leatherman, whose hard-luck Rocks are now 12-9, 3-5 in the Big 6. It may be of little consolation that the Rocks have played the state's 15th-ranked team in Class AA on even terms in four quarters. "We need to win one of these," lamented Leather-man after his team's second OT loss to Alleman this season. RI sophs prevail: Jackie Wehrle tallied 14 points to lead the RI sophomores to a 41-31 win over Alleman.

Shaina Fen-nesy led the Pioneers, who lost for just the fifth time in 25 games, with 13 points. loose ball). I got a fat lip out of it, but it was worth it." Stellar performances were many on both sides. For the Rocks, Mayberry had 21 points, 12 of those in the third quarter. Harvey and Pullman scored matching 15s, and Candace Delaney had 10 off the bench before fouling out.

Dunsworth had a career-high 20 points and a double-double with 10 rebounds. "Now we've got to get her to understand she can have that every night," said Hatch. Clifton and Elizabeth Pocivasek added 18 and 14 points, respectively "It was an exciting game, a In OT, Alleman built a 71-67 lead on four Liz Dunsworth free throws and a layup off of Clifton's fifth steal. RI pulled to within a point on the first converted 3-pointer of the season by 6-foot junior Mia Mayberry. Clifton missed two free throws with 14.3 seconds left, but made amends with her sixth steal with :04 left, forcing a jump ball with RI's Alicia Whitfield at midcourt.

"I sure was glad to have the (possession) arrow," said Hatch. "I got my hand in and knocked the ball off her foot," Clifton said. "I don't think she expected me to dive (for the Minor-league umpires reject contract offer of small salary increase officer of minor league baseball's governing body, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, said he was unaware of the rejection and declined comment said increased health insurance costs would offset any raise. "We look forward to sitting back at the table with minor league said. Pat O'Conner, chief operating won't have to do is work on I i finding a barber anytime sooa baseball's contract offer and voted to not accept offers to minor league spring training absent improvements in the spring training working terms and conditions," union lawyer Robert Weaver said.

Union president Andy Roberts, an umpire with the Triple-A International League, said management offered a $100 per month increase for the five-monthminor league season. He NEW YORK (AP) Minor league umpires turned down a labor contract offering a small salary increase. The move, announced Friday, followed the expiration of the first collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the Association of Minor League Umpires, a deal that began in March 2001 and expired Nov. 30. "The AMLU membership has voted to reject minor league J10flBY2flJHjlffl Garter qKley ADIRONDACK QUAD CITY Benefit with Hugo Proulx and Mo Mallard US nSTiuT It's 'ALL.

FAITHS NIGHT' Friday, January 27 starting at 5 p.m. CAT'S Bar Grill 217 N. State Street in Geneseo, IL (275) winning both matches by pin. Panthers sweep: Erie-Prophetstown closed out its regular season with a pair of wins at home, defeating Davenport Central 46-29 and Lena-Winslow 36-27. In the third dual, Lena-Winslow won 40-28.

Five Panthers won twice for E-P (16-4), which won its third double dual in as many nights without a loss. Prep bowling UTHS 2848, Dixon 2624: Led by standout Kadie VanDer-Hayden's 690 series, the United Township bowlers improved to 7-2 with a rather easy 224-pin win over Dixon. VanDerHayden also had the afternoon's high game with a 258. Kaleigh Spoon-er helped the Panther cause with a solid 621 series. Prep boys basketball Central City 59, Rivermont 41: Despite a game-high 30 points from Raheel Yaseen, Rivermont (2 2) fell to one of the top teams in Iowa's smallest class.

rmUIMUUIr Hugo Proulx Come watch the televised Mallards vs. Muskegon game and win Mallards merchandise. Join former Mallard star, Hugo Proulx and Mo Mallard for a night to benefit heart defect Carter has had two open heart surgeries and will require more as he grows Proceeds will go to pay for medical bills. For more information call 563-650-0583 Supported by I 309-764-7825 Dispatch Argus.