The Daily Journal from Flat River, Missouri • 5

Dailyjournal Daily Journal Sports Desk" (573) 431-2010, ext. 137 (800) 660-8166, exl 137 Fax (573) 431-7640 1513 SUoe Drive, Park Hills, MO 63601 Thursday, January 9, 2003 Daily Journal Classifieds Pages 11-13 Ms Tj: 1 A' I "1 MAC crushes Shawnee 108-67 Free Throw contest winners 1 PI By MATT KING Daly Journal Sports Wnter PARK HIU5 The Mineral Area CoHege Cuxlinals and their fans hint been antkipating tliis Saturday's matchup with arch-rival Tliree Rivers for quite some time now. However, tliere was one other piece erf business for the Cardinals to take care of. The Shawnee Saints came to town on Wedncs-day night, but Uvc Cardinals dis-p sed of them in dominant fashion, winning the game 10H-67. Tlx' S.iints had an early 6-5 lead, but would trail throughout tlx- remainder of the contest The Cardinals wi-re atlJctkally superi-or to Shawnee at every pisition on 0k' fk ir.

Tlw Saints never ft xind a way to contain MAC uiside players, wlx) rebounded and scored at will. 'Hie Cardinals took a 9-6 kad after tan perfect kib passes to Ncdad Bilierovk-, wliich he coh-wrtid into easy baskets. The MAC lead reached doulile-figiuvs at tlx? mark of tlx? first half, and continued to grow from tliere. Tlx; Wad was 43-28 after Ronnie Iasliky mack" a lay-up aixl was ftmkti, resulting in.a conventional three-point play. LislikT started a 9-0 MAC run that capped off by a thunder-.

ous dunk by Patnck dker. which gave the Cardinals a 21-pouit k'ad. The half ended with the Canlinals enjoying a 56-32 Wad Much of the second half seemed like an exhibition game with the Cardinals throwing down numer-ous dunks against their overmatched opponents. MC scored the first 11 pxntsoftlwsecixxltuilf, while Inkling Shawiiee scmvk'ss for the opening fhe minutes. Tlx' Cardinals' bench saw kxsof pUiying time and really made it count The bench accounted for 64 of the team's 108 points.

Tlx' Cardinals received piints from 15 different players. Tlx- onslaught continued throughout the second hiilf. Back-to-hack transition dunks by Mario Bniwn and Norman Pmtlier gave tlx; Cardinals an 88-54 kud. MAC reached the century mark in piints on a nkv fade-away jumper from Marqix'S Bakhvin. hirvriA) (knikm was the top scorer Sir MAC with 16 piints.

Prather finished with 14. Tom Sav-ton added 12, wliik1 Terry Edwards came from tlx- bench to score 10. MAC (13-4) will play Three RhvrsonSaturdiiyniglit Tip-off is set fiir 7 p.m. Thiit game will be proceeded by the MAC I-xly Cardinals' ganx' agiiiast Three Rivers. ft tip k7 mfT Pn Throw Winners The Farmington Knights of Columous heW their Free-Throw Contest this past Sunday with nine boys and girts being the winners in the various age groups of the event.

All nine will participate in the next round at Desloge on February 2. From left to nght are: Front Row Jordan McLaunn (12), Kassie Walker (13), Cragon McBr.de (13). and Eric Koppeis (14). Back Row Karter Denman (10). Peter Grindel (10), Amy Johnson (11).

Blake Walker (11), Tasha Warren (12). and Grand Knight Mark Trolinger. Cardinals won't re-sign pitcher, Chuck Firiley Khightettes knock off Borgia in 2 0T By CHRIS CLINE Daily Journal Sports Writer WASHINGTON The Farmington Knightcttes hit the road Wednesday night for a non-conference matchup with St. Francis Borgia. The Knightcttes trailed Borgia heading into the fourth quarter but a late surge by Farmington knotted the game -up at 48-48 at the end of regulation.

The game was still tied, 54-54, at the end of the first overtime. 'Howevexin the second over time period the Knightettes grabbed the lead and pulled off an impressive 65-59 win. Farmington had nine players score in the game. Natalie Bess led the Knightettes with 24 points. Courtney Walden had nine points.

Katelyn Peterson, Jessica and Tessa Pratt each had eight points apiece. Farmington is now 8-4 and will open conference play tonight at home against the Potosi Lady Trojans. last year," Jocketty said. "But the fourth and fifth spots, there's a lot of guys competing. Simontacchi, we didn't even know of last year, quite honestly." Right now, the Cardinals don't have left-hander Rick Ankiel in the mix of those competing.

The one-time phe-nom, sent to the minor leagues after record-setting wildness, missed all last season with an elbow injure and the team has him slotted for bullpen duty. Jocketty said the team has gotten good reports on Ankiel's offseason work. "If all goes well, I think the plan is to have him start the camp in the bullpen and just see how he progresses," Jocketty said. The bullpen also has undergone a radical makeover, with closer Jason Isringhausen and setup man Steve Kline the only holdovers from the start of last season. The Cardinals finalized deals with right-handers Joey Hamilton and Al Levine earlier this week and also have right-hander Mike Crudale and leftv Jeff Fassero.

By R.B. FALLSTROM AP Sports Writer ST. LOUIS (AP) Chuck Finley ended his stay with the St. Louis Cardinals when he didn't re-sign by Wednesday's deadline. Free agents offered arbitration last month could re-sign with their former teams through Wednesday.

After that, they can't re-sign until May l. "Despite his inability to come to agreement with the Cardinals, Chuck Ftnley fully -expects to play major-league baseball in the 2003 season," said Finley 's agent, Alan Hendricks. Finley was 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA last season for St. Louis after going. 4-11 with a 4.44 ERA for Cleveland.

St. Louis enters spring training with only Matt Morris and Woody Williams as holdovers from last year's season-opening rotation. Brett Tomko, acquired from the San Diego Padres, will be the No. 3 starter, and Garrett Stephenson and Jason Simontacchi are the top candidates to fill out the rota Cardinals- general manager Walt Jockctty said Tuesday the team likely would undergo no further changes heading into spring training. But that doesn't preclude a midseason move, such as last season's acquisitions of Finley and third baseman Scott Rolen.

"1 would never say no with this ownership," Jocketty said. "A lot of times they have surprised me ith the support they've given us at midseason to do some things and Scott Rolen is a perfect example. There's, no guarantees, obviously, but if the right deal was there they would allow us to do it." Stephenson was a 16-game winner in 2000 but missed all of 2001 because of elbow surgery and was hampered by several injuries last year. Simontacchi won ji games as a 28-year-old rookie, emerging from obscurity when the pitching staff was racked by injuries, but the Cardinals seem less than sold on his ability. "Hopefully he can repeat what he did Bulger looks forward to returning to Rams Julius Peppers sacks his way to rookie honor years, but that's probably not likely, especially with Kurt Warner on the team," Bulger said.

"He's back to his old self, and I have no problem sitting behind a two-time NFL MVP and learning more. "Just learning the season and being comfortable with it is very important for a quarterback. It took me a good year and a half to do that. To switch systems now and to switch teams, there's just a comfort level there that you have to have with the guys, and I feel I've built that up." Bulger returned to West Virginia on Wednesday to watch his sister, Kate, play basketball against Notre Dame. She scored 22 points, but the Mountaineers lost to No.

16 Notre Dame, 66-59. MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) Marc Bulger looks forward to competing for the St. Louis Rams' starting quarterback job next season. Bulger was one of the few bright spots this season for the Rams, who went from NFC champions last year to 7-9 and out of the playoffs.

Bulger was 6-1 as the starter, whle Kurt Warner was 0-6. Both missed several games with injuries, and coach Mike Martz has said he will hold an open competition in training camp. While Bulger's success may draw interest from other NFL teams, he likes where he is, even if it means returning as Warner's backup. "That's the way the NFL is. I'd love to start for another 10 the defensive line coach," Del Rio said.

To be able to take Julius under a lot of pressure for him to perform and have him perform even above the high expectations the way he did is sensational. "That also took Kris Jenkins and Mike Rucker to career highs in production. We leaned heavily on the D-line." Peppers joined such NFL greats as Joe Greene, Lawrence Taylor, Jack Lambert and Derrick Thomas in winning top defensive rookie honors. He's the Panthers' -first player to earn the award. Dallas safety Roy Williams got seven votes, followed by Baltimore safety Ed Reed and Tennessee safety Tank Williams with one each.

Last year's winner was Pittsburgh LB Kendrell Bell. unit that ranked second in the NFL. Under new coach John Fox, Carolina had 52 sacks, behind only Philadelphia. But Peppers did a lot more than simply rush the passer. He was enough of a presence against the run to help his team rank eighth.

"I had a couple of three-sack games, which were big accomplishments also," he said, "but the thing that I 9m most proud of is continuing to get better every week as a player." Peppers' skills also sparked strong years by fellow end Mike Rucker and tackle Kris Jenkins, who made the All-Pro team. Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio can't wait to get started with that unit next season. "I think all of them had big years, and you have to' give some credit to Mike Trgovac, Casters who cover the NFL Freeney was next with 14. "When I first came into this season, I felt that I had a chance to win this award if I played up to my potential and did what I knew I could do," Peppers said. "I was never focused on winning individual awards.

I just tried to help the team out and do all that I could do. "I thought that my suspension would hurt my chances at winning this award, because it seemed like everyone had forgotten me, because I wasn't able to play in the last four games. It feels good to win this award because it means that people noticed what I did this year." How could they miss him? Peppers helped the Panthers leap from 1-15 in 2001 to 7-9. The defense went from an open-door policy to a stingy By BARRY WILNER AP Football Writer Not even a four-game suspension could stop Julius Peppers from winning The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award Monday. The Carolina Panthers' defensive end, the No.

2 overall pick in the draft, missed the last four games of the season for violating the league's drug policy. He took a dietary supplement that contained a banned substance. Before that, he had 12 sacks, second among rookies to Colts end Dwight Freeney, who played the entire season to get 13. Peppers, a former basketball star at North Carolina who gave up roundball to play football full time, received 25 votes from a nationwide panel of sports writers and broad- La Russa recognized Portis edges ex-teammate Shockey for rookie honoi to the museum dedicated to preserving the history of black baseball. La Russa managed the Cardinals to a Central Division Championship last year, the third division title since joining the club in 1996.

ST. LOUIS (AP) Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was named National League Manager of the Year by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on Wednesday. La Russa will receive the C.I. Taylor Award next month in Kansas City, home By BARRY WILNER AP Fool Wf The Denver Broncos just keep finding dominant young running backs. The latest, Clinton Portis, beat college teammate Jenany Shockey for The Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the year award Denver's run 00 star runners began in 1995 with Terrell Davis.

It continued with Gary, MUm Anderson the top jflfw rookie in sooo aod bow Par tis. "I'm just glad to finally win something." said Portis, who ran for 1,508 yards, by far the most among rookies and fourth overall in the NFL. "I think the last time I won anything individaay was in high school. I think I was named county player of year or something hke that" Like University of Miami teamiaats Shockey, Portis isnt exaeriy shy, UnEke xxfeey, he wsxa seferH3 2tfsfv i round of AjrSTs draft, 3a akJ. Cf course, the Broncos didn't take Davis and Anderson until the sixth round, and Gary was picked in the fourth.

But Davis' wrecked knee forced him out of football, and Anderson was switched to fallback. So Portis quickly became a factor, and be scored f7 touch-downs, tied for third most by a rookie NH. history, and tied for third 8m KFL in 2002. uuccsur Hey! Basketball fans! Check out the comprehensive MAAA girls' conference stats on page 6 of today's Dairy Journal..