The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 21

THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN Tuesday, February 24, 1 998 21 Miami Guard Mclver Signs With Dallas 9.Casadv (8) 19-4 10. Metro Chr. (6) 19-4 11. Palrvlewdl) 16-6 12. Alva (12) 19-4 13.

Hominy (13) 16-6 14. Konawa (14) 16-7 15. Adair (15) 17-6 Others: 16. Beaos (NR) 15-7; 17. Perkins (16) 15-7; 18.

Dickson (17) 17-6; 19. Okemah (20) 15-7; 20. Warner (NR) 15-8. Class 2A Final School (Last Rank) W-L 1. Hollis (1) 19-4 2.

Walters (3) 21-2 3. Luther (4) 4. (5) 20-3 5. Colcord (2) -21-1 6. velma-Alma 7.

Washington (7) 17-6 8. Mounds (8) 20-3 9. Carnegie 15-8 10. Oklahoma Union (10) 11. Thomas (11) 19-4 12.

Mansum (12) 16-6 13. Ninnekah (14) 18-7 14. Oklahoma Chr. (15) 15. Silo (17) 15-9 Others: 16.

Wyandotte (18) 13-9; 17. Preston (13) 16-8; 18. Rush Springs (20) 13-9; 19. Lafta (19) 14-11; 20. Pioneer (NR) lo-5.

Class 6A School (Last Rank) W-L 1. Putnam North (1) 21-1 2. T. Union (2) l-2 3. Edmond North 3) 4.

T. Hale (M 19-3 5. Midwest Cltv (7) 19-3 6. L. Elsenhower (4) 19-3 7.

Norman (5) 18-4 8. T. Memorial (8) 17-4 9. Choctaw (10) 17-5 10. Sapulpa (12) 16-5 Others: 11.

Jenks (9) 15-7; 12. Westmoore (11) 14-8; 13. Muskooee (13) 13-9; 14. Putnam Citv (15) 13-9; 15. Broken Arrow (14) 12-10.

Class 5A School (Last Rank) W-L 1. John Marshall (1) 20-2 2. T. Central (2J 19-3 3. El Reno (3) 19-3 4.

Southeast (4) 16-4 5. T. McLain IS) 6. U. MacArthur (6) 16-4 7.

T. East Central (7) 1 5-7 8. T. Kellev (8) 17-5 9. Capitol Hill (10) 15-6 10.

Carl Albert (S) 18-4 Others: 11. Western Heishrs (11) 16-6; 12. Alius (14) 15-7; 13. McAlester (13) 14-8; 14. T.

Washington (12) 10-11; 15. Ou-rant (15) 16-6. Class 4A Final School (last Rank) W-L 1. McGulimess CO 16-5 2. Deer creek (3) 16-7 3.

Manreford (4) 4. Waoorer (5) 19-4 5. Weatt-ierford (8) 17- 6. Star Seencer (6) 15-8 7. Elk City (9) 18-5 8.

Huoo (10) 16-7 9. Anadarico 10. Stioler (13) 11. Tecumseh (2) 19-4 12. Sallisaw (7) 18-5 13.

Pawhuska (15) 18-5 14. Piedmong (16) 17-6 15. Byna I7) Others: 16. Poteau (19) 17-6; 17. Brlstov (20) 15-8; 18.

Atoka (11) 17-6; 19. OKmuloee (NR) 15-8; 20. Cushine (NR 15-8. Class 3A Final School (Last Rank) W-L 1. Inola (1) 22-1 2.

Pawnee (2) 22-1 3. Blanctvird (3) 20-3 4. ViclorvChr. (4) 18-7 5. Pocola (7) 20-3 6.

Wynnewood (5) 20-3 7. Vian (9) 21-2 8. Millwood (10) 12-11 anchor a Dolphins offensive line that yielded 22 sacks last season, second-fewest in the NFL. The 27-year-old converted defensive lineman out of Elizabeth City State was on the Cowboys' practice squad in 1993. "He (Mclver) has gotten a lot better as the years have gone on, and we expect that to continue here," Gailey said.

"Hopefully, down the line we will see this as the day we signed a great player." Since Dallas apparently has only $4 million under the revamped $53.2 million salary cap, most of the money is backloaded into the final four years. Mclver will still count more than $1 million against this year's cap. "We looked at tape of all 14 games last year," said offensive line coach Hudson Houck. "The more we looked at him, the more we realized the upside." By Mike Baldwin Staff" Writer IRVING, Texas The Dallas Cowboys' first free-agent signing under Chan Gailey wasn't a blockbuster, but it fills a need. The Cowboys signed Miami Dolphins guard Everett Mclver to a five-year, $9.5 million deal Monday.

Mclver, who received a $3.2 million signing bonus, will start at right guard since perennial All-Pro Larry Allen has been moved to left tackle. "If we were going to get into this kind of serious money on a free-agent offensive lineman, we wanted to make sure we got a player with a lot of upside," said Cowboys ownergeneral manager Jerry Jones. "I think that's why Everett stood out for us." Mclver, 6-5, 318, started 14 games for Miami last season and a handful of games with the Jets in 1995. He helped BOYS BASKETBALL KENNY SMITH Putnam City The first freshman starter in Pirates history, Smith had his best outing in a breakout season Friday might, learJing Putnam City past Lawton Eisenhower, 58-55 in overtime. The 6-3 forward scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds both career highs and hit on 11 of 14 shots from the field and 4 of 6 from the foul line.

Smith scored 18 points and grabbed 11 boards in the second half, as the Pirates rallied to the upset. JEFF WOOD urant Just a junior. Wood broke the school career scoring record Saturday night with a 34-point performance in the Lions' 67-47 win over Ardmore in a Class 5A district opener. The 6-5 forward now has 1,471 points in his third season, better than former scoring leader John Porter, who totaled 1,469 points from 1984-87, before going on to play at Oklahoma State and overseas. Wood also had 33 points in Tuesday's win over Ada.

GIRLS BASKETBALL APRIL CATES Moss Cates scored a playoff-record 50 points in Friday's 82-69 loss to Billings in the Class regional eliminator. "The 6-1 center has averaged 22.9 points and 12 rebounds per game all season, but Friday stepped up to hit 23 of 28 from the field, grab 16 rebounds and four steals. She was only two points shy of the all-time five-on-five record of 52 points in a single game. Moss ended its season Friday at 13-15, but she'll have a reminder of her record-setting night. Her boyfriend bought her trie game ball.

KENDALL AR ANT Lawton MacArthur Arant, a 5-9 senior forward, scored 29 points in a win over Choctaw, following up a 33-point performance in a loss to the same team the previous week. She added eight rebounds and five assists in the MacArthur revenge match, helping improve the team's record to 12-10. MANDA JENSEN and ERIN MAULDIN Pauls Valley Pauls Valley, now 8-1 5, lost to Purcell in its 4A District championship game Saturday, despite a great effort from this senior pair. The two teamed for 42 fourth-quarter points in the losing effort. In a week that also included a win over Tecumseh, Jensen, a 5-4 point guard, scored 33 points, grabbed six rebounds, five steals and handed out 10 assists.

Mauldin, a forward, had 16 points, 16 rebounds, and seven steals in a strong defensive effort. STERLING LADY TIGERS After a 1-7 start, the young Sterling team is now 16-13 in Class beating Verden 42-40 to win the regional consolation final and elbow its way into the area tournament. Coach Larry Thorp says the team, which features two juniors and five sophomores who see regular action, lost several close games early in the season, but since starting to turn around the close scores, "have done an exceptional job to fight through that adversity." JASON VINCENT and JOSH HOUSE Lookeba-Sickles This duo led the 13th-rarked Panthers to two big road playoff wins last week, keeping their club on track in the Class A winner's Pirates Probe Potential Putnam City had just crept into the rankings, climbing to No. 15 for its first sighting of the season among the Class 6A contenders. Still, Pirates coach A.D.

Burtschi wasn't totally impressed until Friday night. Burtschi's club, which had flirted with the .500 mark most of the season, finally broke from mediocrity "with a five-game winning streak that pushed the Pirates' record to 12-9. Then came Friday's 58-55 overtime win over then-No. 3 Lawton Eisenhower, extending the streak to six and confirming Putnam City's arrival as a team to watch entering the playoffs this weekend. "This game was so important to us, to learn how to finish in a big game," Burtschi said afterward.

"It was good to see us execute late in the game almost flawlessly, except for a few missed free throws." Ike was playing without leading scorer Richard Crawford, who was academically ineligible. But the Eagles haven't been a top-live team much of the season based on one player. "I realize they were shorthand-ed," Burtschi said, "but we've been shorthanded before, too. Eisenhower has a good ballclub, and we consider it a good win." By John Hefsley Staff Writer bracket. In an 80-78 victory at Granite on Thursday, Vincent scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while House added 25 points.

Then in a 53-49 upset ot (No. 1 Hammon on Saturday, House hit 10 of 14 shots from the field and finished with 21 points, while Vincent added seven points. eight boards and contributed a key steal Terms were not disclosed, but ESPN is reporting the deal is worth $6.4 million, including an $800,000 signing bonus. Billy Sullivan, who brought the NFL to Boston in 1960 and then watched the league outgrow him, died in Florida on Monday of cancer. He was 82.

Then called the Boston Patriots, the team played in local university stadiums before settling in at its current home in Foxboro in 1971. Sullivan served as an AFL president from 1961-64. John Elway. one month after his first Super Bowl win, had minor surgery on his right shoulder Monday and should recover within six weeks. Ray Sherman promised adjustments to Kordell Stewart's passing routes but no major shakeups as he was hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive coordinator.

Sherman, 46. the Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach, replaces Chan Gailey, hired as the Dallas Cowboys' head coach Feb. 12. From Wire Reports The Washington Redskins landed one of the jewels of the free-agent market Monday, signing defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield to a six-year, $36 million contract that includes an $8 million signing bonus. The 305-pound Stubblefield, a three-time Pro Bowler, was second in the NFL with 15 sacks this past season for the San Francisco 49ers.

A 1993 first-round draft choice out of Kansas, Stubblefield was Defensive Rookie of the Year. Bryan Coic, the helmet-throwing linebacker known for his temper tantrums, says the Chicago Bears have told him he'll be released June. 1 a move he claims is in response to his criticism of team management. He said he'd been told management specifically team president Michael McCas-key tired of his criticism. The Philadelphia Eagles resigned unrestricted free agent running back Charlie Garner to a four-year contract, most likely ending the Eagles career of free agent Ricky Walters.

that led to his game-clinching free throw with five seconds remaining DARIAN JONES Okmulgee Jones scored 2C points and grabbed 12 rebounds Tuesday, leading the Bulldogs to an 83-64 upset of Tulsa's Metro Christian to close out the regular season. Then in Friday's 4A district opener, a 73-58 win over Hilldale, Jones scored 16 points and hand ed out seven assists. NOTE: Coaches wanting to nominate players for the Prep Athletes of the Week list should call The Oklahoman sports department at 475-3313. Trouble at The Top Both small-school No. 1s Lav-erne in Class Hammon in Class are facing the long road into the state tournament.

Both were regional tournament upset victims last week, meaning each needs to win three straight to make it to state. Laveme, which had won 52 straight games, was stunned by un-ranked Beaver in a first-round regional game, before winning back-to-back games against Timberlake and Mooreland to advance to this week's area tourney. Hammon, the '97 Class runner-up, was 24-1 when taken down at home by Lookeba-Sickles on Saturday night in the regional final. Playing in Pain p- Frontier, the two-time defending Class A champ and the current No. 4 club, is playing with new motivation these days.

The morning after the Mustangs beat Oklahoma Bible 62-52 in overtime Thursday night, team member Walter Peters was killed in an auto accident on his way to school. A junior, he was a reserve on the team. After dedicating the remainder of their season to Peters, Frontier went out and rolled past Fairland 70-44, moving within a win of a return trip to the state tournament. Motion Denied t- Hominy took the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association to court last week, seeking an injunction to gain postseason eligibility for two players from England. But the judge in the case ruled in favor of the OSSAA, which, had told the players they could play in the regular season only after they gained eligibility in mid-January.

Seniors Steven Davison and Matthew Eames, both 6-5 players from Fareham, England, were key figures in the Bucks' recent surge in Class 3A. The team was 5-5 before they played, 10-1 after they joined the team. But the Bucks must move on without them, which they did Saturday, beating Nowata 70-51 in their district opener. Team of the Week McLoud (13-11): Maybe it's time to consider the Redskins a factor in Class 4A. Tecumseh last week's No.

2 team surely does. McLoud upset the Savages 50-46 in a district playoff opener Friday night, winning for the sixth time in seven games. The Redskins are known for their offensive balance, with Brandon Christy, Rusty Hall, Erik Jordan and Ronnie Roberts seemingly alternating as leading scorers. And point guard Jacob Beeson is solid running the show. Also Hot Muskogee (13-9): The Roughers are another fast-closing 6A team with a big win to build on, after knocking off Tulsa Memorial 76-60 Friday night.

During a rugged four-game stretch, Muskogee also beat Tulsa Central and Tulsa Rogers, while losing a close one to Tulsa McLain. Midwest City (19-3): The Bombers closed the regular season with a seven-game winning streak, punctuated by Friday nighfs 73-56 romp at Norman Coming Attractions Everybody's in the playoffs that is, with classes 5A and 6A joining the postseason chase Friday. North Mid town South 10101 N. May 1405 S. Meridian 7884 S.

Western 755-1954 946-4653 634-33753 Open Monday-Saturday 9 am 6 prn Closed Sunday Until Friday night, the Pirates had lost their major matchups: two with No. 1 Putnam North; one with No. 2 Tulsa Union; three with No. 3 Edmond North; one with now-No. 6 Lawton Ike; and one with No.

10 Jenks. "Our schedule has been murderer's row," said Burtschi. "As an old coach, I don't mind a difficult schedule. I think it's going to help our kids down the line. "But as you go through it, you start to worry about how all the losses are going to affect the mind-set of your team." Apparently, the early struggles didn't deflate the Pirates.

A young team with just three seniors on the roster and one Lee Calip in the starting lineup, Putnam City has progressed as its underclassmen have progressed. Juniors Mark Schantz and Nick Traylor were the only returning starters, and both have played well. And the team has received an unexpected lift from freshman Kenny Smith, a 6-3 forward who played his best game in the biggest game, scoring 26 points and 16 rebounds in the overtime win over Ike. "The freshman just killed us," Eagles coach Bruce Harrington said alter the game. Smith is the first freshman to ever start at Putnam City and the first to see considerable playing time since Bryatt Vann first emerged on campus during the 1985-86 season.

A left-hander with a soft scoring touch, he's been in the lineup since the second game of the season. "We made him go through the ropes back in summer league," said Burtschi. "Coming into the season, we were going to see how he progressed. Then, if he played well, we were going to consider bringing him up to the varsity if he could start or be a top sub. "But we knew he had potential." Potential now being realized, by Smith and the Pirates.

1997 CLEARANCE FINAL REDUCTION inrnnTi rf ires rt i i 10O7 rvicsrrhnnrlico' nle nHc Fphn inrv 98th I VH3JI KU I iciiiumiii I I ii ivi v.i ii ivtixw. vi- wiiiw, w.r Mr. Big 7 Woods vAii Balls Golf Shirts Entire Stock! Only $19.95 Graphite Values to $49.95 .17 Shaft I 4 4 iiiiniiiiinmiiiiiMiiMiTimim lymmmiimw1 wn in i 1 iwi Metalwoods at or below cost! rnple: lum wii i-vTjo yiwj tender Brian Elder is expected to rejoin tho learn and may got tho start tonight. Elder has spent tho last few weeks with the Manitoba Moose of the International Hockey League. Despite his absence, Eldor remains the CHL's top-ranked goallondor with a 22-5-1 record and 2.67 goals-againsl average.

Scouting the Fire: Fort Worth doesn't have any players among tho CHL's lop 20 scorers, but they've been a tough opponent In the last three meetings against Oklahoma City. The Fire has won two ol Iho last throe against the Wostorn Division leader. What's Next: The Blazors visit Eastern Division heavyweights Nashville on Saturday and Huntsvillo on When, Where: 7:35 p.m. tonight, Will Rogers Coliseum. Records: Oklahoma City is 41-12-3, first in the Western Division.

Fort Worth is 1 1 -40-3, filth in the West. Ail-Time Serle: Oklahoma City leads 41-26-7. The Blazers lead Iho season series 7-2-0. The Last Time: The Blazors boat Fort Worth on Friday 7-4 in Will Rogers. Joe Burton had a goal and assist, giving him 500 career points.

Radio: WKY (930-AM). John Brooks, play-by-play. Scouting the Blazer: Oklahoma City comos off Sunday's 8-7 comeback win at Tulsa. Burton had his 24th career hat trick, which also gives him a leam-high 60 goals. The Blazers trailed 4-0 in tho first period Rooklo goal- Iron Sets 'ff Over 700 on Sale! Steel or Graphite! Sanders Wins Jim Thorpe Trophy 7 Examples: Steel Shaft sets from $99 Graphite sets start at $159 presented April 20 in Rdmorid.

25 Off SL All Equipment mSSM Lynx Black Cart Tour, er to surpass 2,000 yards rushing in a slnylc season. The Trophy is presented by tho Jim Thorpe Association, the NFL Pin yers Association and Newspaper Enterprise Association. The award is to be Detroit Lions fun-ninR back Harry Snnd-ors won tho Jim Thorpe Trophy as tho National Football League's Most Valuable Player last your, tho Jim Thorpe Association siiid Monday. Sanders became only tho third NFL play 5359 r.r..