The La Crosse Tribune from La Crosse, Wisconsin • 23

SECTION Rockets run record to 22-1 on Maxwell's shot D-2 ports La Crosse Tribune Wednesday, December 22, 1993 (si gMflsl GS7 OOglto By ART KABELOWSKY Of the Tribune staff Rahilly won't miss game 6 This was a night of evalu- day and shooting guard Jaren Jackson to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. Replacements Shawn McDaniel and Charles Thomas, both of whom were cut during training camp, were thrown back into the fire Tuesday with one minute of playing time and one practice between them. "This was a night of evaluating We've got to see who's going to fit in best with this team," Saunders said. "I'm not going to fault the players it's tough to lose one good player, much less two." It took the Thunder less than six minutes to open a 20-8 lead, putting halfcourt and perimeter pressure on the Catbirds' guards and shooting as well from the outside (ll-for-20 in the first quarter) as they have all year. And the backcourt star was Thunder point guard Chris Childs, a former Catbird.

Calm See CATBIRDS, D-2 The news wasn't all terrible for the La Crosse Catbirds Tuesday night. Brian Rahilly thought he had broken a bone in his right hand during the second quarter of the Catbirds' 110-98 loss to the Quad City Thunder. But after a half time trip to the hospital for X-rays, Rahilly returned to the La Crosse Center with better news: It's just a bad bruise. "It still hurts, but I think I should be able to play Thursday," Rahilly said. "It's better than I thought, because when it happened, I thought I heard something pop." Rahilly was driving to the basket when Quad City's Barry Mitchell gave him a push, and Patrick Tompkins' flying elbow caught Rahilly's hand as he backpedaled.

"We lost two guys (Corey Gaines and Jaren Jackson to the NBA, then our sixth man gets hurt," Catbirds coach Flip Saunders said. "Not a timely injury," Rahilly said. The Quad City Thunder have sent Coach Flip Saunders back to the drawing board. Actually, the Thunder took the drawing board and bashed Saunders over the head with it. Seven times over.

The guard-rich Thunder took advantage of the Catbirds' NBA-gutted backcourt, racing to an early lead and holding on for a satisfying 110-98 victory before a near-mute crowd of in the La Crosse Center. "Quad City was hungry. They came out early and jumped on us," Saunders said. "And every time we were able to get back Into it a little bit, we hurt ourselves because we were playing out of character, trying to do too much." Not only was it a loss, it was a 7-0 CBA standings points sweep the Catbirds' first ating nip Saunders home sweep loss since Dec. 13, 1986.

Even with the sweep, second-place Quad City (7-7) still stands an average of .57 standings points per game behind the Mideast Division-leading Catbirds (10-5). The Catbirds did not play well, did not play smart (22 turnovers), and save for a few second-half stretches, did not play exceptionally hard. Oh, and one more thing: "We didn't play with total confidence," Saunders said. But there was a reason for their out-of-sorts performance: La Crosse lost point guard Corey Gaines to the New York Knicks on Fri- THE PREPS- on flraxgfe to HI ES By KIRK BEY Of the Tribune staff HI -tv-v (if i tb- 1 i How 'W ft i 5 xt Countdown to Pasadena: 10 days When Aquinas coach Mike Desmond looks at his team, he sees good things happening in the coming weeks. Central coach Ken Barrett sees good things happening for his team, too.

Only, it's going to take more than a couple of weeks. Aquinas gave Desmond reason to be optimistic Tuesday night, using a strong fourth quarter to defeat the Red Raiders, 52-43, in an intracity high school boys basketball game played in front of 1,100 spectators at Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium. With seniors Jere Wente and Dan Poehling and junior Sean Stephens, make that three good reasons Aquinas (4-4) is eagerly awaiting the rest of its schedule. "The reason we lost a couple of our games was because when we needed the big play in the fourth quarter, no one stepped up," Desmond said. "We need different guys to come through for us.

That's been the big difference for us the past couple of games." Wente, a 6-foot-6 center, was one guy who made a difference all night long. He sprained his ankle in practice Monday, and Desmond said he was "only about 70 percent" at game time. However, Wente finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. "Jere played his finest game of the year," Desmond said. "We want a different guy to come up big for us, and I'm happy it was him." But it was much more than Wente's play that sparked Aquinas.

Central (2-4) tied the game at 35-35 on a Chad Ducklow jump shot to close out the third quarter, then took a 37-35 lead on a pair of Lewis Dahlberg free throws to start the fourth. Then, Poehling and Stephens helped get Aquinas going again. Poehling, who finished with 10 points, gave the Blugolds a 39-37 lead with 5 minutes, 51 seconds left. Next, Stephens, who added 14 points, drained a 3-pointer for a 42-37 advantage. "That 3-pointer was the big shot that got them going," Barrett said.

"You have to give Aquinas credit; they really stepped it up in the fourth quarter and played well. We just can't let ourselves get behind by six or eight points like that, because we don't play well when we're behind." The Red Raiders managed to trim Aquinas' lead to 46-43 on a pair of Shawn Powell free throws with 1:23 left, but Jim Ballas hit two free throws and Wente added four more to seal the game for the Blugolds. Carl Engbloom led Central with 15 points. A Public TV will replay '53 game Even Wisconsin Public Television has jumped on the Badgers' bandwagon. As a prelude to the University of Wisconsin's Rose Bowl appearance on Jan.

1, the state's public television network will be replaying the Badgers' 1953 Rose Bowl game against the University of Southern California. The '53 Rose Bowl a 7-0 victory for Southern Cal will be broadcast at 4 p.m. on Jan. 31. "It's film from the archives of UW-Madison," said Michael Bridgeman, program director for Wisconsin Public Television.

"I've been told the color is kind of odd because it's on film and it's so old." Bridgeman said the entire game will be shown, but the film has been edited down to one hour. The Wisconsin Public Television affiliate in the La Crosse area is WHLA-Ch. 31. 1 -'I 4- I I By MARK WHICKER Orange County Register LOS ANGELES Wayne Cook laughs when you tell him he can't run in out of the rain. Escapability.

Cook didn't have it. Hey, Cook says, you snap your anterior cruciate ligament, and we'll play tag anytime. Besides, UCLA quarterbacks have been all too mobile. For a while, they fanned out into the country like missionaries. They all knew where grasses were greener.

Cook knew where Pasadena was. Really, who would have picked Cook to become the Bruins' first Rose Bowl quarterback since Matt Stevens, eight years ago? Nobody on that UCLA practice field, August of 1990. Bret Johnson was the returning starter, but he lost his starting job to Jim Bonds. He transferred to Michigan State. Bonds lost the opener to Oklahoma, was succeeded by Tommy Maddox, bit his lip, said the right things and finished.

Maddox was outstanding for two years, then unexpectedly signed with the Denver Broncos. Bert Emanuel in the periphery, transferred to Rice, where he was called the fastest player not just quarterback in the Southwest Conference this season. And Cook? He was one of four Outstanding Scout Team Players that year. That meant he was a particularly good mimic of the opposing quarterback. "I got hurt and missed a week or two," Cook recalled, "and I remember Eric Turner and Roman Phifer saying, 'Hey, get back in there, you give us a good That made me feel like I was contributing, at least." He had to celebrate Saturday on Wednesday.

He also never got to do a Wayne Cook imitation. "I didn't know when I would play," he said "I spent a couple of years just watching. The guy who plays is going to get the reps (repetitions) in practice. I know that. There were some boring days.

You had to get yourself ready but you knew you wouldn't play. I wanted to play but I was happy to be here." Cook had a compelling reason for attending UCLA. It was because UCLA asked him. Nobody else in the Pac-10 did. "Wayne always put a lot of heat on the ball," UCLA coach Terry Donahue said.

"We always thought he'd be a good quarterback for us." But only in an abstract, if-it-ever-comes-to-that way. Then Maddox jumped to the NFL draft in the spring of 1992. Cook? "I knew I'd have to learn a lot about the offense," he said. "But I was looking forward to it. I did some heavy preparation, all summer." Along came the opening game against Cal State Fullerton.

Down went Cook, with the knee. UCLA mixed and matched its quarterbacks, and somehow went 6-5. Cook took a number, rehabbed and played the waiting game. He was beginning to feel overquali-fied for it. "I felt the pressure this fall," Cook said.

"I had to run, to prove to the coaches I was healthy. I had to win the job all over again. The first few games, I wasn't comfortable. You can't just go out and play when you think you might get taken out." UCLA lost to Cal in the opener. Bjorn Merten, the All-America freshman kicker, might have stolen it for the Bruins with a late field goal, buj.

Cook threw an in- Erik DaHy of ttw Trtbun staff TIGHT DEFENSE: Chad Ducklow, left, of Central looks for help under pressure from Adam Stremcha of Aquinas during Tuesday night's intracity boys basketball game at Central High School. Aquinas won, 52-43. Onalaska, Holmen win D-4 COLLEGES CBS tootell pair headed for Ft? terception first. a MARQUETTE, which moved into the national rankings Monday, romped past outmanned Louisiana Tech in a nonconference game. Details, D-3 6 I'm doing pro "We were just out there," Cook said.

"We didn't really play that night. It was like we said, 'Oh, OK, the season UCLA lost to Nebraska by one point the next week. "I felt a little better," Cook said, "but I still had some questions." UCLA beat Stanford the next week, and the floodgates opened. UCLA would not lose another game with Cook starting. He threw 16 touchdowns the rest of the year with two interceptions.

More importantly, he discovered that if he threw a ball just right to J.J. Stokes, it made officials raise their hands. "I'm proud of the season I've had," Cook said. "I mean, with rolls to victory The secret to good shooting may not be such a secret after all. "It all comes down to shot selection," said Viterbo College men's basketball coach Michael Murphy, whose team rolled to a surprisingly easy 82-62 victory over UW-Whitewater Tuesday in the Viterbo Student Activity Center.

"The key to winning basketball games is to get more good shots than your opponent. That's what we did." Chris Baker's 3-pointer with 1 minute, 8 seconds gone set the tone, and the rest of the V-Hawks (9-1) quickly followed suit. Viterbo, which shot 56 percent from the field (33-for-59), never trailed and didn't allow Whitewater (6-2) to get any closer than five points after the midway point of the first half. While Viterbo was hitting from all parts of the floor, including 5 of 12 3-point shots, the Warhawks were having problems. Whitewater shot 38 percent from the NEW YORK (AP) John Madden and Pat Summerall together at Fox? If it happens, some introductions will be in order.

"Somebody asked me the other day, 'What exactly does Fox I "said, 'I don't Summerall said Tuesday. "They said, 'Well, they've got Bart and I said, 'Who the hell are "I never watched the show." Mr. Summerall, meet Mr. Simpson and his little brat kid, Bart. They could be your new neighbors.

"Well, obviously, if I'm doing pro football, I'd love it," Summerall said. "I think that would be terrific." Since CBS was aced out of the NFL's television package, first by Fox for the NFC and then by NBC for the AFC, TV land has stamped the big on the foreheads of CBS football people like Madden, Summerall and Terry Bradshaw. Fox owner Rupert Murdoch has said he would go after the best talent available, singling out Madden especially. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said it football, I'd love Pat Summerall "was very likely that some of the talent from CBS" would move to Fox, although he would have no particular reason to know that. "Basically, as he has said publicly, when CBS loses football, they lose John Madden," the announcer's agent, Sandy Montag of IMG, said.

"Plus, CBS wouldn't want John without football." But, would Summerall and Madden move as a team? Summerall, remember, also is CBS' lead announcer on golf and signed a four-year contract last year that pays him a reported $1.5 million per year. Summerall said he believes he has some clause in his contract that would allow him to become a free agent under these circumstances. "I haven't discussed it with i them," Summerall said. field, the same figure the V-Hawks have held their opponents to as they have gotten off to the best start in school history. "I think we were getting out and challenging their shooters," Murphy said.

"We also rebounded well, so they didn't get many second shots inside. We outre-bounded them by nine (39-30), and they're a much bigger team than we are." Eric Robinson scored 20 points, grabbed 11 rebounds both game highs and also contributed four assists to lead Viterbo. And he got plenty of help. From Wagner, who scored 16 points. From Pete Sinks, who added 14.

And from James Vacek, who had 13 points and five assists. Whitewater, whose only loss came at the hands of UW-Platte-ville, got 12 points from Ty Evans. I the injury I had last year, it just pushed me back to the point I thought I'd be anyway. I thought Tommy (Maddox) would stay through three years. So I guess I'm on schedule.

"I've never made many mistakes, thrown many interceptions. I just threw three my last year at Newbury Park. To me, a quarterback is in there to win, score points and keep the other team's defense out there on the field. That's what I did." And now the good scout prepares for a Rce Bowl Game..